Today, while looking through our depressed Property market here in Ferndale I discovered a few things; the most surprising was that there was a home with current taxes of $6405 per year.
YIKES!
I then got to thinking...what happens to this person if the dreaded Headlee Override passes? His taxes move to nearly $7,000.00!! [$6944.28 to be exact].
These are the stories Mr. T Scott Galloway doesn't want you to hear about.
In fact of the 30 homes I found for sale in Ferndale here, 20 of the 30 (66%) were over 3,000, 1o were over $4,000 a year and 5 were over $5,000 in current property taxes!! These would go up an astounding $364-$540 per year!! That is as much as $2500 over the life of the tax.
This doesn't even address businesses who do not enjoy the Homestead tax break.
Council likes to talk about how the downtown was empty before the D.D.A.? How empty will it be when struggling business' can't afford the new tax?? As if the empty storefronts pay less taxes than the full ones.
Some other interesting notes: [Source]
- There are 554 homes for sale in Ferndale (5.7%) How much will this increase when the taxes go up?? Do we benefit from having empty homes all around us??
- There are 1509 Foreclosures (15.5 %) which almost doubled from the 847(8.7%) reported for last year. How many will be forced into foreclosure by increased taxes?
- Over 21% of Ferndale homes (1 in 5) are on the market or foreclosed. How much further can that be pushed with a 38% tax increase?
- Our home values are plummeting! How much more will it plummet when we have the HIGHEST TAX RATE IN OAKLAND COUNTY?? Who will want to buy in Ferndale then?
Neighbors....please join us:
F.A.C.T. = FERNDALE AGAINST COUNCIL'S TAX
by emailing me at SeanMHouse@gmail.com
or calling Sean at 248-224-1973.
PLEASE VOTE NO ON THE HEADLEE OVERRIDE TAX INCREASE!
From Tony C via email:
ReplyDelete"Hi, Sean,
My tax bill for just my house was $4,395.10.
Keep up the great work on your blog. I really enjoy reading it. Thanks, TC"
Ed: Thank you, I enjoy writing it.
Sean,
ReplyDeleteYou still haven't provided ANY alternative ideas to the Headlee override. You complain about the taxation, but I have yet to hear ANY realistic alternative to the Headlee - aside from the city going into bankruptcy. Fine, cut Kulick, cut the furniture budget, but that's a tiny part of the whole deficit.
There was a great comment on the Ferndale Patch that summaries my opinion:
"If there were two legitimate proposals on the table to balance the City's budget while maintaining an acceptable level of services, one of which included a tax increase and the other without, avoiding the Headlee override would be simple. Unfortunately, at this point there isn't a viable "without a tax increase" proposal on the table.
We would all prefer a viable resolution to this shortfall that does not include a tax increase but, as of now no such plan exists. Fortunately, there is time between now and the May ballot to discuss other realistic ideas if they materialize."
Show us a way to resolve the shortfall without a tax increase, Sean, and I'll agree with you. But all you've shown us so far is sound and fury amounting to nothing.