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Bing Criticizes Detroit Council For Rejecting Police Tax

August 7, 2012

Detroit Mayor Dave Bing is criticizing the City Council for rejecting a new tax to pay for additional police officers. Council voted overwhelmingly against a ballot referendum calling for a millage that would have helped pay for more police. Mayor Bing and Detroit’s police chief had pushed Council to pass the millage. Bing says Detroiters – not Council Members – should have made the final decision. “Everybody talks about giving people the opportunity to vote. They didn’t do it. And so you get a lot of lip service about that. The reality for me is that we should have put that on the ballot and let the people’s voice be heard,” Bing said. Council Members were concerned that Detroiters already pay the highest taxes in the state. They also had received a legal opinion that the state could cut funding equal to the amount the proposed millage would have raised.