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Detroit Councilwoman Mary Sheffield plans to introduce a proposal Tuesday that would use income taxes generated from the Detroit Pistons salaries and visiting NBA players during home games at Little Caesars Arena to go toward a new multi-Neighborhood Improvement Fund for Detroiters, Katrease Stafford of the Detroit Free Press reports.
The proposal comes one week after the Detroit City Council voted 7-2 to approve $34.5 million in public funding toward the Detroit Pistons' move downtown. Sheffield afterward expressed some doubts about her vote in favor of the funding. The proposal would also include the salaries of Pistons and Palace Sports & Entertainment employees.
Detroit's chief financial officer John Hill estimates the salaries would generate $4 million in income taxes annually.
Sheffield told the Freep Monday evening that the funds will be focused on the city's neighborhoods and exclude downtown, Midtown and the boundaries of the Downtown Development Authority.
Of course, not everyone sees it as a slam dunk.
Ryan Felton, transportation and tech reporter for Jalopnik, tweets:
Nice optics for Sheffield, but it'd be nice to hear from the CFO how good the city is at collecting this tax from Wings/Tigers opponents.
