News Poll | Twiigs

Ann Arbor city officials are considering placing a city income tax question on the November ballot.

Are you in favor of a city income tax in Ann Arbor?

Yes, we need to find ways to generate revenue.
27%
No, a city income tax is a bad idea.
58%
Undecided, I need more information.
14%

Created on Jul 25, 2009

Closed

Total Votes: 815

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Comments (10):

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comments 1 - 10 of 10

Posted on Jul 25, 2009 at 6:23 PM by aataxpayer:

What Ann Arbor needs is a dose of reality. Several sweet deals for early retirements and generous union contracts have led to a situation where 35% our city taxes will soon go solely to retiree pension and health care! The current round of contract negotiations are critical to taxpayers, but the city has put out a gag order and won't let anyone discuss it. Let's get real - it's time for public sector concessions like those made by non-government workers.

Posted on Jul 25, 2009 at 8:29 PM by wshawii:

While I agree with aataxpayer's that the "sacrifice"of public-sector service is no longer so burdensome, I wholeheartedly agree with the notion of a local income tax. I'm one of those who live in a suburb and commute to Ann Arbor. As a University town, Ann Arbor is saddled with providing services to a large number of properties that are otherwise tax-exempt. City property owners would benefit the most; the tax burden would be spread out among thousands of others.

Posted on Jul 26, 2009 at 10:06 AM by gjrg:

With regard to the voting. How accurate can it be when it's open to virtually everyone and can be used to vote as many times as you want to. This is a joke! If I work in Ann Arbor and live out of town, I and my friends can scam the system by registering our votes any number of times for whatever our position is. It concerns primarily those who live in Ann Arbor and pay Ann Arbor taxes, so why not restrict it to those who would be impacted the most, and are either for or against. Why should it include those who only work, but do not live here? That can only provide a false reading and not necessarily what Ann Arbor residents would like to see. Thank you.

Posted on Jul 26, 2009 at 1:12 PM by voiceaa:

Let's hear it for more taxes. Bad enough that Obama and company are ready to take everyone to the cleaners with massive tax hkes.

A city income tax will drive more residents out of Ann Arbor, while making the city less attractive for businesses to relocate within its borders if its employees were getting nailed.

I thought plenty of revenue was rolling in with the cops running their daily speed trap dragnets.

Posted on Jul 26, 2009 at 1:53 PM by mattdasse:

Doesn't the city of Detroit have an income tax, it seems to have worked out there.....

Posted on Jul 26, 2009 at 2:29 PM by alfeldt:

Virtually every major city in Michigan has an income tax, 18 at the normal state rate of 1% for residents and 0.5% for non residents. 4 have higher rates. What's wrong with Ann Arbor? Are we to pure to pay an income tax?

Posted on Jul 26, 2009 at 4:07 PM by rustyshackelford:

How about stop granting millions in tax breaks to upscale developers? Those are things that mainly service people from out of town while driving up rents for people who actually live in the city.

It will create more revenue without increasing the tax burden on people who already live here. Ann Arbor is popular enough that it does not need tax incentives to motivate developers.

If you want to tax commuters, fine, but property taxes (and, as a result, also rents) are way too high in the city to begin with, without this additional burden.

Greden wants to shift the burden from developers to the average taxpayer. He never misses a chance to help his developer buddies. What a craven person. My guess is he's just passing time on council before he can jump ship for some lucrative gig with one of them.

Posted on Jul 26, 2009 at 8:30 PM by eyehearta2:

Why no mention of the fact that this has been voted down at least once and I think more than that? Let's quit beating a dead horse.

At least the A2 news did an analysis of this the last time it came up for a vote.

Posted on Jul 27, 2009 at 12:08 PM by textreeder:

Flint and Detroit? Are we supposed to use them as an economic model?

I have to wonder if the city income taxes there weren't the coup de grace, putting the final bullet into a dying economy.

Posted on Jul 29, 2009 at 3:50 PM by orpheus:

Sure, let's tax incomes and drive the number of jobs and home prices down. What a great idea ;-o

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