Assessment is the bugbear of any property tax system. The assessors are employed by the entity that will be harmed if the assessments go down, so they're obviou

Assessment is the bugbear of any property tax system. The assessors are employed by the entity that will be harmed if the assessments go down, so they're obviously invented to keep assessments high. That said, it's good that Detroit understands its goals and is thinking of what levers are available. The problem is that you need structures. A city full of vacant lots isn't worth anything, and if you force people to build they won't. Why build when your building will never be worth anything?