Tax-free zone plan for Detroit is taking shape
By KATHLEEN GRAY
Free Press Staff Writer
December 7, 2010
When Newt Gingrich suggested last spring that Detroit's rebirth might happen if the city were transformed into a tax-free zone, many scoffed.
But the Detroit Regional Chamber took the former U.S. House speaker's proposal seriously and is preparing to present just such a plan to Mayor Dave Bing early next year.
"We're trying to identify what kind of taxes to eliminate and how to find replacement revenue," said Sandy Baruah, chamber president and CEO. "We have to have this great city recover, and to accomplish that, we've got to be a little inventive."
With $500,000 worth of donated consulting work from the accounting firm Deloitte, the chamber also has met with business leaders to determine which changes in tax policy would make them more likely to make new investments in their companies.
The chamber also is looking at whether to tweak individual taxes, such as the city's personal income tax, or just business taxes.
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But any such proposal also would need the blessing of the Detroit City Council, Gov.-elect Rick Snyder, a new Republican-controlled state House and Senate -- and possibly even Congress.
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