I'm going to make a suggestion that sounds absurd on its face, in Ypsilanti's current heated battle over cutting costs vs. raising taxes: the city should hand out $10,000 cash grants to people who purchase, fix up, and occupy vacant and foreclosed homes. Why? Because it's a net fiscal gain for the city. (Obviously, this should be treated as a starting point for discussion, rather than a fine-tuned proposal.)

As a timely case study, let's look at the properties owned by local landlord David Kircher, whose entire portfolio was recently put on the market by the trustee appointed in his bankruptcy proceedings. I understand most (perhaps all?) of these properties to also be subject to tax foreclosure by the county for unpaid property taxes.