FAQs

A top issue for many residents is the recent rise in the cost of living. Yes, even in Edina. As taxes and prices increase and money grows tighter, residents want to know that their city government will be responsible financial stewards. Far too often I hear from residents while out in the community, “I’m not sure how  much longer I’ll be able to afford to live here”. That’s a troubling sentiment. And that isn't a sentiment that is exclusive to the working class, or to millennials looking to raise a family, or even to seniors living on a fixed income. It’s a feeling that many people across all demographics resonate with.

Remember, affordability for a community is more than just the rent or mortgage you pay each month. It's also property taxes, it’s utility costs, it’s sales taxes and it’s insurance. The costs of all these things have  significantly increased. Our goal should be to help ease the burden where we can. If we are going to do that, the city council has to recall what our core mission is. We must emphasize public safety, infrastructure, and essential services. Beyond those parts of the core mission, we must explore how we can deliver a high quality of life without spending beyond our means.

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What do you love about living in Edina? 

Edina is unequivocally a great place to live. My wife and I enjoy the fantastic park system and recreational areas including the running, walking, and biking trails. We value the strong sense of community that exists

between neighbors and the tranquility of the diverse set of neighborhoods. We also thoroughly enjoy the benefits of a suburban setting that is still in close proximity to the Twin Cities' cultural and economic opportunities. Edina doesn't require any kind of major overhaul, but every great city has ways to continuously improve.

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Do you belong to a political party?

No. As a candidate running for office for the first time in a non-partisan local seat, you won't find any super-PAC funding here. I am proudly a political independent and I believe, very strongly, that public service should be about individual ideas and their merits, particularly at a city level. So, regardless of where you see my yard sign (next to any other candidate), I encourage you to remember that a yard sign is not an endorsement from or for other candidates. Consider me as your choice this November for my ideas and beliefs, not the ideas and belief of the sign next to me.

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What are your thoughts on Tax Increment Financing (TIF)?

Over the last several years the use of tax increment financing (TIF) in Edina (and really throughout the country) has received increased public scrutiny. Residents want to know: Why should public funds be dedicated to private development? This is a perfectly fair question to ask.

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TIF is not a brand-new economic tool for cities and its use is not exclusive to Edina nor the state of Minnesota. In fact, TIF is used in nearly every state (save California which banned it in 2012). Due to its extensive use, TIF has been repeatedly studied and analyzed over the years by a host of organizations, think tanks, universities, etc. To be better informed, I spent quite a bit of time reading through many different sources to try and capture a variety of perspectives.

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Out of all the sources studied, perhaps the most exhaustive study of TIF that I was able to find was published in 2018 by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy out of Cambridge, MA titled “Improving Tax Increment Financing for Economic Development”. Part of this study included a review of 31 different empirical studies that analyzed the various pros and cons of TIF. The conclusion: “Taken together, this review of the rigorous evaluation literature suggests that in most cases, TIF has not accomplished the goal of promoting economic development”. Why? The short answer is that “TIF often displaces economic activity that would have happened anyway in economically vibrant areas”. In other words, TIF works well when it is utilized in areas that need extra help (e.g., areas of low economic activity, low property values, or sites with physical characteristics that make development particularly costly) but when used in areas that were already growing or economically vibrant, TIF captures and takes credit for the revenue growth that was already naturally occurring (e.g. a site’s continued growth in property value even if it is currently “underdeveloped”) or for development that would have occurred regardless of TIF.

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What does this mean for Edina? TIF is undoubtedly a valuable tool that the city can utilize to help spur development in the right areas under the right circumstances. Unfortunately, TIF is currently being utilized in economically vibrant areas. So, what are we gaining? I’ll sometimes hear from our elected officials that we wouldn’t be able to procure high-quality development projects without TIF. That’s incorrect. We can and we should expect high-quality development projects on some of Edina’s most valuable real estate without the need for millions of dollars in public financing. Would alternative (non-TIF aided) developments increase property tax value as much as recent developments in TIF districts? I can’t know that for sure. But what I do know for sure is that a major project without a 25-year TIF district would provide full tax benefits directly to our city before I’m nearly 60 years old. 

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Moving forward, our city obviously has to keep growing and developing. We can’t freeze our neighborhoods and commercial districts in amber. Help should be offered where it is most needed, but when it comes to some of the most valuable pieces of property our growing city has to offer, our tax dollars would be better spent elsewhere.

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