There are plenty of billionaires in Detroit who have tried to buy up large swaths of land and have been rejected by the city. The city government has made it clear that they do not want speculation, they want taxpayers.
No, the people being talked about go out of their way not to pay taxes. They will pressure the local government to rezone the properties to get away with not paying taxes. Billionaires paying taxes. Lol.
Property taxes on vacant land tend to be much lower than occupied dwellings. The city needs to either unincorporate the land and release it to the county, or find a way to get people living there again to pay for the city services that require upkeep.
Correct. But downtown is a small part of Detroit, and those properties were given huge tax incentives so they generate very little income for the city.
Mike Ilitch and Dan Gilbert have done amazing things in a 5 square block section of downtown, but it does little to help the population of Detroit. These taxpayer-funded giveaways to local billionaires has not exactly played out as planned.
