Donate
  • About
  • Rent College Pads
  • Advertise
  • Privacy
Search
News
Opinions
Sports
Classifieds
Comics
BMA
Events
Subscribe

Monday, May 16, 2022
Print Archive

Eastern Echo
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinions
  • Comics
  • Podcast
  • BMA
  • Events
  • Classifieds
  • Search
  • News
  • Sports
  • Opinions
  • Comics
  • Podcast
  • BMA
  • Events
  • Classifieds
Search

Subscribe to the Echo

Donate to The Echo

You can support the Echo by donating through the EMU Foundation and selecting to apply your gift to a specific fund. Any of the funds listed below will provide support to the Echo.

01049 -- EMU Echo Editor Endowed Scholarship:  Provides financial support for the current EMU Echo Editor.

02414 -- Scott Stephenson Eastern Echo Scholarship:  This expendable scholarship is for the benefit of student(s) in the School of Communication, Media & Theater Arts in the College of Arts & Sciences.  It will be awarded to a full or part-time junior or senior EMU student majoring in journalism and working for the Eastern Echo.  The student should be working to self-finance their education and not be eligible for need-based grants.

00825 -- Student Media Development:  Provides support for the Student Media program.

Thank you for supporting the Echo and EMU Student Media.

Give Now


2/7/2020, 2:11pm

Opinion: Ypsilanti's greatest adversary is its own debt crisis

High crime might be Ypsilanti’s most reported and discussed problem, while its debt crisis stays under the radar.

By Marcus Lawniczak
Opinion: Ypsilanti's greatest adversary is its own debt crisis

Ypsilanti's redevelopment layout for the Water Street property. Retrieved from the Ypsilanti Water Street marketing packet

Share

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Mail
  • Print

There are many problems within Ypsilanti: concentrated low income housing, a higher than average crime rate and below average public schools. These issues are well-known and often openly discussed by residents.

Crime is constantly covered by the local media because these articles are some of the most popular due to their sensationalist nature; who could resist reading about an Ypsilanti woman stabbing her boyfriend with a Japanese samurai sword?

While high crime is well known throughout the area, one of the biggest - if not the biggest - issue holding Ypsilanti back is barely talked about: the Water Street debt.

This debt crisis began in the late 1990s because of a singular bad decision taken by the city council. From 1999 until 2003, the city purchased the 38-acre Water Street property, a large piece of land just west of downtown. To make this purchase a reality, Ypsilanti borrowed $31 million, believing that a developer would immediately purchase the property - thereby eliminating the debt - and build houses and businesses on it. This would then raise the amount of revenue the city collects in property taxes. Many viewed the purchase as the beginnings of a new and prosperous era for Ypsilanti.

An aerial view of Ypsilanti's Water Street property. It is just south of Riverside Park and just east of downtown.

These grandiose visions were quickly crushed, however, as Water Street was contaminated by the factories that once operated on it, meaning that an extra $4 to $8 million would have to be spent on environmental cleanup costs. No residential property could be lawfully built on the land before a cleanup.

Because of this, no developer has purchased the land, while the environmental cleanup has never been completed. Therefore, since 2003, Ypsilanti has been stuck paying off the $31 million by itself. For a city that usually brings in an average of $21 million annually in revenue, bankruptcy looked to be a genuine possibility.

The Water Street debt, which currently sits at $8,785,000, has forced elected officials to make drastic cuts in public safety and city services. For example, in 2016, Ypsilanti’s City Council approved cuts to the city’s police force and the elimination of funding for its community centers. This included things such as the Rutherford Pool on Congress Street. The Water Street debt has resulted in public safety and services being cut while elected officials have simultaneously looked to raise taxes on residents.   

The City of Ypsilanti borrowed the $31 million for Water Street through what is called a general obligation bond. The catch with this type of bond is that local governments have to meet the payment requirements at any cost, even if that means raising taxes. This is exactly what Ypsilanti did. In 2017, after multiple failed attempts, residents approved a 2.3-mill proposal, generating an additional $650,000 in yearly debt payments. This was on top of the already established $880,000 yearly payments. 

Marcus Lawniczak

Remaining debt from the Water Street property purchase, affected by the passage of time and city council decisionmaking. Constructed via data from City of Ypsilanti Archives.

Voters approved this tax increase, giving Ypsilanti the highest tax rate in comparison to all of its direct neighbors. This includes Ann Arbor, Saline, Chelsea, Milan and Ypsilanti Township.

What reason do middle to upper income earners with children, or plans for children, have of moving to Ypsilanti? They will pay much more in taxes than other neighboring cities for a city which has worse public schools, more crime and less city services than its neighbors. 

Ypsilanti residents are paying more for less. The Water Street debt is expected to be fully paid off in 2031. Unfortunately, the high taxes on residents will be here for more than another ten years, but it is also a clear positive that this debt will be eliminated.

After the mess is finally dealt with, city council must lower the city’s millage rate to those of its neighbors or ensure that public safety, its public schools and city services will improve.

High crime and below average public schools are clearly holding Ypsilanti back, but these issues will never be properly addressed until the Water Street debt is eliminated. The City of Ypsilanti simply cannot properly fund its police force and city services until the debt is paid off. 

Share



Related Stories

Council Member Annie Somerville hosted the first City Town Hall discussion about the social equity plan written into Proposal 1, which city voters overwhelmingly approved in 2018.

Ypsilanti named disproportionately impacted community under Proposal 1's social equity plan

By Pamela Mohar

Retrieved from: http://www.detroit1701.org/Ypsilanti%20Barracks-Thompson%20Block.htmlCredit: Ren Farley; July, 2012

Opinion: Restoring Depot Town’s Thompson Block building is both good and bad

By Marcus Lawniczak

Fire Chief Ken Hobbs at his desk.

City of Ypsilanti hires Ken Hobbs as fire chief after public outcry over his initial rejection

By Dan D'Introno


The Eastern Echo welcomes thoughtful discussion on all of our stories, but please keep comments civil and on-topic. Read our full guidelines here.


Most Popular


Last Updated 15 hours ago

Review: Jack Harlow gets hit with the sophomore slumps with new album 'Come Home The Kids Miss You'

By Aaron Hughes

Jack Harlow was a name you could not avoid over the past two years. After seemingly being on fire, his new album may extinguish that flame.


5/10/2022, 8:00am

Review: Future’s “I NEVER LIKED YOU” demonstrates his dominance as an artist


5/12/2022, 8:00am

Great places to visit during a trip to Chicago


5/12/2022, 5:31pm

Stamp Out Hunger food drive returns Saturday


Podcast


2/26/2022, 7:45pm

Podcast: February 23rd, 2022


5/14/2022, 6:20pm

Podcast: May 14th, 2022


4/22/2022, 11:14am

Podcast: April 21, 2022


4/14/2022, 9:26am

Podcast: April 14, 2022


Tweets by TheEasternEcho
Eastern Michigan Echo To Homepage
  • About
  • Jobs
  • Freelance
  • Submissions
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Distribution

All Rights Reserved

© Copyright 2022 The Eastern Echo

Powered by Solutions by The State News.