Detroit’s comeback has been promised for decades, but recovery has yet to fully materialize.

Mackinac Center Policy Analyst Jarrett Skorup tackled the topic in an op-ed for The Detroit News, in which he highlighted some of the development projects that were each billed as the thing that would bring Detroit back. Be it the 1977 opening of the Renaissance Center, the 1985 People Mover, or the 2013 arena deal for the Detroit Red Wings, none of the developments have fully delivered on the promised hype.

Skorup explains that Detroit’s heavy regulatory climate and high taxes are getting in the way of its own recovery.

Most notably, the government charges too much to live there. Detroit has the highest income tax in Michigan and one of the highest property taxes for homes and businesses in the nation. Wayne County is by far the highest-taxed, tacking on extras to fund the zoo, the Detroit Institute of Arts, the community college, the jail, an intermediate school district, and other local public authorities.

This is combined with a business and regulatory environment that is the worst in Michigan (and perhaps the nation).

Bankruptcy restructured the city’s finances, now it’s time to reform the rest of Detroit’s government to allow its businesses to flourish.

Read the full op-ed in The Detroit News.

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