Inkster Residents On The Hook For Settlement In Another Police Excessive Force Case

INKSTER (WWJ/AP) - Inkster residents are being forced to pay for another settlement involving the city's police department.

Federal court documents show the latest settlement for $100,000 stems from the July 2011 arrest of DeShawn Acklin. His lawsuit says he was handcuffed then choked and beaten until he lost consciousness.

Inkster property owners were already on the hook for a $1.4 million settlement with Floyd Dent, a man seen on video being repeatedly punched in the head in January by police officer William Melendez during a traffic stop.

Melendez was fired as an Inkster officer but has denied any wrongdoing. He's been ordered to stand trial in the case involving Dent and has a court hearing Friday.

Melendez is among seven officers sued by Acklin as well.

It's unclear how residents will be asked to absorb that cost, but millage rates provided by michigan.gov show residents in Inkster -- one of the poorest communities in the state -- already pay among the highest rates in property taxes.

Inkster residents pay 76 mills (or $76 for every $1,000 of their home's taxable value) compared to 26 mills in the Taylor section of Brownstown Township, 26.6 mills in Canton, and 34 mills in tony Northville

Detroiters pay 69 mills, and those in Highland Park pay $75 for every $1,000 of their homes taxable value.

That means the owner of a house with a taxable value of $50,000 would pay about $3,800 a year in property taxes in Inkster, compared to paying $1,300 in parts of Brownstown Township and $1,700 in Northville.

According to Zillow.com, the average Inkster house costs about $49,900. The city has a 10 percent unemployment rate.

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