LANSING, Mich. — It’s been about five months since Rosalyn Williams was forced to leave her unit at Autumn Ridge because it was red tagged, and she still doesn't have a place of her own.
“I’m staying with a friend,” she said.
We’ve followed Williams and others like her for months and have heard a common desire for the city when it came to addressing the red-tag problem, transparency.
“Transparency is important when it comes to addressing the red tagged issue is because you get the real amount,” Williams said.
And now, there’s a new city tool that does that.
“If you go through to the code compliance website, they have a tab that says red and pink tag reports,” said Lansing City Councilman Ryan Kost.
Kost walked us through the online reports tool, and it shows the number of pink tags and red tags Lansing has for each month. For July, the report shows 651 red tags and 303 pink tags.
“I think what people need to see is the metric that we’re doing the job, we’re being transparent and we’re reducing the number,” Kost said. “As you know, the number will never be zero, but we’re going to try and reduce it as much as possible.”
The report also shows the average duration time for both red and pink tagged properties. Right now, the average time a property is red tagged is about 35 months and about 13 months for a pink tagged location
“That's one of the problems we’re facing right now, and that’s how you end up with properties that have been red tagged since 2012,” Kost said.
Kost also believes hiring additional staff in code enforcement will help bring the duration numbers down, and as the city works on making the online report better, Williams is sending a message to other residents who have been impacted by the red tag issue.
“Keep your head up,” she said.
