For a city about to go over the cliff, this certainly can't help.
Christine MacDonald and Mike Wilkinson of the Detroit News report that nearly half of the owners of Detroit's 305,000 properties failed to pay their tax bills last year.
The News report comes as a result of the reporters reviewing more than 200,000 pages of tax documents.
Specifically, they found 47 percent of the city's taxable parcels are delinquent on their 2011 bills and about $246.5 million in taxes and fees went uncollected.
Of that figure, about half was due to Detroit, the paper reported. The rest was to go to other entities, including Wayne County, Detroit Public Schools and the library.
The paper wrote:
Delinquency is so pervasive that 77 blocks had only one owner who paid taxes last year, The News found. Many of those who don't pay question why they should in a city that struggles to light its streets or keep police on them.
"Why pay taxes?" asked Fred Phillips, who owes more than $2,600 on his home on an east-side block where five owners paid 2011 taxes. "Why should I send them taxes when they aren't supplying services? It is sickening. … Every time I see the tax bill come, I think about the times we called and nobody came."
