Reassessment of housing is overdue and unfair to homeowners

Hamtramck homeowners are being cheated.

Recently, a slim majority on city council rejected a proposal to conduct a re-assessment of properties.

According to city Assessor Tony Fuoco, the last time the city performed such a survey was in 1969. Saying we are overdue is an understatement.

While we understand the city is cash-strapped at this point to cover the $80,000 it will take to do the assessment over the next two years, the city owes it to homeowners. They have a right to be taxed fairly.

What city officials aren’t saying is that there is a good chance the new assessment could result in a drop in home values. That would likely make a huge impact on how much in property taxes the city collects.

Sooner or later the city has to do this study. In fact, at any point the state could order the city to conduct the assessment.

Hamtramck will have to take its chances on what that study finds. If property tax collection indeed goes down, so be it. The city will have to live within its means.

If that requires making drastic changes in how the city provides services, better to find out now while we’re already in a budget crisis.

The bottom line is, homeowners have every right to be taxed fairly, and that is not happening today.