Ford Close To Massive Tax Incentive Package
Council member Castañeda-Lopez joins Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson to discuss the issues.
This week, the Detroit City Council moved closer to granting more than $100 million in tax breaks to the Ford Motor Company for its planned restoration of Michigan Central Station. Ford’s incentive package would also include benefits for the Corktown neighborhood that surrounds the station, and a group of residents led the effort to work with Ford to put together what those benefits would look like.
But not everyone is happy, and there have been serious concerns raised about the wisdom of granting such large financial benefits to a company like Ford when the deeply impoverished city still needs so much for its residents.
Among city council members, Mary Sheffield and Raquel Castañeda-Lopez voted against Ford’s incentive package.
Castañeda-Lopez says Ford did a good job engaging the local community about project, but she says there is still room for improvement. She says companies that want public support should “open the books” so the process is transparent for all involved. And she says the package needs to increase opportunity and equity for the impoverished surrounding neighborhoods.
Castañeda-Lopez joins Detroit Today host Stephen Henderson to discuss the issues, along with Crain’s Detroit Business reporter Chad Livengood.
To hear the conversation, click on the audio player above.
