In Highland Park the mayor struggles to change

In Highland Park, the mayor struggles to change the view BY JEFF GERRITT FREE PRESS COLUMNIST March 4, 2002

Highland Park’s Financial Problems • Through the high windows of his living room, Linsey Porter can see the abandoned house pushing up against his property. In Highland Park, even a three-term mayor with the city's most valuable home can't hide from trouble. • Now it's right in Porter's face. He's still The Man and holds the title. But the mayor hasn't gotten paid since July 18. • The state took over Highland Park last June, appointing an emergency financial manager, Ramona Henderson Pearson, to keep the city solvent. After losing a court battle with the police and firefighter union, a weary Henderson Pearson told me she plans to ask the state to declare the city bankrupt -- a drastic step the state has never taken. Others have talked of merging Highland Park with Detroit.

Reduction of Tax Base • There aren't as many doctors or lawyers these days. When Porter, whose father worked on the Chrysler assembly line, was a high school baseball star, Highland Park was a thriving community of 45, 000 people. There were no boarded up businesses or abandoned houses. • During the 1980 s, the city lost nearly 30 percent of its population and 10 percent of its jobs, mainly in manufacturing. Median household income dropped to less than $10, 000 a year. In Porter's first term, the Sears store closed and Chrysler Corp. bailed, taking a third of the city's operating budget. Today, in Highland Park's 2. 9 square miles, there are nearly 1, 000 abandoned buildings and vacant lots, and just 16, 700 people.

What the Mayor has Done • Even Porter's critics give him some props for attracting $300 million of commercial and residential development, including an industrial site at Oakland Park, new housing projects, two shopping centers and a $20 -million commercial complex. • Inheriting a city with $13 million in debts, Porter cut the number of city employees in half. That made him plenty of enemies in a small town, a few of whom even threatened his life. Porter refused to take a body guard, but he packed a pistol and usually locked his office door. • In the end, Porter couldn't cut enough, or didn't. The city took in $11 million a year and spent at least $12 million -- more than half of that on police and fire service.

The Economics Initial Tax Base Revenue = tax rate * tax base R=t*b Costs, Revenues What happens if the tax base dries up? You must either cut costs or raise revenues! Costs Revenues Tax Base