Downtown Ypsilanti on Friday, June 29, 2018. (Lauren Slagter | MLive)

YPSILANTI, MI - Another tax increase in the city that already had the highest tax rate in Washtenaw County is driving Claire Barnes and her family to move out of Ypsilanti.

Claire and her husband Steve Barnes bought their house on Owendale Street in Ypsilanti in July 2016. In 2017, the taxes on their 1,400-square-foot $184,000 house increased to $7,859, according to city records.

This year, the Water Street millage that voters passed last August goes into effect, adding as many as another 2.3 mills to Ypsilanti residents' taxes for 13 years. The city will levy 2.1258 mills in 2018 toward paying off the Water Street debt, said Marilou Uy, Ypsilanti's finance director.

2018 also will be the last year the city levies a street improvement tax that's set at 2.0028 mills, Uy added.

"So that's a good thing for the taxpayers," she said.

In all, Ypsilanti homeowners faced 65.9786 mills in property taxes in 2017, according to Washtenaw County's

. That includes taxes from the city, county, state, community college, intermediate school district and library.

Non-homestead properties in Ypsilanti - which include commercial and industrial buildings as well as second homes - had a 83.8365-mill tax rate in 2017.

The next highest tax rate in Washtenaw County is 52.8704 mills on primary residences and 70.8398 mills on non-homestead properties in Milan.

See how much Washtenaw County taxpayers pay for their public schools

Don't Edit

The table shows the homestead and non-homestead millage rates in different municipalities as well as how much local property tax revenue each generated in 2017, according to the Washtenaw County apportionment report.

Claire Barnes grew up in Ypsilanti Township, and Steve is originally from the West Coast. They still own a house in Seattle, which they've rented out since moving back to Ypsilanti a couple of years ago to be closer to family.

With two young children now, they like that their house is close to Ypsilanti's Frog Island Park and Depot Town, Claire said, but she expects they'll move within the next year or two due to the high taxes and low-performing schools. They're hoping to relocate to the Novi, Plymouth or Canton area.

"(Steve) was completely shocked that you could have taxes this high and still not have good schools and roads and kind of basic things that your taxes should be going to," Claire said.

Don't Edit

The chart shows how Ypsilanti homeowners' property tax dollars were spent in 2017. (From City of Ypsilanti's proposed 2018-19 budget report)

The City of Ypsilanti has struggled financially in recent years, but the

promises to restore eight city positions, Uy said.

Property taxes account for 64 percent of the city's revenue, and low property values in Ypsilanti mean the city has to compensate with higher tax rates to try to generate the money it needs to function.

Don't Edit

Ypsilanti's Water Street redevelopment area on Friday, June 29, 2018. (Lauren Slagter | MLive)

The Water Street millage passed with

, which was the third time a proposal to pay off the debt on the 38-acre property near downtown Ypsilanti was brought to voters.

Nearly two decades after the City of Ypsilanti began purchasing land for the Water Street redevelopment area, the site still stands empty due to contamination issues and failed development deals.

Efforts to bring an "International Village" housing development to the Water Street property ended in a scandal in April.

Don't Edit

Houses on West Cross Street in Ypsilanti on Friday, June 29, 2018. (Lauren Slagter | MLive)

Kerri Pepperman, who has lived in Ypsilanti's Normal Park neighborhood for 11 years, voted in favor of the Water Street millage last August, and she said the benefits of living in Ypsilanti outweigh the high taxes.

"I love the city, I love the neighborhood. I love the culture and the sense of community," said Pepperman, who works at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. "There's no doubt that we pay a lot for what we get. But I also understand that it's not the city's fault. There are a lot of other factors that play in."Pepperman is encouraged to see property values in Ypsilanti starting to rise and the city's financial situation improving overall.

"We basically had to pass the (Water Street) millage no matter what," she said. "This is the first budget in 10 years where we haven't had to make any cuts, and that's due to the milage. So we had to stop the bleeding. Hopefully, someday something will go in at Water Street."

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

The graph shows how property values in Ypsilanti have changed over the years. (From City of Ypsilanti's proposed 2018-19 budget report)

Pepperman and her partner bought their current house on Westmoorland Road in November of 2016, according to city records. She said they were able to sell their previous house - also in the Normal Park neighborhood - at a higher value than when they purchased it.

Uy also noted the recent gradual rebound in Ypsilanti property values.

"I think right now the trend is our taxable value is going up slightly," she said. "(Since) back in 2010, it's been dropping so quick. Now it's going up, but it's not going up the way we want it to be."