The Edina Housing and Redevelopment Authority voted to approve a $1,000,000 grant agreement to the Edina Housing Foundation to fund a HEROES down-payment assistance program, with the money drawn from Southdale 2 TIF pooled funds. The motion was moved, seconded and carried by the four members present.

The program, described to the HRA by staff, would operate like past "Come Home to Edina" down-payment assistance: the foundation would hold second mortgages (a lien) on homes purchased with assistance. Borrowers may pay interest monthly or defer repayment until sale, when the foundation would recoup funds and reuse them to support future buyers. Manager Neuendorf told commissioners the pooled TIF increment is available for affordable housing under special legislation enacted for the Southdale 2 district.

Commissioner Amy Risser, who cast a supporting vote but asked that the item be pulled from the consent agenda for discussion, said she worried about using public funds to designate some workers as "heroes" while excluding others, and questioned whether the program’s income ceiling and maximum purchase levels are well-targeted. Risser noted that some neighborhood home values she observed are under $600,000 and said household income eligibility up to about $106,000 raised distributional concerns and potential pressure on the levy if funds were retained.

Staff member Hawkinson said the original Come Home to Edina program served a wide range of service workers, including grocery and social workers, and that households served often had incomes well below the program maximum. She reiterated that the proposed grant to the Edina Housing Foundation would not be a direct cash grant to buyers but would fund second mortgages held by the foundation and returned to the program when homes are sold; those repayments, she said, could replenish the fund over many years.

Commissioner Peter Jackson said the HEROES designation was partly intended to target employees who both live and work in Edina, a narrower pool that officials said could help reduce vehicle miles traveled by shortening commutes. Manager Neuendorf explained that, if the pooled TIF funds were not used for affordable housing, the dollars would be distributed back to taxing jurisdictions through the normal TIF close-out process over roughly a year or more.

The motion to approve the grant agreement to the Edina Housing Foundation for $1,000,000 from Southdale 2 TIF pooled funds passed by voice vote; all members present said "aye." The record shows Commissioner Agnew was absent.