Property values will stay down, taxes will stay high, until BCC considers return on investment
Folks, if you're not thoroughly pissed at the Birmingham City Commission yet, you're clearly not paying attention. Up until now, that was OK. That's what we've been here for. But we're here to tell you it's time to perk up, because the stakes are bigger than ever.Taxes are too high, property values are in the toilet, and our downtown is in decline. Our commission's response: failure to act decisively on initiatives that would bolster Birmingham in the real estate marketplace, and an utterly premature and dumb decision to spend more than $10 million on an 8.3-acre park at Barnum.
You don't have to have your home up for sale or your space up for rent to be angry and scared about the direction of the real estate market. But can we reasonably expect our elected officials to influence the marketplace? Can we reasonably expect them to reduce our taxes? You bet we can. But do we? Sadly, no, not if voter turnout and community activism are any indication.
Maybe a few more foreclosures will get folks stirred up. Wait till interest-rate caps come off, and the houses are worth less than the mortgages, and the payments start suffocating people. Then more might be asking: Why isn't Birmingham more competitive with Rochester, Northville and Plymouth? Why is our city, which has the potential to be so attractive, stagnating? Why hasn't our City Commission made our town as good as it can be? Why haven't they improved the Rouge Trail? Why have they let that prime piece of real estate along the river remain a fenced-off parking lot when it could be the coolest, most attractive section of our downtown? Why haven't they embraced the Hilton development, and cleaned up the corner of Maple and Woodward? Why do we have two vacant gas stations at the gateway to our downtown? Why don't we have more liquor licenses and more outdoor cafes -- and why the hell is it that you still can't get a glass of wine at Salvatore Scallopine!? Why is the Triangle District still a wasteland, with a master plan no closer than it was five years ago? Why do we continue to squander the potential of the Woodward Avenue corridor as a resource for development and increased tax revenue? Why are we spending $10 million on an oversized neighborhood park, when we could be spending a fraction of that to create a true community recreation center by augmenting the ice arena, tennis dome, ballfields and skatepark at Kenning? Why do they keep listening to the loud-mouthed Antis, who have nothing better to do than rail against change, and who were marginalized along with Dante Lanzetta and Gary Kulak in the 2003 election?
It's time to start paying attention again, and time to start getting angry, because this time, real money is at stake -- your money, and a lot of it -- and unless you insist on a commission, or at least a commission majority, that understands the big picture and can move the details, your property values will stay in the toilet, and your taxes will go up.
Here's what's got our blood boiling:
* Dianne McKeon. We goofed bigtime in our 2003 endorsement of McKeon, who is often now the swing vote on the commission. Back then, we pegged her as an impressionable but mostly well-meaning commissioner who lived in and supported the downtown. Since then, oblivious to the mandate implicit in the landslide vote, she's sided with the Antis more times than we care to count. She's proven to be a classic flip-flopper. First she extolled the virtues of an extended Bates St., and then refused to fund a simple survey to get the planning process rolling. She expressed support for usable space above garages, and then voted the other night against a perfectly reasonable proposal from our professional planners that would accommodate them. Back in '03, we thought the impressionability was a way of endearing herself to her constituents. Now we know that she really can't make up her mind, and really does flip-flop depending on whom she's spoken to most recently. How do we know? She's TOLD US -- more than once! McKeon has said she will not seek another term on the commission. We hope she doesn't flip-flop on that.
* Scott Moore, Tom McDaniel and Julie Plotnik. They've consistently failed to marshall a majority for key votes, failed to work together with a unified vision, and have given ground on important issues. Barnum (which we'll get to in more detail soon) is a prime example. Moore, who told us in '03 that any solution for Barnum must be self-sustaining, and later said he favored senior housing or some similar form of development that would benefit the community on a portion of the site, changed his tune and voted in favor of spending an additional $1.5 million to demolish the buildings and devote the entire 8.3-acre site to parkland. McDaniel engineered the whole thing, after sitting on the Ad Hoc Barnum Property Committee and seeing first-hand how the committee, stacked with Antis, refused to ever seriously consider even a small amount of development. Abandoning his bent toward historic preservation, he now advocates taking the wrecking ball to even the oldest portion of the school. Plotnik, who lives close to Barnum and had previously expressed a desire to investigate development options that would defray the cost of an expanded and improved park, refused to stand up for what she believed, and dodged the freight train steered by McDaniel with her consenting vote. All three have disappointed us.
