Mayor Mary Sheffield’s $3 billion budget recommendation for the 2026-27 fiscal year includes a slight property tax cut, boosted funding for public transportation, housing programs, new street lights and sidewalks, late-night recreation centers and a pay increase for city employees.
Sheffield presented her administration’s first budget proposal to the City Council during a special Monday session. She said it focuses on building stronger and safer neighborhoods, investing in youth and small businesses, reducing poverty and supporting the most vulnerable residents.
It’s Detroit’s 13th balanced budget since exiting bankruptcy and 1% smaller than the previous year due to sluggish revenue growth. Deputy Budget Director Donnie Johnson said it’s a “conservative” budget but the city maintains a healthy $150 million reserve. Retired pension holders can expect a 13th check aimed at providing holiday financial relief, continuing a supplemental benefit that isn’t always guaranteed.
The budget estimates raising $421 million in income taxes, $332 million from wagering taxes, $239 million from state revenue sharing and $178 million from property taxes. Johnson said the city’s General Fund is down by $34 million as a result of reductions in state revenue sharing and corporate income taxes.
Monday’s budget presentation starts a month-long process of City Council review before voting to authorize Detroit’s spending plan in early April. Council members responded warmly to Sheffield’s proposal, saying it’s responsive to the needs of residents that she became familiar with as a former council member.
“Everything we do in this term is going to be looked at as historic,” said Council President James Tate Jr. “We also have to talk about the impact. The goal is to ensure we make the best, most optimal decisions on behalf of the residents of the city.”
Some of the highlights in Sheffield’s presentation include:
- 1-mill property tax cut, saving $50 for a home worth $100,000
- $30 million increase for the Department of Transportation
- $9.3 million increase (10%) for homelessness services
- $8 million investment to replace backlog of 6,300 broken sidewalks
- $7.9 million to create living wage standard for city employees
- $1.5 million increase (50%) to the neighborhood improvement fund
- $1 million pilot program to repair homes with young children
- $2.5 million in Motor City Match funding
- $2.2 million increase (120%) for after-school programs
- $1 million for Detroit Legacy Business Project to support small businesses open for 30 years
- $1 million investment in mid-block street lights
- $1 million to continue Dead Dangerous and Diseased Tree removal program
- $1 million for the Neighborhood Beautification Program
- $1 million to relaunch the Accessibili-D senior transportation program
- $750,000 for a senior food access program
- 24-hour coverage of mental health co-response program by adding a third shift
Johnson said there’s clear alignment in the budget with what residents advocated for during budget priority forums that he hosted in January.
“What we learned in those (meetings) is that a lot of what the residents want is what the administration wants as well,” Johnson said. “We want more public safety, we want more affordable housing, we want home repair programs. These are all things we want to prioritize. When it came to getting that feedback and then incorporating that into the budget, it was quite easy to do.”
Sheffield created a Department of Human, Homeless and Family Services by splitting off $40 million from the Housing and Revitalization Department budget. Sheffield said the shift leaves $42.5 for HRD to focus on building new housing while HHFS focuses on helping residents become homeowners.
The new department is meant to be a one-stop-shop for quality of life services that have been spread across multiple departments.
The Detroit Affordable Housing Development and Preservation Fund will be tweaked to put more dollars into preserving homes for low-income residents. Sheffield proposed changing the funding model. Previously it used 40% of revenue from the sale of city-owned commercial properties, but Sheffield wants to use all of the sales funds.
The program supports housing for people earning 50% of the area median income. Council Member Latisha Johnson said she hopes it will revitalize shuttered apartment buildings in District 4.
Sheffield said violence prevention is a central theme of the budget, connected to infrastructure improvements like street lighting and expanded youth after-school programs. Council Member Scott Benson said he’d like to see better enforcement of laws against open alcohol consumption and other “lascivious behavior” that make parks feel unsafe for young families.
“As a father of a young child we routinely use our infrastructure when it comes to parks, recreation centers, and there’s often a disconnect in the behavior of some versus what the expectations should be for young families,” Benson said. “(I’d) just like to see more of an emphasis around how we hold people accountable for their behavior.”
Sheffield proposed creating three new positions to develop domestic violence intervention support. Detroit’s flagship Community Violence Intervention program will continue with $10.8 million in funding. Sheffield said her budget also includes the $2 million truck traffic enforcement unit proposed by the Detroit Police Department. It would be funded with leftover money from staff vacancies but Sheffield said the city could seek federal grants to keep it going long-term.
The mayor’s signature Occupy the Corner summer violence prevention events are expanding citywide as a new “Occupy the Summer” initiative. Strategies include new extended hours for recreation centers, closing at 11 p.m., the return of midnight basketball leagues and a $500,000 funding increase for the Grow Detroit Young Talent youth job program.
Tate said he’s “loving” the expansion of recreation center hours and basketball programs but also wants to see mental health therapy provided to youth.
Public transit is set for a $24 million funding boost to raise wages for drivers to $25 per hour, and add $6 million for DDOT operations. Sheffield teased a new program offering free bus rides for all K-12 students and a pilot program providing ride-share services to residents who are chronically absent from school.
Transit activist Michael Cunningham was hired as a volunteer transit ambassador for the city. He thanked the mayor for listening to residents who have continually complained of subpar bus service. Cunningham said he will be provided with bus fare vouchers and other supplies to distribute. Some months he spent up $1,000 out of pocket on bus tickets and handwarmers, partially supported through crowdfunding.
The budget sets a new $21.45 per hour living wage standard for city employees, equivalent to a $44,616 salary. Sheffield said only 36% of residents earn a living wage, but didn’t explain how the standard was calculated. Johnson said it’s based on U.S. Census Bureau data for Wayne County.
Sheffield said wages will rise for 900 city employees, 70% of whom are residents. Tate said the city needs to consider strategies to raise wages for all residents, since Detroit residents earn half of what non-residents who work in the city earn.
The administration is working on a retail business plan for each council district, Sheffield said.
Council Member Angela Whitfield-Calloway thanked Sheffield for “keeping all of your promises” and was excited about the attention on broken sidewalks and overgrown trees. Whitfield-Calloway said those are chief complaints of residents in District 2.
Whitfield-Calloway asked the administration to find ways to prevent lawsuits filed against police and bus drivers that cost the city millions of dollars. Whitfield-Calloway was happy to hear Sheffield proposed funding two positions for an Office of Early Learning.
District 5 Council Member Renata Miller, who filled Sheffield’s seat on the council, challenged the mayor to protect tenants against bad landlords who unfairly evict them or force residents to live in unsafe conditions.
Detroit Tenants Union Director Steven Rimmer said the city has failed to hold landlords accountable.
“We’re seeing a pattern of properties being noncompliant, not safe, not fit for human shelter,” Rimmer said. “The city’s only response is to shut the building down and displace residents.”
Sheffield noted new senior liaisons in the Department of Neighborhoods will work on enforcing building codes in senior apartments. The administration plans to obtain 65 certificates of compliance by August.
The budget includes funding to continue the Right to Counsel eviction defense program, which supplies tenants with free legal aid.
Sheffield’s budget includes 74 additional full-time equivalent positions.
Chief Financial Officer Tonya Stoudemire said the city is exploring a participatory budgeting process but it won’t be included in this year’s budget. The concept, which aims to set aside a portion of funds that are spent at the direction of residents, is supported by several council members.
“We’ve had conversations about starting a program this summer so we can really see what that looks like,” Stoudemire said. “Various places do it in different ways. We need to figure that out. We know it’s important to madam mayor.”