By doing nothing, council guarantees financial collapse

One way or another, Hamtramck, you are going to pay.
Pay for what, you ask?
Pay for the pension costs for firefighters and police officers. The city simply can’t afford the yearly $2.2 million cost.
Last November, Hamtramck voters overwhelmingly rejected a millage increase proposal that would have raised property taxes by as much as 10.5 mills. Recently, the council revisited that proposal, but shot down another attempt to ask voters.
While we understand that asking voters for a huge tax increase like this is a losing proposition, the council should have, at the very least, allow voters one more chance to consider it.
As it turns out, the council was warned by the mayor and city attorney that if the city misses a pension payment – which is a strong likelihood in the near future – the matter will go to court.
A judge would then likely order a special tax on the property rolls to fund the pension. That millage rate could be much higher than 10.5 mills.
We find it curious that some residents who demand that the city maintain its independent fire and police departments are the very same folks who refuse to put their money where their mouths are.
The city no longer collects enough revenue from taxes to pay for everything, as it stands now. The cost for providing these services keeps going up, while tax revenue goes down – or at best remains static.
We appear to be on a crash course for financial collapse.
If you want city services to remain as-is – or even demand an improvement – you have to pay for it.
The easy, but not the smartest, thing to do is absolutely nothing – which is what the city council opted for.
Posted Feb. 12, 202

One way or another, Hamtramck, you are going to pay.
Pay for what, you ask?
Pay for the pension costs for firefighters and police officers. The city simply can’t afford the yearly $2.2 million cost.
Last November, Hamtramck voters overwhelmingly rejected a millage increase proposal that would have raised property taxes by as much as 10.5 mills. Recently, the council revisited that proposal, but shot down another attempt to ask voters.
While we understand that asking voters for a huge tax increase like this is a losing proposition, the council should have, at the very least, allow voters one more chance to consider it.
As it turns out, the council was warned by the mayor and city attorney that if the city misses a pension payment – which is a strong likelihood in the near future – the matter will go to court.
A judge would then likely order a special tax on the property rolls to fund the pension. That millage rate could be much higher than 10.5 mills.
We find it curious that some residents who demand that the city maintain its independent fire and police departments are the very same folks who refuse to put their money where their mouths are.
The city no longer collects enough revenue from taxes to pay for everything, as it stands now. The cost for providing these services keeps going up, while tax revenue goes down – or at best remains static.
We appear to be on a crash course for financial collapse.
If you want city services to remain as-is – or even demand an improvement – you have to pay for it.
The easy, but not the smartest, thing to do is absolutely nothing – which is what the city council opted for.
Posted Feb. 12, 2021