The new Mayor and council however have a nearly impossible mission of making Detroit acceptable and inviting enough to attract new business and workers.  Aside from the problem of the obvious social decay allowed for decades, there is a problem of theft by government.  As the Mackinac Center rightly points out:

".. Michigan has been bailing out Detroit for years and it's only delayed the problems. In fact, Detroit gets favors from the state of Michigan that no other city receives, and the state has made these rules to try to get the city more revenue to deal with its problems.

Detroit is the only city in Michigan that can assess a utility tax. It is added on top of monthly bills charged to residents and businesses. The tax expired in 1988 but was resurrected in 1990.  .."

Perhaps they should pay attention: