For many, tax hike will hardly be noticed

We’ve said it before, but we’ll repeat it again.

The Hamtramck City Council did the right thing on Tuesday by officially raising the city’s property tax rate to its legal limit. The 2.2 mills will hardly be noticeable to most households, despite what some critics claim.

For the average homeowner, the increase will translate into an additional $60 a year. But in reality, for many households, they will experience a decrease – yes, a decrease – in property taxes.

If you bought a house just before the housing bubble burst, when houses were still selling for outrageous amounts, the value of your house has greatly fallen. That means your tax bill will also shoot down, by 21 percent, we are told.

And for those who have owned a house for over two decades, well, you’ve been paying a very low tax bill for quite some time. A little bump up will hardly break anyone’s bank.

Of course that’s not the way some council candidates see it. They insist the tax will send some folks over the edge.

And these same candidates insist there are alternative ways for the city to raise money, through cuts or revenue sources not being tapped into.

Hogwash. These candidates are full of hot air. They are just hoping to hoodwink voters into thinking there is wasteful spending going on in the city.

This is a time when many communities are asking voters to approve extra millages over their legal limit. For the most part, voters are saying yes to new taxes because they want their city to survive.

Hamtramck property owners have a vested interest in making sure Hamtramck survives as well.