During a time period when Detroit’s homeowners were paying $600 million in property taxes that the city later admitted were assessed in error, a developer received approval for $615 million in tax breaks and other incentives for just two projects in the city.
In another project, the city spent more money to buy a few parcels of land than it did to run the Detroit Health Department for the entire year, then turned around and gave that land for free to one of the world’s biggest automakers for a plant expansion.
In today’s Detroit News, the CEA’s John Mozena calls out the city’s political and business leadership for promoting “socialism for the rich and rugged free-enterprise capitalism for the poor,” as Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. once described this form of economic development policy.