In a case that may portend what’s in store for El Pasoans, the city of Inkster, Michigan, will hit taxpayers with a one-time bill to pay a legal settlement to a man beaten by a police officer. From the Detroit Free Press:
Inkster property owners will soon face a one-time tax hit to cover a settlement reached between the city and a man beaten by a police officer during a traffic stop.
City Treasurer Mark Stuhldreher said Inkster will levy 6.45 mills on summer tax bills to pay Floyd Dent $1,377,500.
That means property owners will shell out about $178.67 on a home with a market value of $55,400, the median value of a home in Inkster, according to U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
It will be forced on residents in a city where 38% of its residents live below the poverty level and the median household income is $26,512, the census bureau estimates.
One wonders what the settlement will be for a police officer shooting a handcuffed prisoner in the sallyport of the El Paso County Jail. $50 million? Perhaps.
Then there’s this, although I’m not absolutely sure the Brown family is suing.
http://www.democracynow.org/2015/5/20/sgt_james_brown_26_survived_two
Also this:
http://www.democracynow.org/2015/5/20/sgt_james_brown_26_survived_two