Detroit City Council Member Scott Benson is asking Mayor Mary Sheffield to boost the Forestry Division’s budget by $4 million to put more residents to work planting and maintaining trees.
Sheffield’s 2026-27 budget proposal includes a small increase for the Forestry Division, increasing from $5.8 million to $5.9 million. It would cost roughly $30.5 million total to bring tree service in-house, according to city officials. Benson said an extra $4 million investment would help train more residents for work that improves neighborhoods.
Detroit is making significant progress toward its goal of doubling the tree canopy. General Services Department Director Crystal Perkins said planting trees is “one of the most impactful investments we can make in Detroit’s future.”
The General Services Department and partner organizations have planted 52,665 trees since 2022, which marks 70% of the total goal of 75,000 new trees by 2027.
Planting more trees creates multiple benefits, lowering temperatures, improving air quality, reducing flooding and raising property values of nearby homes.
“Tree-lined streets used to represent a symbol of pride and stability in the city,” said in a committee meeting last week. “They help beautify our parks and our corridors, and they reinforce our identity as a city of trees. They improve our environment, they strengthen our neighborhoods, and they support healthier communities.”
The Forestry Division’s budget comes from the city’s $59 million street fund. Benson is seeking to add $4 million from the city’s $1.5 billion general fund.
“It is a picture-book when you go down some of our neighborhoods that have a thriving tree canopy where it meets over the street,” Benson said. “Few of our neighborhoods have that, we need to maintain it and we need to grow it.”
The City Council authorized 10 contracts worth $18 million Tuesday for tree trimming and removal services across the city for the next three years. Miller said only two of the contractors are based in Detroit and said the city needs to stop outsourcing work to businesses outside the city and prioritize hiring residents.
Chief Procurement Officer Sandra Stahl said five of the 10 companies are considered Detroit vendors and eight employ Detroit residents. Two contractors that hadn’t previously hired residents committed to do so. Stahl said the city awarded contracts to the lowest bidders.
Detroit is collecting data on its tree canopy across the city to identify areas where new trees are needed, with a goal of covering 40% of the city with trees. That would roughly double the current canopy coverage. Residents can request a free tree planting in the spring and fall each year.
The city is scanning streets with LiDAR technology to create three-dimensional maps that are updated periodically. A new tree viewer application will allow residents and city staff to view the condition of individual trees.
Benson noted that neighborhoods with a denser tree canopy are full of high-value homes like Indian Village, Palmer Woods, Sherwood Forest and Grandmont Rosedale.
The Department of Public Works performed a block-by-block tree inventory in Districts 1, 2 and 3. It found roughly 86% of the 84,006 trees are healthy and 2% need to be removed.
Sheffield’s budget proposal includes $1 million to continue the Dead, Diseased, and Dangerous Tree Program, which helps residents deal with trees on their property.
The City Council will vote to authorize a final spending plan in April.