Tax abatements

Tax abatements are when the City agrees to give investors or developers permission to not have to pay their property taxes on their proposed projects for up to 35 years. This means that they do not contribute to the schools, libraries, parks, or other taxpayer-funded public services.

They claim that this incentivizes investment, which results in job creation, but it is really just basic trickle-down economic theory, also known as "Reaganomics"...it works great for the people on top of the economic pyramid, but rarely does it ever trickle down as advertised. In post-bankruptcy Detroit, we can call it "Dugganomics."

We generated this table using the lost revenue data reported by the school district, and projected that loss for all other public institutions based on annual rates. It is part of our "Billion Dollar Report."

THE TRUE COST OF TAX ABATEMENTS

The loss to each millage, from 2017-2023:

Detroit Public Schools Community District:

$172,600,000

(General Operating and School Debt millages combined)

City Services:

$161,641,188

(General Fund and City Debt millages combined)

Detroit Public Library:

$26,397,548

Wayne RESA:

$31,077,915

(All three special education millages combined)

Wayne Comm. College District:

$18,435,613

Wayne County General Fund (roads, etc.):

$37,753,846

Winter & Summer millages combined

Wayne County Jails:

$5,342,027

State Education:

$34,203,318

Wayne County Parks:

$1,393,757

Wayne County Huron-Clinton Metroparks:

$1,199,065

Detroit Institute of Arts:

$6,929,066

Detroit Zoo:

$3,483,671

That's over half of a billion dollars withheld from our public institutions!

Please keep in mind that this tax abatements total is a completely separate pile of money from tax captures; most incentivized development projects include a combination of both tax abatements AND tax captures.

THE COMBINED TOTAL AMOUNT OF MONEY STOLEN FROM US VIA TAX CAPTURES (FROM 2014-2023) AND TAX ABATEMENTS (FROM 2017-2023) IS OVER A BILLION DOLLARS!

The infographic below illustrates the quasi-governmental structure that conducts this wealth transfer. Tax abatements are outlined on the left, while tax captures are outlined on the right:

detroiters for tax justice

Tax abatements

THE TRUE COST OF TAX ABATEMENTS

The loss to each millage, from 2017-2023:

Detroit Public Schools Community District:

City Services:

Detroit Public Library:

Wayne RESA:

Wayne Comm. College District:

Wayne County General Fund (roads, etc.):

Wayne County Jails:

State Education:

Wayne County Parks:

Wayne County Huron-Clinton Metroparks:

Detroit Institute of Arts:

Detroit Zoo:

TOTAL:

That's over half of a billion dollars withheld from our public institutions!

detroiters for tax justice

Tax abatements

THE TRUE COST OF TAX ABATEMENTS

The loss to each millage, from 2017-2023:

Detroit Public Schools Community District:

City Services:

Detroit Public Library:

Wayne RESA:

Wayne Comm. College District:

Wayne County General Fund (roads, etc.):

Wayne County Jails:

State Education:

Wayne County Parks:

Wayne County Huron-Clinton Metroparks:

Detroit Institute of Arts:

Detroit Zoo:

TOTAL:

That's over half of a billion dollars withheld from our public institutions!

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