I am writing in response to last week’s Letter to the Editor from Glenn Johnson. Every year I enjoy coming up to Two Harbors and was excited to hear there might be some development happening on Lighthouse Point. After reading his letter I wanted to point out that he may not understand or has been misinformed on how Tax Increment Financing (TIF) works. First of all there are different types of TIFs, and not all TIFs need to be affordable housing or a blighted area. TIFs are generally for development that will generate a tax base for the city, town or community it’s in. Most TIFs are pay as you go which means the developer takes the risk and invests their capital for infrastructure, and in return the developer would get a percent of the taxes back for a certain time period. The percentage and how many years is negotiated through the city. Mr. Johnson was incorrect when he insinuated all the money would go to the developers for 25 years, it just doesn’t work like that. So rest assured, people don’t need to panic that their taxes will go up or that they would be paying for a development. Just the opposite. It will create more revenue for the town of Two Harbors!
Mark Johnson, Edina, MN
