Mayor Duggan Seeks $200M Bond To Eliminate Blight

MACKINAC ISLAND (AP) — Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan says he plans to seek voter approval of a $200 million bond to help the city demolish or renovate all abandoned houses in the city.

Duggan announced the plan Thursday at the Detroit Regional Chamber's Mackinac Policy Conference. He says federal money for demolitions in Detroit will run dry in early 2020, and "we have to deal with this on our own."

Duggan says he expects to ask the city council this fall for approval to put the blight-removal bond before voters in the March 2020 presidential primary election. He says the bond issue would not lead to a tax increase.

Duggan wants to demolish 4,000 houses a year. He says the bond would help get rid of all abandoned houses by the end of 2024.

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