  Mjb3 Member Username: Mjb3 Post Number: 132 Registered: 11-2004 |
It's been a while since I went to the City website, but they now charge a $2 "convenience fee" to view public record data by parcel. Does the Navigator need new spinning rims? I am probably late to this topic and it's been discussed. Was this part of KK's last budget tussle with city council or just a new way to fleece more money from the people. | ||
Spiritofdetroit Member Username: Spiritofdetroit Post Number: 227 Registered: 11-2006 |
Yea, its been about a year now | ||
Ndavies Member Username: Ndavies Post Number: 2425 Registered: 10-2003 |
I think it's a great idea to charge people for the computer services they are using. Why charge all tax payers for services a small minority of them are using? It's still a hell of a lot cheaper than humping down to CAYMC and pulling them manually. | ||
Mjb3 Member Username: Mjb3 Post Number: 133 Registered: 11-2004 |
Once the data's loaded, it's virtual. It doesn't cost the city anything. I can check any other community's(Novi, Grosse Pte, Clinton Twp.) tax records and it's free. I guess it's just our "entrepreneurial" civil servants down at the city-county bldg. | ||
Ndavies Member Username: Ndavies Post Number: 2426 Registered: 10-2003 |
Those servers require electricity and babysitting. Nothing in life is free. To have the data available is a major value add. People should be willing to pay for it. Doing more of this will help the city move into the 21st century. Having people pay for this will allow other systems to be improved. This Allows for money from the efficiency gains to be used other places. | ||
Mjb3 Member Username: Mjb3 Post Number: 134 Registered: 11-2004 |
The software company puts the data on the web. It's the same IT(BS&A Software) company that Novi, GP and others use. Except the others don't charge for it, only the D has a hand out. This data is on BS&A's server and it doesn't cost the city a dime. As Spirit of D said, it's been a yr. So I'm late to this issue. I just find it odd that the other communities don't charge and Detroit does. Please don't use city of Detroit and 21st century in the same sentence when talking about IT system improvement. While withholding 7,000 tax refunds due. | ||
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner Post Number: 913 Registered: 04-2006 |
What stinks about it is I used to use it to write letters to my annoying neighbor's landlords or to businesses I would see that were not keeping their property clean. Had I known it was going to go away, I would have queried my whole neighborhood and saved it! | ||
Ndavies Member Username: Ndavies Post Number: 2427 Registered: 10-2003 |
The city is going broke and it already has the highest property and income taxes in the state. Any revenue that can be generated by something other than property or city income tax is a blessing. If the data you want isn't worth $2 to you then don't buy it. We need more user fees for non essential services. | ||
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner Post Number: 915 Registered: 04-2006 |
Mind you its not that I disagree with it, it just takes away my opportunity to be annoying! As you can see in my talk about gas taxes as user fees I fully support that type of government fee structure. I know I don't want my property taxes or income taxes increased. | ||
Tiorted Member Username: Tiorted Post Number: 49 Registered: 02-2006 |
the old city of detroit site was good too bad it is made into PPV you can use these two sites to get much of the same info at no charge but its not as simple as the detroit site http://www.waynecounty.com/pta / http://www.waynecounty.com/reg ister/ | ||
Supersport Member Username: Supersport Post Number: 11190 Registered: 10-2003 |
quote: Wow, that's the biggest bullshit excuse I think I've ever heard. I haven't used DFD, DPD, the city's civic centers, or any of it's parks aside from Belle Isle. Can I get my money back that goes towards those services? I wonder if I tell the city "NDavies said I shouldn't have to pay for them," if that would work. LMAO | ||
Charlottepaul Member Username: Charlottepaul Post Number: 372 Registered: 10-2006 |
Supersport, it always has been a good suggestion in my opinion to charge an entrance fee to Belle Isle. I would say the rest of your suggestions are 'essential city services,' get it now? | ||
Supersport Member Username: Supersport Post Number: 11194 Registered: 10-2003 |
Services I'm not using, so SHOW ME THE MONEY! | ||
Ndavies Member Username: Ndavies Post Number: 2428 Registered: 10-2003 |
Sorry Sport, you're using Fire and police whether you know it or not. If those two services weren't there your insurance bill would be way bigger than it is now. | ||
Detroitplanner Member Username: Detroitplanner Post Number: 918 Registered: 04-2006 |
No Kidding Ndavies, having a halfway decent fire department is the best kind of insurance you han have. For as much as folks complain about the DFD, a volunteer dept would be much worse. Heck, my neighbors won't even mow their lawn sometimes, you think they are going to want to help put out my fire? | ||
Supersport Member Username: Supersport Post Number: 11197 Registered: 10-2003 |
I'm not saying do away with fire and police, I'm just saying that if I use them, THEN I would pay for them. You stated "Why charge all tax payers for services a small minority of them are using?" Are you changing your story now? Never said I wouldn't pay for services rendered. | ||
Billybbrew Member Username: Billybbrew Post Number: 235 Registered: 07-2005 |
As I said the first tiem this came up. As a city property owner, resident and taxpayer, I feel I should access to the site that my tax dollars are paying for. If non-Detroit residents/businesses want to look something up, let them pay for the service, but I already have paid for it, dearly, with my property taxes, income taxes and taxes on every bill that comes in my mailbox. I am very upset that this service is no longer available. If anything, it should save the city money as it frees up people at the CAY to do more productive things than wait on lines and lines of people who could otherwise get the information they seek online. | ||
Corktownmark Member Username: Corktownmark Post Number: 249 Registered: 12-2004 |
That sounds like a better plan Billybbrew. We do indeed pay in our taxes. DetroitPlanner --I used to use the site to keep track of owners too. In one case I found the owner of a couple lots and businesses was the same person which made it easer and maybe more effective to bitch about the condition of one property. | ||
Supersport Member Username: Supersport Post Number: 11200 Registered: 10-2003 |
Yeah, we sure do pay with our taxes, an extra $123 this year compared to last. THAT should more than cover my access to the site I would think. | ||
Sirrealone Member Username: Sirrealone Post Number: 2 Registered: 01-2007 |
I looked at this on the site and it says that for the free cities (Novi, etc) that the cities pay an annual fee which allows for those records to be "open". For cities that charge a lookup fee (e.g. Detroit), it's because the city has decided not to pay this fee. Considering that the city is hundreds of millions of dollars in the red, I can see the point. The services that they should be worried about keeping are the necessary ones to keep the city up and running (fire, police, trash, lighting, etc.). Anything that is 'extra' is probably a ripe candidate for cutting. And since having tax records available to citizes is nice, but not necessary to keep the city standing, I can agree with their position. | ||
Corktownmark Member Username: Corktownmark Post Number: 250 Registered: 12-2004 |
Any idea what the one time fee would be for a city the size of Detroit? |
