A town in Michigan will levy a one-time tax hike on the city’s homeowners to pay nearly $1.4m to settle a lawsuit with a man who was beaten by a police officer.
The town of Inkster, a Detroit suburb, agreed last Thursday to pay $1.38m to Floyd Dent, who was severely beaten by police officer William Melendez during a traffic stop in January. The incident was captured on video, which aired on WDIV-TV weeks after the incident.
Melendez, who was fired and denies wrongdoing, has been charged with three felonies.
On Monday, the Inkster city treasurer, Mark Stuhldreher, announced that the city will levy a one-time tax hike on the city’s homeowners to raise funds for the settlement. That means property owners might have to pay the city an additional $178.67, according to the Detroit Free Press. Stuhldreher estimated 70% of the settlement will be paid by the end of next February. The rest should be paid by the end of June 2016.
“I think it’s just horrible,” said Inkster resident Sandra Studvent during a city council meeting on Monday. “Taxes are high enough. Why should we pay for something we didn’t do?”
About 51% of Inkster’s 25,000 residents are homeowners, according to the US census bureau. The median value of an owner-occupied house in Inkster is about $55,400. The median household income is $26,512. More than a third of Inkster’s residents live below the poverty level.
“This [tax] is not necessarily fair to taxpayers,” Inkster’s mayor, Hilliard Hampton, told the Huffington Post. “We have a disproportionate number of citizens who are on the social safety net, we have a disproportionate number of seniors … This is the third time we’ve been levying those folks who are on fixed incomes. Those who can afford it the least are being hit by something they have no involvement in.”
Inkster is not the only city that is footing large bills for police misconduct. Since 2007, Detroit has paid out almost $27m in lawsuits and settlements costs related to police misconduct. Over a 10-year period, Denver paid out $13m to settle cases against local police and sheriff’s departments.
“It’s a stark reminder that police brutality has real consequences, not just for the victims who are physically hurt by it, but for the residents of the community that the police are supposed to be serving,” Dan Korobkin, deputy legal director at American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan, told the Huffington Post.
Dent, 57, is happy about the $1.38m settlement but would give it up to have avoided the beating, according to his attorney, Nicholas Bennet.
While some Inkster homeowners are frustrated over picking up the tab for something that is not their problem, others just want to move on.
“I feel like it could have been worse,” Akindele Akinyemo, told the Detroit Free Press. “I’m just glad it’s over. I’m not upset, but I just feel like we can move on, and grow the city.”
