Tom Bledsoe’s recent My Turn [“Build mixed-income housing on Hope Street lot,” Recorder, Oct. 30] mentions three funding sources for his $29 million proposed mixed-income housing development. Low Income Housing Tax Credits ($23 million), Soft Debt ($3-4 million) and a bank loan ($2-3 million). (I’m kind of guessing on the split between the last two since it all depends how much money the state has to give.) Only one of these funding sources will represent that assessed property value for real estate tax purposes. Guess which source it is? Only the bank loan, which is typically the smallest. If it were a market rate development, the whole $29 million would be taxed. I don’t think his proposal is a bad one, but people should be informed how little these developments pay in real estate taxes to the community.
Brendan Kuntz
Greenfield