This archive report was first published on 12 June 2020.
Published on June 12, 2020, the current pandemic has created a perfect storm for predatory cities to flourish. With local businesses shuttered, unemployment skyrocketing, and many people unable to pay their rent and mortgage payments, Covid-19 has brutalized local economies, leaving a trail of financial devastation in its wake.
Michigan's Treasury Department estimates that 2020 tax revenues could plummet by $1 billion to $3 billion, while New York State has projected a revenue shortfall of more than $13 billion. In this environment, cities are being forced to slash budgets to ensure their financial survival, but the need for essential social services has never been greater.
One city that has become a poster child for predatory practices is Detroit. The story of Mrs. Sarah Dennis, a 79-year-old widow, highlights the city's willingness to prey on its most vulnerable citizens.
Mrs. Dennis, a lifelong resident of Detroit, has faced her share of challenges. After a long marriage, she became a widow at 47 and later met a widower, Earl Dennis, at the Church of God on Wisconsin Street. They were married in 1990, and she immediately moved into his humble home on Detroit's east side.
Tragedy struck when Covid-19 killed Mr. Dennis exactly two weeks before Easter, leaving Mrs. Dennis a widow once again after 30 years of marriage. Despite her own battle with Covid-19, she miraculously recovered and restarted her fight against property tax abuse in Detroit.
The Dennis home, a quaint gray brick ranch-style house built in 1954, was initially estimated to be worth $26,800 by Mayor Mike Duggan's administration. However, after intervention from the Coalition for Property Tax Justice's Pro Bono Property Tax Appeal Project, the city conceded that the home's market value is $16,000 – 40 percent less than initially estimated.