* Our newest commission member, Stuart Sherman, has been a major embarrassment to the commission -- and to Birmingham. Keep your eyes peeled for more on the Stanley manse. The Ethics Board is about to officially dodge the question of whether anything unseemly occurred in the whole assessment fiasco. You read our questions here, but the board has ruled that someone has to make an official complaint before it will consider the ethicality of past actions. (Never mind that few, if any, know what to complain about, other than the lack of any real truth of the matter.) Advisory opinions are given only on "anticipated future actions." So, community, buck up. Unless and until somebody makes an accusation against someone -- Sherman, the Boards of Review or city staffers -- the Ethics Board won't be telling us if the actions were wrong, or just stupid. And Sherman and his cronies will continue to throw up their smoke-screen, claiming that the city's assessment process is somehow to blame. We're seriously considering filing a complaint against the city, and using the public claims of Sherman and fellow review board members as evidence of alleged wrongdoing. (Remember, they claimed the city inappropriately told them to trash the records related to review decisions. Luckily, Sherman kept them, and his and the testimony of other members to the Ethics Board would help us mete out whether any wrongdoing actually occurred. We think not, but we're usually overly optimistic and gullible.)
* Another summer season of kids swarming the downtown, a bunch of empty storefronts, no sidewalk cafes to speak of, and NO ADDITIONAL LIQUOR LICENSES! How long should it take to get this done? The poop (and it does stink), is this: The largely rudderless commission is letting the lone voice against more liquor licenses -- who else? Don Carney -- dictate the pace of decision-making. Maybe by 2008 (sometime after the next election), we'll get something done. Don't hold your breath.
* Going nowhere on the Rouge Trail. Improvements were suggested in the 2016 Plan. Our Recreation Master Plan anticipates them. When voters were sold on the $25 million parks bond issue, they were told some of the money would go toward trail improvement. And we hired a consultant, at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars, to study the trail and recommend some specifics. If completed, they would enhance our town and offer an environment where, in a single afternoon, a visitor could go shopping, see a movie and walk a nature trail. But what does our commission do? Toss it aside. Why? Same reason they make every other decision: They can't stand controversy, they listen to the loudest mouths in the room on the night they're asked to make a decision, and they always seem to have one eye on the next election. So an improvement project that would benefit the WHOLE TOWN, that stretches more than a mile from Booth Park and Quarton Lake at the north to Northlawn in the south, and would cost less than $1 million if done right, is set aside. No matter we're prepared to spend $10 million or more on Barnum. Yes, folks, we couldn't spend $10 million on an eight-point-three-acre park for the folks on Pierce, Purdy, Frank and George if we frivolously spent money on a silly old pathway that covers virtually the entire north-south length of our city. Which brings us to:
* Greed. We don't like it anywhere, and we really don't like it when it seeps into government. But that's exactly what happened at Barnum, where immediate neighbors with vested private interests (does that sound familiar?) unduly influenced the decision-making process, and a group of naive and politically gullible commissioners decided that serious consideration of development options that would help defray the cost of an expanded and improved park -- to say nothing of saving a piece of Birmingham's history -- were not worth the risk of alienating the aforementioned vested, not to mention loud-mouthed and hypocritical, interests. So it looks like we'll be spending around 45% of the $25 million bond issue on one park, or upward of $10 million. That's instead of paying, say, $6 million or $7 million for an improved and expanded, but not quite eight-point-three-acre park. And do we have a workable plan, drawn up after reasonable public input? Well ... no. But they do say it will be an "innovative urban park," something along the lines of New York's Central Park. Without the urban. Or the New York. And what of the rest of the bond money? And any other parks and recreation initiatives? No plans. It's up for grabs folks. First come, first served. Your tax dollars...
