Friday, January 12, 2024     |     www.detroitmi.gov

City of Detroit Offices to close for Martin Luther King holiday Jan. 15

Refuse, Bulk & Recycling Collection One Day Later

Most City of Detroit offices will be closed on Monday, Jan. 15 in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Normal police, fire, water and sewerage, and bus services will be provided.

Department of Public Works
The Department of Public Works will NOT collect refuse, bulk and recycling on Monday, Jan. 15. Monday’s collection will be picked up on Tuesday, and Tuesday’s collection will take place on Wednesday and so forth.

Parking
The City’s parking garages will be open as normally scheduled. Motorists also can take advantage of free metered street parking anywhere in the city on Martin Luther King Day.

Detroit Department of Transportation
The Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) will operate on its normal weekday schedule on the King holiday.

Property Taxes Due
January 15 is also the deadline to pay property taxes. With City offices closed, individuals may pay their property tax bill:

• Online at detroitmi.gov/payproptax
• By phone at (855) 894-2400
• At a DivDat kiosk or through the DivDat mobile app.  Go to  codkiosk.com to find kiosk locations.

Property owners can always view their property tax balance online at www.detroitmi.gov/payproptax.

People Mover
The Detroit People Mover is free to ride for all passengers in 2024 – no fare, tokens or passes needed. The system will operate extended hours from 7 a.m. to midnight on Jan. 15.

The People Mover also will begin the next phase of its Station Improvement Program, with West Riverfront Station and Grand Circus Park closed from Jan. 15-19 for surveillance camera and public address system upgrades. Trains will bypass these stations, and riders are asked to travel to the next or nearest station. Please visit www.thepeoplemover.com for more information.

Paying Bills
Although offices may be closed, many City services, such as tax and fee payments and permit applications, are available online at detroitmi.gov. In terms of some payments to the City of Detroit, individuals also may utilize the DivDat kiosk or mobile app. Residents also may report issues via the Improve Detroit app.

With temperatures predicted to fall below 20 degrees in upcoming days, the City of Detroit is reminding residents that respite locations and warming centers are available to provide relief from the cold. Four warming centers are open around the clock for those who are homeless and need shelter during cold weather.

Detroit recreation centers and public library branches are available as respite locations during normal operating hours, but will be closed for Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 15. Those facilities will reopen Tuesday, Jan. 16.

Warming Centers
Four warming centers are now open now to provide shelter from the cold weather, plus two meals, showers, sleeping accommodations, and housing assistance services to residents experiencing homelessness.

To access these warming centers or year-round emergency shelters, residents should call the City of Detroit’s Housing Services Helpline at 866-313-2520 during the hours of 8 a.m. – 6 p.m., Monday-Friday.  Veterans seeking shelter should call 866-313-2520 from 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. Mondays-Friday.

The warming centers are:

Cass Community Social Services – Serves families and women
Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries – Serves families and women
Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries – Serves single males 
Joseph Walker Williams Recreation Center – Serves men, women, and families

Respite Locations
In addition to the overnight warming centers listed above, the City of Detroit is providing recreation centers as respite locations, which are open during normal operating hours. Additionally, all Detroit Public Library branches are available during their normal operating hours for residents to stay warm. These respite locations will be closed on Martin Luther King Day, Jan. 15 and reopen Tuesday, January 16.

For a list of locations, go to Warming Centers and Respite Locations.

Residents can sign up for Detroit Alerts 365 to receive emergency alerts

City residents can sign up for Detroit Alerts 365, which sends Detroit-specific emergency notifications through the CodeRED emergency notification system. This free system allows individuals to choose how they would like to receive alerts — via telephone, text message, and/or email.

There are several benefits to enrolling in Detroit Alerts 365:

• Notifications are on the go with individuals, who receive important alerts and non-emergency notifications, based on their address directly to your cell phone, home phone, text, or email
• Individuals will receive notifications targeted to residents in a specific area experiencing emergency conditions
• Personal data is secure in the CodeRED system
  
  

In addition to registering for Detroit Alerts 365, residents can download the CodeRED Mobile Alert App to receive emergency alerts based on your current location.

To register, go to detroitalerts365.org or text DetroitAlerts365 to 99411.

Mayor Mike Duggan talks with Invest Detroit President Dave Blaskiewicz and Michigan Economic Development Corporation Executive Vice President Michele Wildman inside the former Jefferson School, which is being redeveloped to include a new headquarters for Invest Detroit.

The Detroit Economic Growth Corporation (DEGC) was awarded $14.5 million by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) through the Revitalization and Placemaking (RAP) 2.0 program. The grant will provide crucial gap financing to support five major mixed-use development projects in downtown Detroit and key neighborhood commercial corridors.

