Belle Isle's missing link to the riverfront is almost complete.

Why it matters: Bicyclists, runners and trail users will finally be able to travel directly between Belle Isle and the city via the downtown riverwalk.

• The new connection between two of Detroit's greatest assets is another table-setter for big-time development on the east riverfront.

Driving the news: The trail's half-mile extension is expected to open in October, the Free Press reports.

• The Detroit Riverfront Conservancy led the $11 million project.

State of play: Heading east from downtown, the path currently dead ends at Mount Elliott Park, less than a mile from Belle Isle.

• To reach the bridge to Belle Isle, trail users have to find their way from the dead end to Jefferson Avenue and deal with its traffic.
• Once the new pathway is open, the riverwalk will connect directly to the Belle Isle bridge and to nearby Gabriel Richard Park.

The big picture: The extended riverwalk strengthens links between the city's riverfront and its expanding ecosystem of trails, including the Dequindre Cut and the under-construction Joe Louis Greenway.

Catch up fast: The new path runs along the contaminated Uniroyal tire manufacturing site, which the city bought after it shut down in 1980, according to the Freep, and demolished in 1985.

• A portion of the 42-acre property was remediated for $35 million about a decade ago, but cleanup work is ongoing, Crain's reported in May.
• Detroit native and NFL Hall of Famer Jerome Bettis is reportedly working with a local developer on plans for the site, but a time frame is unknown.

The intrigue: Dan Gilbert has spent around $100 million, mostly since the pandemic, acquiring land near the Uniroyal site and at one time was involved in talks about its future, according to Crain's.

• Dividing the property into pieces to encourage development could be on the table.

What's next: The trail will extend 5.5 miles from the Belle Isle bridge all the way to the Ambassador Bridge next year when the new 22-acre Ralph C. Wilson Jr. Centennial Park is finished.

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The effective property tax rate for a median-valued home in Detroit was 3.21% in 2022, Axios' Jennifer A. Kingson reports.

Why it matters: That's the highest among major cities and double the national average, according to a new report from the nonprofit Lincoln Institute for Land Policy and the Minnesota Center for Fiscal Excellence.

• The "effective" tax rate measures the tax bill as a percent of the property's market value.

Driving the news: Our sky-high property tax rates have long been a burden on residents. They've fueled a recent push for reform through a split-rate tax that would lower what owners of occupied homes and improved properties pay while increasing taxes on blighted, unused land and parking lots.

• Mayor Mike Duggan told the Free Press recently that the proposal announced this spring is still on schedule.
• It requires state and local approvals and would then be rolled out from 2025 to 2027.

The big picture: Cities with high property tax rates generally have low home values, which then drive up the tax rate needed to raise enough revenue. Detroit did this over the decades as people moved out, a tactic that worsened the problem by increasing foreclosures and making even more people leave the city, per another Lincoln institute report.

• The cities with the highest effective property tax rates are among those with the most poverty.
• Wealthy cities like Salt Lake City, Denver and Boston have the lowest effective rates.

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🎤 Singer and actor Jennifer Hudson is headlining the flashy, pricey Charity Preview at Huntington Place that kicks off September's North American International Auto Show. (WDIV)

📚 DPSCD student achievement isn't improving, but superintendent Nikolai Vitti says the school district cannot use the pandemic as an excuse. (Free Press)

⚖️ Country Mill Farms won its case against the city of East Lansing, which it sued for excluding it from a farmers market because the business won't host same-sex weddings.

• A judge weighed in this week that the orchard was "forced to choose between following their religious beliefs and a government benefit for which they were otherwise qualified." (Detroit News)

👋🏽 Sam here. Remember when I noticed the lack of city flags around town?

The intrigue: Well, I found one — sort of.

📬 Do you know where this mural version of the city's flag is? Reply with the correct guess and you could win some Axios Detroit swag and a handwritten note.

Michigan is among the college football teams with the biggest increases in ticket sales on StubHub this year, Axios' Analis Bailey reports.

Why it matters: Live events are in demand and college football is no different. StubHub's ticket sales nationally are up over 50%, the most preseason sales of the past five years.

However, not all is going well in Ann Arbor — U of M coach Jim Harbaugh is suspended for the first three games of the season.

• He'll be back for the game against Rutgers, Michigan's first Big Ten opponent.