* ... squandered. Just when our economy is booming. Automakers are thriving. Governments are flush with cash. Property values are soaring. Yeah, right. You wish. Didn't these people promise fiscal responsibility? Didn't they promise that any solution for Barnum had to be self-sustaining? Didn't they occasionally rail against "pet projects" and "frivolous spending." So much for campaign promises. The campaign is over. Now we're into another phase, where support for a dumb idea like a $10 million, eight-point-three-acre neighborhood park might be worth a few votes at election time. Here's the point: The phrase "return on investment" apparenly means nothing to our current commission. Where's the return on Barnum? Or Shain? (Wait till they figure out that the parking system, almost surely suffering from a dearth of shoppers with cars to park, just might not be able to pay off the nine-point-whatever-million-dollar bond, and taxpayers will have to step in and foot the bill.) Meanwhile, real projects with real potential return (modest development at Barnum, redevelopment of N. Bates St., rezoning of the Triangle District and the Woodward corridor, Rouge Trail improvements) go nowhere. This is a spiral in the wrong direction. Spending frivolously, and failing to invest, or even make policy decisions, wisely.
We could go on. We won't. Rant over. (We should have borrowed Alice Thimm's Remington.) It's your tax dollars, your property values, your city government. Reap what you sow.
AMEN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by on 08/30 at 06:42 PMClinton,
Hopefully you’ll remember me. Realtor, friend of Amy Geller, Sara Young...?? I just started a blog of my own that within the Realtor community. I was told about your site from Maureen Francis, a co-worker of mine. I have to tell you that this is fantastic! Sad information, but fantastic that you’re doing this. Thank you! I totally agree with you about the state of our city. I have seen more homes sell this year for less than what the SEV is. Values are dropping. It’s hurting my business and me personally.... It is a very scary place to be. Something needs to be done and it needs to be done fast. I fear that soon some of the things that make our city special will be gone. Keep blogging and I’ll do my part to “tune in’ as many people as I can.Posted by Sara Lipnitz on 08/30 at 08:28 PMThis was probably one of the most honest and well written pieces I’ve seen in years. Is there any way the present Board can be overturned? Isn’t Dan Teahan on this Board?
I worked at WMSR for 15 years, then went to HWW, when my partners moved over there. Richard Weir, my father, can’t even believe what’s happened to Birmingham. I actually saw it coming back in 1990, when I purchased my first, and ONLY Birmingham investment property in Birmingham, on Glenhurst. This home, which I sold in about 18 months, was purchased for $305,000. The taxes went up to $9,000, once it was re-assesed. That was it for me. I went and bought a beautifully updated ranch, with a full basement and 900sq.ft. family room addition, in Westchester, at Maple & Cranbrook for $205,000. My taxes there were only around $3,000, and the house was much larger. After that, I concentrated on selling property in the township, vs Birmingham, because the tax base had gone COMPLETELY OUT OF CONTROL. A buyer can get nearly twice the square footage, close to twice the yard and now pay only one third the taxes of a compariable home in Birmingham, with Bloomfield Hills schools !!! The township has no parks, they have no downtown, no movie theatres, but it blows Birmingham right out of the water in terms of value for the money. Birmingham proprty values have been so overinflated, for so long, get ready, your going to see a real decline in the next few years. If you all don’t get you tax base in order, sales could come to a halt. As you mentioned, Rochester,Novi Plymouth,Canton, Bloomfield Township, are all lowering their prices and taxes accordingly. What is wrong with you people, do something now, before it’s too late.Sincerely,
Wendy Weir
Hannett, Wilson & Whitehouse
248-646-6200Posted by on 08/31 at 03:09 AMCall for a meeting of residents who are aware of your the statements that you made in your article. And lets go door to door in a constructive matter, collect some signatures and take it up with the appropriate party once we have solid numbers behind us. I am ready, willing and able. Thanks, for the information.
Posted by on 08/31 at 03:58 AMGo Clint go!!!!!!
