A Need for Change in Wayne County
http://archives.michronicleonline.com/articlelive/articles/2963/1/A-Need-for-Change-in-Wayne-County/Page1.html
By Phil Cavanagh
Published on 07/30/2008
The County treasurer’s office and responsibilities are far different than they were in 1976. When our current county treasurer took the job 32 years ago, it was essentially about collecting taxes.
Phil Cavanagh
The County treasurer’s office and responsibilities are far different than they were in 1976. When our current county treasurer took the job 32 years ago, it was essentially about collecting taxes. Now in a time of auctioned off, abandoned and foreclosed properties the office must be versatile, compassionate and open to trying new programs that are working elsewhere in the country. Our country treasurer is not. I as your next county treasurer, I will.
I would like to take a few moments to set the record straight. His Chief Deputy wrote a letter that appeared in the Michigan Chronicle last week arguing that we needed the current treasurer to administer the tax delinquency revolving fund (TDRF) which has been in operation for 31 years. He talks about the big checks that are “distributed” to municipalities or “contributed” to the county general fund as if it was coming out of his pocket or some new innovative program the treasurer has designed. In reality these are your tax dollars that the treasurer borrows in anticipation that everyone will eventually pay their taxes. There is nothing new, nor too complicated about the program. I have an MBA and eight years on the county commission. Besides administering the TDRF with a new set of eyes, I will find more effective avenues to bring additional money to our county.
What isn’t addressed in the letter are programs established in other counties throughout Michigan that the treasurer here in Wayne County has fallen woefully short on due to his incompetence to move his office into the 21st century. Our county treasurer has been rushing off to sell everything he can through the tax forfeiture program, this means that senior citizens have lost their homes, families have been displaced and even business taken because there is no plan in place. It was disclosed on June 30, 2008 that the county treasurer has collected $31 million in auction proceeds.
This is money that legally can be spent to demolish homes, rehab homes, and breathe new life into our neighborhoods. Instead $9 million has been paid out in legal fees and lawsuits, and the other $22 million needs to be reserved for outstanding lawsuits. How much experience does one need before you realize that the practices put in place over the last seven years are a failure? Why are we losing every dime in litigation that could go to curbing blight and raising property values (hence our tax base)? He still is rushing everything off to auction and dealing with the legal consequences later. See Sidun v Wayne County Treasurer, (Michigan Supreme Court opinion 131905, decided July 2, 2008). I have a law degree and have clerked for a federal judge and will clear this mess up so that we will have dollars to reinvest into our neighborhoods.
The county treasurer’s office is more than just the tax revolving fund. The treasurer’s office could be the driving force behind economic development, driving up property values and bringing residents back to the City of Detroit and Wayne County. The Wayne County Treasurer has over 9,000 parcels and nearly 1,000 homes in his inventory. These parcels and structures are left over from seven years of auctions, allowing land speculators to come and cherry pick the most valuable for pennies on the dollar. Most every one of these homes and properties are right here in Detroit. Genesee County Treasurer, Dan Kildee, has won national awards for innovations in driving economic development in Flint. By simply demolishing 434 vacant and abandoned structures at a cost of $3.5 million, property values in Genesee County increased by a total of $112 million while revitalizing neighborhoods and eliminating detrimental eyesores. Our county treasurer has never tore down an unsafe structure, never rehabbed a home to put it back on the tax roles, nor has he even cut the grass on these parcels until last month when the political pressure forced him to at least agree to the idea.
Our current county treasurer has been re-elected time and time again because his name is on everyone’s tax bills. Now that he has a tough re-election and he has to protect 32 years of no-bid patronage to his small select group of friends, he has opted to spend our tax dollars on his campaign. The treasurer’s office has never spent more than $80,000 a year in advertising. In the last six months alone the county treasurer has spent $1,049,000 on TV and radio commercials, billboards, newspapers and bus signs all promoting his name. It doesn’t take sponsoring the Red Wings parade, broadcast statewide, with your tax dollars to tell a homeowner they are facing foreclosure. Knock on their door and spend that money on really helping individuals in these troubled times. When I asked high-level county officials how can they allow the Treasurer to spend more than $6,800 a day in publicizing his name while the County is forced to lay off sheriff deputies, road workers and prosecutors? The answer I received was “he has to get re-elected!” What are they scared of? Why does a man who makes more in retirement than going into work have to get re-elected? What is it he can accomplish that he hasn’t had the opportunity to in 32 years?
I want to be your next Wayne County Treasurer because Wayne County residents deserve fresh energy, a new set of eyes on the books and openness to new ideas.
We need a Change.
Please vote Tuesday August 5th.
