DEARBORN — State Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Detroit), who is running for the Michigan Senate, has come under media scrutiny after the discovery that she wrongly received a tax break on a house she owns in Dearborn.

Tlaib and her husband improperly claimed a homestead tax exemption on a rental property in Dearborn while residing in Detroit. A homeowner can claim a homestead tax break on his/her primary residence only.

Tlaib.

The state representative says her husband Fayez filed for the exemption in error after buying an adjacent vacant lot and adding it to the property in 2008. The Tlaibs had their taxes on the Dearborn house reduced by about $350 each year since then.

Tlaib said the exemption was an honest mistake. “I’m grateful that they found this mistake, so I can pay what I owe,” she added. “I wouldn’t risk my integrity for a small tax exemption.”

She added that the error could not have been intentional because the house is listed as a rental property with the City of Dearborn.

Lila Sareini, a department technician at the City of Deaborn’s assessor’s office, confirmed that the Tlaib’s house was registered as a rental property with the City’s safety and building department.

Sareini said Tlaib contacted the assessor’s office to pay the back taxes, interests and penalties on the house.

Sareini added that it is possible that filing for the exemption could have been an honest mistake. “It does happen,” she said.

Tlaib, who advocated for the alleged sexual harassment victims who worked at the offices of The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) and introduced a bill against scrap metal theft, has many foes. But she thinks her opponent in the Senate race, State Senator Virgil Smith, was behind uncovering the tax mistake and alerting the media about it.

“When you’re in politics and you take on big fights, you get a whole bunch of enemies,” she said. “But I truly believe it’s my opponent. It is typical of this person.”

She added that Smith has been “digging” and learning more about her. She explained that he is leaking anything negative he finds to the media, in order to use it against her when the election approaches. 

Tlaib said she has been followed around by a vehicle driven by a person associated with Smith’s campaign.

Despite considering the Dearborn tax controversy an honest mistake, she said it could hurt her during the elections. Tlaib and Smith are both Democrats, and they will face off in the Aug. 5 primaries.

The representative slammed Smith’s tactics, adding that “elections should be won on your merit and record, not by smearing others.”

Smith did not return The Arab American News’ request for comments by press time. 

Tlaib talked up her own credentials for the senate seat. “I’m a hard worker,” she said. “I do more than instituting bills. I advocate for my constituents and work 150 percent to serve the residents.”

Michigan’s Fourth Senate district, where Tlaib and Smith are running, was redrawn after the 2010 census. It includes parts of Detroit along with the cities of Allen Park, Lincoln Park and Southgate.

Tlaib was first elected to Michigan’s House of Representatives in 2008. She is currently serving her third and last term in the House. She was elected for the three terms allowed under the state’s term limits law. Smith, a former state representative, won the Michigan Senate’s Fourth District seat in 2010.