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Detroit Mayor Duggan outlines $250M program to eliminate residential blight

A demolition on Detroit's east side.
Sarah Hulett
/
Michigan Radio

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan has outlined a program to the City Council to eliminate residential blight from all Detroit neighborhoods by mid-2025.

Duggan has proposed asking voters to give the city authority to sell up to $250 million in bonds.

Since 2014, the city has demolished 19,000 vacant homes. Another 9,000 have been, or are being rehabbed through Detroit Land Bank programs.

The city’s blight removal efforts so far have been funded primarily by federal Hardest Hit funds.

The bonds would be repaid back over the next 30 years using existing tax revenue, according to a press release.

Detroit's demolition program has been the subject of criticism over high costs and questionable bidding practices.

Two men pleaded guilty in April to rigging bids as part of the program.

Paulette is a digital media reporter and producer for Michigan Public. She started as a newsroom intern at the station in 2014 and has taken on various roles in that time, including filling in as an on-air host.
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