Thank you,
Phil Cavanagh
Wayne County Commissioner 9th District
Son of Jerome P. Cavanagh, Mayor City of Detroit 1962-70
The County treasurer’s office and responsibilities are far different than they were in 1976. When our current county treasurer took the job 32 years ago, it was essentially about collecting taxes. The County treasurer’s office
Phil Cavanagh
The County treasurer’s office and responsibilities are far different than they were in 1976. When our current county treasurer took the job 32 years ago, it was essentially about collecting taxes. Now in a time of auctioned off, abandoned and foreclosed properties the office must be versatile, compassionate and open to trying new programs that are working elsewhere in the country. Our country treasurer is not. I as your next county treasurer, I will.
I would like to take a few moments to set the record straight. His Chief Deputy wrote a letter that appeared in the Michigan Chronicle last week arguing that we needed the current treasurer to administer the tax delinquency revolving fund (TDRF) which has been in operation for 31 years. He talks about the big checks that are “distributed” to municipalities or “contributed” to the county general fund as if it was coming out of his pocket or some new innovative program the treasurer has designed. In reality these are your tax dollars that the treasurer borrows in anticipation that everyone will eventually pay their taxes. There is nothing new, nor too complicated about the program. I have an MBA and eight years on the county commission. Besides administering the TDRF with a new set of eyes, I will find more effective avenues to bring additional money to our county.
What isn’t addressed in the letter are programs established in other counties throughout Michigan that the treasurer here in Wayne County has fallen woefully short on due to his incompetence to move his office into the 21st century. Our county treasurer has been rushing off to sell everything he can through the tax forfeiture program, this means that senior citizens have lost their homes, families have been displaced and even business taken because there is no plan in place. It was disclosed on June 30, 2008 that the county treasurer has collected $31 million in auction proceeds.
This is money that legally can be spent to demolish homes, rehab homes, and breathe new life into our neighborhoods. Instead $9 million has been paid out in legal fees and lawsuits, and the other $22 million needs to be reserved for outstanding lawsuits. How much experience does one need before you realize that the practices put in place over the last seven years are a failure? Why are we losing every dime in litigation that could go to curbing blight and raising property values (hence our tax base)? He still is rushing everything off to auction and dealing with the legal consequences later. See Sidun v Wayne County Treasurer, (Michigan Supreme Court opinion 131905, decided July 2, 2008). I have a law degree and have clerked for a federal judge and will clear this mess up so that we will have dollars to reinvest into our neighborhoods.
The county treasurer’s office is more than just the tax revolving fund. The treasurer’s office could be the driving force behind economic development, driving up property values and bringing residents back to the City of Detroit and Wayne County. The Wayne County Treasurer has over 9,000 parcels and nearly 1,000 homes in his inventory. These parcels and structures are left over from seven years of auctions, allowing land speculators to come and cherry pick the most valuable for pennies on the dollar. Most every one of these homes and properties are right here in Detroit. Genesee County Treasurer, Dan Kildee, has won national awards for innovations in driving economic development in Flint. By simply demolishing 434 vacant and abandoned structures at a cost of $3.5 million, property values in Genesee County increased by a total of $112 million while revitalizing neighborhoods and eliminating detrimental eyesores. Our county treasurer has never tore down an unsafe structure, never rehabbed a home to put it back on the tax roles, nor has he even cut the grass on these parcels until last month when the political pressure forced him to at least agree to the idea.
Our current county treasurer has been re-elected time and time again because his name is on everyone’s tax bills. Now that he has a tough re-election and he has to protect 32 years of no-bid patronage to his small select group of friends, he has opted to spend our tax dollars on his campaign. The treasurer’s office has never spent more than $80,000 a year in advertising. In the last six months alone the county treasurer has spent $1,049,000 on TV and radio commercials, billboards, newspapers and bus signs all promoting his name. It doesn’t take sponsoring the Red Wings parade, broadcast statewide, with your tax dollars to tell a homeowner they are facing foreclosure. Knock on their door and spend that money on really helping individuals in these troubled times. When I asked high-level county officials how can they allow the Treasurer to spend more than $6,800 a day in publicizing his name while the County is forced to lay off sheriff deputies, road workers and prosecutors? The answer I received was “he has to get re-elected!” What are they scared of? Why does a man who makes more in retirement than going into work have to get re-elected? What is it he can accomplish that he hasn’t had the opportunity to in 32 years?
I want to be your next Wayne County Treasurer because Wayne County residents deserve fresh energy, a new set of eyes on the books and openness to new ideas.
We need a Change.
Please vote Tuesday August 5th.
Thank you,
Phil Cavanagh
Wayne County Commissioner 9th District
Son of Jerome P. Cavanagh, Mayor City of Detroit 1962-70