Leaders of the Detroit Public Library say too much of their voter-approved millage is being diverted to the city's Downtown Development Authority, rising above a 5% cap laid out in the ballot question voters approved when they renewed the library's millage in 2014. Library commissioners and staff, during a virtual meeting Tuesday, said the capture was 12% of the millage's 2020 revenue and is estimated to be 11% in 2024 and 2025, amounts that will eat into the library's operating budget at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic has already temporarily shuttered most of its branches. John Mogk, a professor at Wayne State University's Law School whose research has focused on urban law and economic development policies, said the rationale behind tax increment financing is that captured revenue from property values are put back into the district and can stimulate further development of the area. But, Mogk said, local governments may ask whether a tax capture is necessary. "From the side of the view of the local governments it is, 'well, we know the revenue being captured could productively be used for us in carrying out our public purpose and when it's not available, we're severely hampered in performing our work,'" Mogk said.