Tagged: Detroit City Council

This week Christina Shockley and Jack Lessenberry talked about what legislation is likely to pass before the end of the year, the cash crisis in Detroit, and mass transit in southeast Michigan.

Detroit deadlock continues

Detroit needs cash if it's going to make payroll in December. $30 million waits from the state.

But Mayor Bing and the Detroit City Council are locked in a battle over a law firm contract. A special council meeting was supposed to be held yesterday to resolve the problem, but the the city's legal department canceled the meeting.

Even it the meeting had been held, Matt Helms of the Detroit Free Press reports, Bing would not have had the votes to end the deadlock.

Had a vote been taken, it likely would not have gone Bing's way. The sole council member to vote to approve it, President Pro Tem Gary Brown, said Monday that the Bing administration "doesn't have the votes" to reverse course.

And the city's financial crisis looms.

Legislature aims to cut a source of revenue for some cities

There have been a lot of proposals floated in this lame-duck session of the Michigan legislature, but one plan the Gov. hopes to pass by the end of the year is a phase out of the "personal property tax."

That's a tax that many manufacturers pay to local governments on equipment they own. Local governments that have a big manufacturing base have said eliminating the tax would hurt their bottom line.

MLive's Dave Eggert reports Lt. Gov. Brian Calley plans to unveil a new plan to cut the tax today:

Sources who have been briefed on the proposal said key changes include partially replacing the revenue with a portion of the state's tax on out-of-state retail transactions and allowing local governments to assess a special tax to recoup money for police, fire and ambulance services.

Troy breaks ground on new transit center

The city of Troy is breaking ground on a new transit center today. The project was opposed by Troy's recently recalled Mayor, Janice Daniels, because the funding for the project is comging from the federal government. The transit center will cost $6.3 million to build and will house facilities for bus, train, and car rental services. The transit center will replace Birmingham's Amtrak stop. It's expected to open the summer of 2013.

Efforts to resolve a dispute that’s pushed Detroit to the brink of financial crisis flopped again on Monday.

Mayor Dave Bing called a special meeting with the City Council, hoping Council members would approve a contract with law firm Miller Canfield.

Lansing is sitting on $30 million in Detroit bond money because Council didn’t approve that contract, which was part of a “milestone agreement” between Bing and state officials.

Nolan Finley is concerned about Detroit City Council.

In a recent Detroit News editorial, Finley claimed that Detroit Corporate Council Krystal Crittendon “must go.”  

Finley spoke with Cyndy about Detroit’s drastic need to reform its Council.

“The mayor has finally got the message that you have to cooperate or this won’t end well. City Council is still under the delusion that it has power and can escape the consequences of decades of bad management,” said Finley.

Detroit Mayor Bing called for a special meeting today to address the city's impending cash crisis. 

The council was ready to meet, but it appears the meeting was called off after concerns were raised about following the Open Meetings Act.

From WDIV:

A special Detroit City Council meeting on Monday was halted when the city's law department said it hadn't followed the Open Meetings Act.

Bing had called for the meeting in the Coleman A. Young Municipal Center to request the City Council to adopt a resolution to approve a legal services contract for Miller Canfield. The mayor had also wanted City Council to adopt a resolution that would amend the city's 2012-2013 budget to address a pension shortfall.

While the meeting was open to the public, concern arose because the notice for the meeting was posted Sunday -- when the building isn't open. It's a requirement of the Open Meetings Act that a notice be posted in public.

If you haven’t been to Detroit lately, it’s easy to have an image of a ghastly ruin full of ominous criminals waiting behind the rubble to shoot you, Well, there are areas where it’s not a good idea to go. But there are plenty of wonderful places too.

Detroit mayor Dave Bing says he’ll resort to mandated employee furlough days before letting the city go broke.

The city is facing a likely $18 million cash shortfall next month. That’s despite having a consent agreement with the state that’s intended to avoid just such a crisis.

This week, the Detroit City Council voted down a contract with a law firm. That relatively small item was crucial to the city’s cash situation because it was part of a “milestone agreement” laying out conditions for releasing Detroit bond money the state is holding in escrow.

Detroit mayor Dave Bing says the Detroit City Council has pushed the city to the brink of another cash crisis.

The Council voted Tuesday to reject a contract with the law firm Miller-Canfield.

Bing maintains that approving that contract was part of a so-called “milestone agreement” with the state, which is holding $30 million Detroit bond money in escrow.