We are calling on you, Governor Whitmer, to force the State Tax Commission to do its job by investigating and stopping the continuing illegally inflated property taxes in Detroit, which are causing historic levels of tax foreclosure.

Between 2009-2015, the City of Detroit over assessed the property value of 53 to 84 percent of homes in violation of the Michigan Constitution, which prohibits localities from assessing any property at more than 50 percent of its market value. As a result, Detroit overtaxed its residents by at least $600 million. Despite the City of Detroit’s 2017 attempt to correct this pervasive illegality, the inflated property taxes continue even today, especially for the lowest valued homes. Because many Detroit homeowners cannot afford to pay their illegally inflated property taxes, 1 in 3 Detroit homes have completed the tax foreclosure process since 2009—the highest tax foreclosure rate in any American city since the Great Depression.

These are deep, systemic problems that only you can fix using your executive authority. We are calling on you to order the State Tax Commission to do its job by investigating and ending unconstitutional property tax assessments in Detroit. You must also locate funding to make affected populations whole because #BlackHomesMatter