The DEGC hosted a press conference this week at the Jefferson Intermediate School, one of the mixed-use projects that will receive funding, and was joined by Mayor Mike Duggan, Invest Detroit, Midtown Inc. and other City officials to celebrate the investments that will drive growth in Detroit.

The five projects, totaling over $255 million in investment, will add density in impact areas through a combination of commercial space, market-rate housing and workforce housing. Developers were selected based on project location, readiness to proceed, organizational capacity, long-term community impacts, financial viability and local/regional strategic alignment.

Four of the five projects are expected to start construction in the first quarter of 2024. The Jefferson School is already under construction and halfway through completion. The gap funding will be reimbursed to developers as phases of their project are completed.

Perennial Corktown apartments celebrate grand opening

Mayor Duggan joined local leaders this week to celebrate the opening of the new Perennial Corktown Apartments with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The newest apartment building in the city of Detroit will have a total of 195 units available for rent. There are 188 apartment units ranging from studio to two bedrooms and seven townhomes ranging from two bedrooms to three bedrooms.

The apartment building is seven stories, and each townhome is three stories tall with a private roof deck per unit.

Sign up for Detroit Connected app, gain access to local channels

The City of Detroit Media Services Department has an app, called Detroit Connected, that allows Detroiters to watch City Channels 10, 21, 22, and 68 on their phones and devices, without a cable connection. Along with the service provided on the City website, this app now gives residents multiple places to keep up-to-date on local news.

The app is available on Roku, Amazon Firestick, Google Play, and the Apple App Store, and can be used on both televisions and smartphones. The linktree for all the services is here: link.

With Detroit Connected, residents can view live television, including City Council meetings, press conferences, groundbreakings and similar public events. The channels can also be viewed on the City website, giving residents multiple convenient choices.

Detroiters with the app can also watch videos of previous live events, including City Council, Detroit Board of Police Commissioners, and City Planning Commission meetings, along with press conferences from Mayor Mike Duggan and other city officials.

Detroit ends 2023 with fewest homicides in 57 years, double-digit drops in shootings and carjackings

Mayor Mike Duggan joined Chief of Police James White and other federal, state, county, and community leaders last week to announce the City of Detroit finished 2023 with 252 homicides, the fewest recorded since 1966. The city also saw a 16-percent reduction in nonfatal shootings and a 34-percent reduction in carjackings.

While official 2023 numbers may change slightly as some ongoing investigations are concluded, preliminary data show that Detroit recorded the following numbers for those crimes:

Crime category                   2022                 2023                 % change +/-

Homicides                              309                   252                  -18.4 percent

Nonfatal Shootings               955                    804                  -15.8 percent

Carjackings                            251                   167                  -33.5 percent

The result came from a coordinated effort between the City of Detroit with government and community agencies.

Property owners can always view their property tax bill anytime online at detroitmi.gov/payproptax.

Both a property transfer affidavit and a taxpayer mailing dddress change form can be found at detroitmi.gov/assessor.

Mayor, DDOT & Bus Drivers union announce agreement to raise driver pay $3/hr, increase attendance bonus

Detroit Department of Transportation (DDOT) bus drivers will see an immediate $3-per-hour wage increase under a new memorandum of understanding between the City and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 26 announced recently by Mayor Mike Duggan, Interim Transit Director Michael Staley, Union President Schetrone Collier and local leaders.

The increase would bring starting pay for new drivers up to $19.15 per hour from the current rate of $16.15 per hour. Maximum pay for those working for DDOT for at least four years will jump to $25.61 per hour from the current cap of $22.61.

The agreement also increases quarterly attendance bonus from $1,000 a quarter to $1,500 a quarter, for every driver who has no more than three unexcused absences per quarter. In the fourth quarter of 2023, 76 percent of active drivers earned the attendance bonus.

Anyone interested in becoming a DDOT driver is encouraged to visit DDOT Employment.

Detroit Vs Everybody opens new location in District Detroit

After unexpectedly losing its flagship store location in Eastern Market last year, the city’s homegrown brand, Detroit Vs Everybody, has found a new home at 44 W. Columbia in the District Detroit.

Mayor Duggan joined owner and founder Thomas Walker Jr. and local leaders recently to celebrate the grand opening of the new location.

Born and raised in Detroit, Walker created the Detroit Vs Everybody brand in 2012. Since then, the brand has expanded globally and became an instant icon of the city of Detroit.

The new District Detroit location will offer a full line of the company’s trademark apparel and accessories.