Detroit taxpayers forked over $56 million in police settlement payouts between 2020 and four months of 2023.
Those payouts are a record amount in recent history, but public officials won’t explain why.
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The Detroit city council approved a $12.69M opioid settlement on Tuesday against four companies they say contributed to the opioid epidemic.
Detroit was one of about 4,000 local governments that sued opioid manufacturers and distributors. The funds will flow to local governments and the state.
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The Detroit City Council on Friday announced the members of the city’s new Reparations Task Force.
The Task Force was established after 80% of Detroit voters approved a 2021 ballot proposal to explore the feasibility of a reparation initiative. According to the Detroit News, the proposal from the Michigan Democratic Party Black Caucus came in part from the national response to the 2021 death of George Floyd.
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The Detroit City Council postponed for a second time a vote on whether to give billionaire Dan Gilbert a $60 million tax break over 10 years after heavy resident pushback.
Gilbert, who Forbes says is worth $15.6 billion, says he needs taxpayers to fund a 10-year tax break to renovate real estate firm Bedrock’s Hudson building, which they claim will support 2,000 permanent jobs once finished.
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Nine years after declaring bankruptcy, the city of Detroit received more than $826.7 million in one-time federal stimulus money but still projects a deficit in fiscal year 2027.
A Citizen’s Research Council of Michigan (CRCM) report says the city’s plan to spend one-time dollars on recurring programs is unsustainable.
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U.S. Magistrate Judge Elizabeth Stafford entered a not-guilty plea for a silent Detroit City Councilman André L. Spivey in U.S. District Court in Detroit Tuesday to accepting over $35,000 in exchange for council votes.
Spivey was released on a $10,000 unsecured bond. Stafford reportedly agreed to the release under the conditions that Spivey to give up his enhanced driver’s license, his passport and his expired concealed-carry permit.
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The Detroit City Council on Tuesday approved a contract supporting facial recognition in Detroit, even after a vast majority of public comments were in opposition to the measure.
The measure, approved by a 6-3 vote, approves spending $219,984 to cover costs associated with upgrades and maintenance. The council’s vote was preceded by a morning protest and an hour of public comment from residents opposing facial recognition, arguing the technology is “racist.”
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