Think Your Taxes Are High? Detroit Is Charging For Rain

DETROIT, MI — Think your taxes are high? Detroit is charging its citizens for rain.

That's what critics say about the way the city charges for its drainage rate.

Bridge, a Michigan nonprofit news source, reports that Detroit, desperate for cash, charges both businesses and residents for the rain that falls on concrete before it moves its way through the sewer and drainage systems.

“It’s incredible. That means, every year, I’m paying $1,572 for rain,” restaurant owner Luljeta Duhani told Bridge.

Since 1975, the fee that Detroit has charged businesses for stormwater treatment has been based on based on the diameter of water pipes or the amount of impervious ground cover -- think concrete and gravel -- that does not let water seep into the ground. It led to confusion and an inequitable collection of fees.

Now everyone, including residents, is charged based on the impervious ground cover fee.

Read more at the Bridge.