Does Ann Arbor have a city income tax? No — but the question keeps coming back

Good news if you’re moving to Ann Arbor: unlike Detroit, Lansing, or Flint, Ann Arbor does not have a city income tax — and neither does anywhere else in Washtenaw County. Only 24 Michigan cities charge one, and Ann Arbor isn’t among them. What’s unusual is how often the idea comes up here. Voters were asked twice — in 1969 and again in 1972 — and turned it down both times, by roughly 60% each. The proposal each time was the standard Michigan setup: a 1% tax on residents and 0.5% on people who work in the city but live elsewhere, paired with a cut to city property taxes. The idea has resurfaced again and again in tight budget years (with serious studies in 2004, 2009, and 2011), partly because the University of Michigan owns so much tax-exempt land the city can’t tax, and partly because more than half of Ann Arbor’s residents are renters. The city council can’t impose an income tax on its own — it can only put the question to voters — so for now there’s nothing extra to budget for. Just know it’s a perennial Ann Arbor debate that could, in theory, land on a future ballot.