Detroit City Council

The Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and the Detroit Historical Society will ask Wayne and Oakland county voters on Nov. 3 to approve a 0.2 mill, 10-year property tax to help fund the two institutions. A home valued at $300,000 would pay roughly $30 a year. Officials say the measure would provide sustainable funding as federal, state and local support for museums shrinks, potentially allowing free admission for county residents and free transportation for school and senior tours.

The vote follows a prolonged legislative fight. State lawmakers approved enabling legislation in 2023-2024, but a Republican-controlled legislature that followed refused to forward the bills to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, prompting a legal battle that reached the Michigan Supreme Court, which sided with sending the bills to her. Whitmer vetoed them last month, citing administrative and litigation concerns. In response, Oakland and Wayne county commissions created a joint public authority empowered to place the millage on the ballot without legislative approval.