City hall façade upgrade raises a number of questions

Without a doubt, Hamtramck City Hall needs a facelift.
The front entrance has been looking pretty shabby for several years.
But is it worth the estimated $200,000 to get into shape?
That’s a question some city officials are struggling over. At this point, the cost estimate is just that – an estimate.
It could turn out that once bids come in, the cost could be considerably less. Or, if that is an educated estimate, that will be the price tag?
Complicating the matter even more is that the city is currently in deficit spending. It is pretty hard to justify spending $200,000 for basically a new front entrance at this time.
However, the city’s deficit spending level is based on the belief that GM will be shutting down its Poletown plant this January – something the company first said it would do several months ago.
But now, GM is offering to keep the plant open as one of its concessions to striking UAW workers. The city gets $800,000 per year from GM in lieu of it paying property taxes on the plant.
A small portion of the plant is located on the Hamtramck side of the Detroit border.
The city administration has already factored that loss of revenue into the new budget year. If the plant does remain open, and if GM still continues to pay the city that yearly amount, fixing the façade of city hall then makes sense.
We’ll wait with an open mind on what to do until bids come back, but right now it doesn’t seem likely the cost estimate will be that far off.
Sept. 27, 2019