Posted by Tax Buster on 08/31 at 05:49 AMWhy do you want to support a new Hilton project when the three hotels in the city are already suffering low usage and paying huge property taxes. Don’t just support the home owners, also support your local businesses!
Posted by on 08/31 at 06:17 AMThis is a lesson that in the next election, we have to get our candidates on record, in writing, as to EXACTLY what they support (Dare I say “A Contract with Birmingham”?). I suggest that we create a ten or twenty point item list, VERY specific, regarding bistros, garage and house heights, the triangle district, Rouge Trail, etc. In could include setting actual targets and actively encouraging (imagine that) new private development so that we have a chance of paying our future health care and pension bills and maintaining our schools. No more happy nonsensical ambiguity. Let the voters know what actions our candidates will take upon election, let the other side respond with their usual anger and fear, and let the voters vote.
Actually, I have far more respect for the angry, fearful, dark anti-development people at the moment, because they know what they want, and even after losing the 2003 election 2 to 1, they still achieve it. They are extreme, and we are moderates, so invariably, we lose.
Regarding Barnum, there is a total lack of imagination. I agree it is an inappropriate site for high density, but our present School Board site downtown is quite appropriate for high density (an underutilized acre in the middle of downtown next to a mostly empty parking structure). Why can’t the school board move to the historical part of Barnum, and the city could rezone their present location for a ten or fifteen story mixed use building?
Posted by on 08/31 at 06:48 AMCommon sense has gone out the window. We have a number of trashy looking nail salons all over B’Ham and they are doing nothing to change the business mix. We are building condos at an even faster pace (What is going on with the one by Shain Park????) People will live in B’Ham and do what? Get coffee and watch movies? We are not creating B’Ham as a destination.
It seems Birmingham has never recovered from the blow dealt them 10 years ago with the opening of Somerset North. What a miserable shame.
Posted by on 08/31 at 09:08 AMJason, I’ll tell you why....it’s because the school board suffers from the same ego-driven disease that our commission suffers from. Namely, an “ediface complex”. Our school board wants and needs new facilities for the sole purpose of bragging to their counterparts on other school boards how they managed to snooker the public into funding a new gym or state of the art swimming pool ( which may or may not really be needed) and now the BPS has the best. You know, it’s kind of a “mine is bigger than yours” thing.
Same for our current City Commission. Did anyone....and I mean anyone including Duany ....say we actually NEEDED a bigger Shain Park? Did anyone ever actually determine what events require or will require more space? Did anyone ever determine that we needed MORE parking on Lot 7?(seems redundant when the reasons for going downtown are disappearing faster than my home equity). No, of course not. The reason for doing something as ridiculous as building a parking deck 30’ in the ground and putting a park on top is simply ...and I do mean simply..because we CAN and because the BCC wants to BUILD SOMETHING!! Same with the stupid Barnum decision....we CAN, and we have the money, so LET’S BUILD SOMETHING!!! Never mind that it makes no sense, or has no real purpose, LET’S BUILD SOMETHING.
As an architect I have seen this phenomenon at work again and again. Amateurs finally get themselves in a position to fulfill a fantasy and play at being architects and designers and do it with someone else’s money, so they do. They get their names on a plaque, pictures in the paper, and even get to make speeches....or sermons as the case may be....at the dedication cerimony! A politicians dream if there ever was one.
The reaslly sad part for me is that I actually voted for some of these folks! Yikes!!!!Posted by Roger Gienapp on 08/31 at 09:39 AMThanks for the comments, folks, and keep ‘em coming.
Wendy, Dan Teahan is not on the City Commission. He was appointed this year to the Board of Review, which considers property tax appeals. Overturn the commission? Perhaps, at election time, which is more than a year away. Actually, in the short term, I think pressure on the current commission to act appropriately is the best way to try to affect change. Nowadays, email is such a great thing. You can write one letter, and send it to the commission, the city manager, the Eccentric and the Buzz, and I guarantee, you will be heard. One of the problems is that the commission listens to the people who speak up, and often these people are not representative of the majority, and often they don’t advocate wise decisions. Only when the “silent majority” speaks, as they did in the 2003 election, are they heard. Unfortunately, they’ve been silent since, and now we see the result.
