Detroit sent incorrect tax bills to almost 60,000 homeowners, and none at all to thousands more, the city ombudsman says.

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The bills were mailed in late December to replace 58,000 sent in November that understated the sums owed.

"We whine that we're broke, but we can't get the tax bills correct?" ombudsman Durene Brown asked. "What's wrong with this picture? People could lose their homes over this."

Brown told the Detroit Free Press she has received more than 2,000 calls since the city sent out corrected bills after many homeowners already paid the first one.

The deadline to pay city taxes is Wednesday, but thousands of residents still have received no bill, Brown said.

"In all of the years I've lived in Detroit, this is the first time I didn't get a bill," said Mark Janusch, 63. "You'd think the city, with all of its financial problems, would jump at the chance to collect property taxes."