Dan Gilbert announces $ 500 million investment in Detroit neighborhoods

DETROIT – Dan Gilbert made an announcement on Thursday that will have a direct impact on Detroit for years to come – A total of $ 500 million will be invested in Detroit and its residents over the next 10 years on behalf of a joint initiative of the Gilbert Family Foundation and the Rocket Community Fund.

READ: Local organizations will invest $ 500 million in Detroit, eliminating property tax debt for thousands of people

The funds will start with the help of homeowners with outstanding property taxes.

Over the past decade, Detroit, Wayne County and Gilbert have tackled property tax enforcement, but it remains a problem for about 20,000 Detroiters who are in an endless circle of low-income, high-billed and struggling to reach end.

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Gilbert said he needs to stop for Metro Detroit to move forward.

“No one should make the decision to choose between keeping home and feeding the family,” Gilbert said.

Gilbert and his wife, Jennifer, are committing half a billion dollars through the Gilbert Family Foundation and the Rocket Community Fund to make a real impact on the problems people face.

The first effort will bring in $ 15 million in property taxes that can often lead to the grinding of generational poverty.

“We’d rather delve into a handful of important and critical issues and make a major impact on them than share the money like Santa,” Gilbert said.

This is the beginning of the targeting offer so that Detroiters no longer look back financially and move forward, maintaining and improving their homes.

Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan said that with this investment, foreclosures are no longer the big issue.

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“The stress is that you have people with bills from four, five or six years ago, hanging over their heads, making them insecure in their lives every day,” Duggan said. “What Gilbert did is give them a path to financial security.”

The fund will be operated by local nonprofit agency Wayne Metropolitan Community Action, which is already working to help Detroit residents with housing-related payments through property tax assistance programs and related services. To find out if you qualify, click here.

This tax debt retirement money will inevitably reach the city and county, but Wayne County Executive Warren Evans said there is much more at stake here.

“I’d rather see property taxes paid, interest and penalties waived, taxes waived, taxes eliminated, and people have the ability to pay their taxes,” Evans said. “We’re going to build a stronger Wayne County.”

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Gilbert estimates that $ 15 million will solve the taxes owed, leaving $ 485 million to go after other problems. He said he had not decided where the money would go next and that he was focusing on one issue at a time.

To learn more about organizations’ investments, visit the Gilbert Family Foundation website here.