Budget Finance and Audit Committee Meeting - July 22, 2026
Budget Finance and Audit Committee Meeting - July 22, 2026
The Budget Finance and Audit Standing Committee of the Detroit City Council held its final meeting before the summer recess on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, chaired by Councilmember Denzel. The committee approved minutes from July 15, heard public testimony on a range of city issues, deferred several unfinished business items to September 9, and approved two new business items: a Neighborhood Enterprise Zone (NEZ) application for a new apartment building and a contract for independent assessment evaluation.
Consent Calendar
- Approval of Minutes: The minutes from the July 15, 2026 meeting were approved without objection.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Legendary Detroiter (Mr. Carly): Alleged voter fraud and misconduct by the Detroit Election Commission chairperson and director, urging the committee to halt funding and investigate. The chair cautioned against personal attacks and noted that state investigations had found no evidence of fraud.
- Betty A. Varner (President, Soda Elsewhere Black Association): Requested volunteers and donations for an August 1 community event offering free haircuts, hair braiding, bike giveaways, school supplies, and hygiene products. Also sought funds for a new park expansion.
- Jadante Smith: Complained about receiving three incorrect water bills with different addresses, alleging a personal attack due to his critical speech. Called for better regulation of the water department and highlighted inequities in payment enforcement for wealthy entities vs. residents.
- William M. Davis (Commissioner): Urged removal of tree debris to prevent flooding, criticized the city’s stewardship of water department assets since the bankruptcy, and called for an entertainment tax or downtown income tax to fund community services rather than downtown interests.
- Denise Lyles: Echoed support for a downtown tax and Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs), noting that too many contracts go to out-of-city firms. Thanked Councilmember Denzel for his responsiveness.
- Phone number ending in 534: Thanked staff for answering a question about solar area housing upgrades, alleging that DTE “bribed” homeowners with upgrades in solar zones without a CBA, and criticized tree removal on properties not yet owned. Suggested alternative solar projects like those at IBEW and Michigan State.
- D. Ambassador Cunningham: Shared his bus ride-along experience and requested donations for his “Free Fair Friday” initiative providing water and bus tickets. Praised Councilmember Denzel’s respectful demeanor.
Discussion Items
- Unfinished Business (Items 5.1–5.4):
- 5.1 (Taxes owed by Moon Yes properties): Deferred to September 9, 2026, on a motion by the Law Department.
- 5.2 (Data center tax revenue impact): Deferred to September 9, 2026. A report from the administration was expected.
- 5.3 (Fiscal analysis of property tax reduction resolution): Deferred to September 9, 2026, pending a report from the Office of Treasury.
- 5.4 (Administrative item): Deferred to September 9, 2026.
- New Business – Item 6.2: NEZ Application for 1728 Michigan Avenue (Corktown):
- The committee received a presentation from City Planning Commission staff and the developer. The project is a nine-story, 60-unit apartment building (15 studio, 35 one-bedroom, 10 two-bedroom). It includes 12 affordable units at 50–60% AMI, with rents starting at $995 (studio), $1,047 (one-bedroom), and ~$1,200 (two-bedroom). Parking: 58 total spaces (14 on-site, 44 off-site). Developer committed to Detroit-based contractors and union trades. The NEZ would reduce the millage rate from ~82–83 mills to ~26 mills, resulting in approximately $413,000 in annual tax savings. Property taxes with incentives would rise from $2,300 to about $70,000 per year. The developer stated the project is 100% privately funded, with no prevailing wage requirement except for union-affiliated trades (approx. 25% of work). Outcome: Approved unanimously on a motion to send to the formal session with a recommendation to approve.
- New Business – Item 6.1: Contract with International Association of Assessing Officers (IAAO) – $490,000:
- Assessor Alfin Horn and OCP’s Chris Jones presented. The contract is for independent evaluation of compliance with Michigan law on assessment valuation, implementation of the mayor’s executive order on ratio standards and transparency, and review of the assessor’s office operations. The IAAO was selected via a sole-source process because only a few organizations have the capacity to evaluate a jurisdiction as large and complex as Detroit. The first contract with IAAO was completed; this second contract will produce a mass appraisal report, modify residential economic condition neighborhood factors (expanding from 289 to 344 neighborhoods), and train staff to eventually take over the sales ratio study. Staff have already undergone ~200 hours of training. The contract covers all travel costs. Outcome: Approved unanimously after discussion.
Key Outcomes
- Approved: Minutes of July 15, 2026 (unanimous).
- Approved: NEZ certificate application for 1728 Michigan Avenue (Item 6.2) – sent to formal session with recommendation to approve.
- Approved: Contract with IAAO for independent assessment evaluation (Item 6.1) – sent to formal session with recommendation to approve.
- Deferred: Unfinished business items 5.1, 5.2, 5.3, and 5.4 were all deferred to the next meeting on September 9, 2026.
- Adjourned: The meeting adjourned after member reports and announcements, with the next scheduled meeting after Labor Day.
Meeting Transcript
Good afternoon, everyone. I'd like to call the budget finance and all this standing committee meeting of Wednesday, July 22nd, 2026 to order. Where Madam Kirk, would you please call the roll? Good afternoon. Councilmember Genzel and Tom McKimball. President. Councilmember Letitia Johnson. Present. Councilmember Mary Waters. Present. Mr. Chair, we have quorum. Thank you so much. And I'll move us on to approval of the minutes. Members of the committee should have received a copy of the July 15th minutes. Is there a motion to approve? No. There's been a motion to approve sin. No objections. The minutes should stand approved. That'll move us on to chair remarks. Just to note that this is our last budget financial audit committee meeting before recess. And so we'll have a few items to get through. And then we'll come back after Labor Day with additional business for the committee. And with that, move us on to public comment. We will close requests for public comment at 110. We'll start with folks joining us in the room and then move to those joining us virtually. If you are joining us via Zoom, please use the raise hand function and you will be called in order. Seeing no one currently in person, we'll move on to those joining us remotely. And how many folks do we have? Good afternoon, Mr. Chair. Currently we have seven hands raised. All right. We'll start with our first speaker. All right, our first speaker is Legendary Detroiter. Mr. Carly, good afternoon. You have two minutes. Now you weren't there in 2024, but I'm gonna let you know that Dennis Winfrey is on Zoom lying about the findings on the allegations of voter fraud by anonymous citizen report on Zoom at the Detroit Election Commission meeting where she is the Detroit Election Commission chairman. Chair person. I don't know whether she is a man or a woman, but it it it's she acts like manly. That's the way she came off. She filed a report with the Detroit Police Department saying that uh she was uh in fear of her life threatening some nonsense. But anyway, I wanted to bring this to your attention. You got Letitia Johnson and um Mary Waters there with you. Now they never received the findings on allegations of voter fraud by anonymous citizen report. I know because their office on May the 20th of 2024 told me they didn't know what I was talking about about the finding on the allegations of voter fraud by anonymous citizen report. And they were at the meeting when I spoke about it, and they looked like they didn't know I got the clip of it. So I wanted to bring this to your attention.
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