Fadi and Jason are absolutely right, and as soon as we get our kids back in school and finish building Booth Park (I hope you all lend a hand), we will advance the organizing effort.
Shannon, our support for the Hilton is based on a broader viewpoint. Ultimately, the market will determine whether four hotels can survive in Birmingham, as it has determined that two movie theatres and umpteen nail/hair salons can survive. If the Hilton thrives and the Hamilton (or Holiday Inn or Townsend) fail, so be it. We will ultimately achieve positive investment in any case. I advocate public policies that encourage public and private development that will make Birmingham a more attractive, desirable environment, and thus produce a return on the investment of public capital and policies. I do believe the proposed Hilton development fits that bill. And if it’s a good hotel, it will force the other three in town to measure up.
Posted by on 08/31 at 11:40 AMYour article is great but once you have us fired-up you have to suggest action and we will follow. We do need to organize, get signatures, mail teabags to the city or something. I own 2 homes in Birmingham. I started a new build 2 years ago and now cannot sell my existing home. If I had it to do over again I would never have built in Birmingham. I would have gone to Bloomfield Village due to most of the reasons outlined in your article and because the tax assessment process is more reasonable on new construction. Let’s face it...property taxes are high all over Michigan but Birmingham is particularly aggressive when assessing.
They are also unfair and disorganized. Do most of you know that Birmingham property taxes vary from street to street and block to block? Two homes purchased in the same year with the same value and sale pice may pay different taxes based on a the street’s Economic Condition Factor (ECF). This is the final multiplier in the property tax calculation. A home on Fairfax may pay a different tax than a home on Pilgrim with the same sale price. The difference can be as much as 50%. And no one in the assessor’s office can explain how they came to this total!!! One of the reasons Bloomfield Township is appealing because it has one ECF for the enitre Township. Everyone that pays $700,000 for a home will pay the same tax. You know exactly what you are getting into when you purchse. It is not a stressful period of “wait and see” what the value of this home is on my street.
As for the downtown area...I am heartbroken. There still seems to be growth in areas such as Southfield, Royal Oak and Franklin even with the state of our local economy. Not in Birmingham. Even when a business opens and does well (remember Fibers?) the landlords eventually drive them out when the lease expires and more money is demanded in rent. Now look at the space, it is still empty 2 years later! What was the purpose other than GREED?
It really is time to band together and deal with the situation. If we Moderates were as organized as our Extremist friends things would get done.
Posted by Trisha Habucke on 08/31 at 01:17 PMwhy don’t you put your money where your mouth is and schedule a protest at a city council meeting. Post it so we can all attend. I’d like to see how these morons running this town would address your issues.
We need a leader and you are that person.
Posted by on 08/31 at 07:17 PMClinton,
As you know, I am working on Long Island due to the current state of the economy in our area. I am not planning on moving, and as a transplant love Birmingham and what it has to offer. That is why we came here in the first place, and why we moved back after leaving at the first opportunity that was presented us. I think that people in the community take too many things for granted, and the government is obviously very much anti-development. Just look at what some of these people have to do to get something going in the town, the hoops that have to be jumped through. I really think that there has to be a wake up call and soon. Just because the Michigan economy is crumbling is not an excuse for bad management on the local level. Bad decisions can only add gas to the fire, and suddenly the town becomes what the rest of the state is going through, and we all lose. Bad economy or not, this town can flourish, but if we allow narrow non-progressive thinking to prevail, we will certainly live out a self-fullfilling prophecy. I hope you gather your support and let them know downtown how wrong they are and only wish I could be there to support your efforts.
Posted by on 09/01 at 09:15 AMCB, I was watching you on channel 15 tonite. Nice job getting things stirred up a bit. You have support. Be persistent. It matters.
And thanks. I represent some home sellers in B’ham who need things to change.
Posted by Maureen Francis on 09/18 at 08:09 PM
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