A TIF district is a designated area (usually downtowns, commercial corridors, or redevelopment zones) where the local government freezes the property tax base at its current value. As the area redevelops and property values increase, the extra tax revenue generated from that growth (the increment) goes into a special pot instead of the general fund.

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The pitch? Downtown Wi-Fi would be as essential as streetlights or sidewalks – a sweet enticement for visitors, businesses, and data-hungry residents strolling around Front Street or the marina. It was a network that would offer Wi-Fi to up to 27,500 outdoor users at a time and it went online 11 years ago across approximately 40 blocks.

“Connectivity” in theory – “dismal performance” in practice.

The Traverse City Ticker recently reported that despite $790,000 poured into the system, downtown’s public Wi-Fi is officially dead – and many locals will tell you it never lived up to the hype in the first place. The decade-long TCLP–DDA project drew complaints as early as 2019, with residents openly questioning why the network barely worked.

In 2019, then-DDA CEO Jean Derenzy said at their April meeting, “The feedback I’ve had is it’s not working as well as it should. We’re working with Light and Power to identify how that can improve.”

TCLP pushed back, insisting the system performed as designed. Chief Information Officer Scott Menhart told the Ticker that most complaints came from people trying to use the Wi-Fi inside hotels, restaurants, and shops – locations he said the network was never meant to serve. According to TCLP, the Wi-Fi was always intended strictly for outdoor use.

When asked about the now-defunct network which was never upgraded sufficiently to meet the needs of the city, TCLP Executive Director Brandie Ekren said, “The public downtown wi-fi system was installed more than 10 years ago, and the equipment has long exceeded its useful life.”

When everyone has Wi-Fi, nobody needs public Wi-Fi.

By 2025, city officials concluded it was not practical to maintain or upgrade the aging hardware. TCLP and the DDA noted that most downtown businesses now provide their own Wi-Fi, cellular coverage has significantly improved, and public use of the system had declined. With those factors in mind, the network was allowed to lapse, leaving the very expensive tech boondoggle behind.