Thread: FIND OUT WHAT "PACE" LOANS ARE. LOANS TO YOU TO PAY FOR AGENDA 21

Property Assessed Clean Energy
Program (PACE)

PACE Loans(FOR YOUR TAXES TO PAY BACK) are going to be given, along with GRANTS(THAT YOUR ELECTED POLITICIANS GET FOR IMPLEMENTING AGENDA 21) THAT ARE DESIGNED TO CHANGE THE VOTING BLOCK/ZONES BY BUILDING HIGH DENSITY HOUSING(50 UNITS PER ACRE) AND GIVING WELFARE(AFFORDABLE HOUSING/ FOOD STAMPS ETC.) TO ILLEGALS TO LIVE IN THEN AS LONG AS THEY VOTE "PROGRESSIVE". AND WE GET THE PRIVLAGE OF PAYING THESE PACE LOANS BACK.
PACE loans are also going to be set up for Home Owner to BORROW MONEY to "UPGRADE" their homes to standards THEY WILL MAKE PROPERTY TAX CODE, WHICH WILL BE ENFORCED BY MEN WITH GUNS(POLICE/IRS), WHO WILL COME TO YOUR HOME AND AT GUN POINT FORCE YOU INTO A CAGE(JAIL) OR KILL YOU IF YOU RESIST IN THE SIGHTIST, IF YOU DO NOT PAY THEM.

"America, America, God shed his light on the..."

COMING TO YOUR CITY COUNCIL SOON: WILL YOU OR ANYONE KNOW THAT THEY NEED TO BE THERE ASKING QUESTIONS?
T &E

COMMITTEE
#3
July
21,2014
Discussion
MEMORANDUM
July
17,2014
TO:
Transportation,
Infrastructure,
Energy
and
Environment
Committee
FROM~eith
Levchenko,
Senior
Legislative
Analyst
SUBJECT:
Discussion:
Commercial
Property
Assessed
Clean
Energy
(PACE)
Program
Implementation
Plan
Attachments
to
this
memorandum
include:
•
Presentation
Slides
from
Public
Financial
Management,
Inc.
(The
PFM
Group)
on
the
Montgomery
County
Implementation
Plan:
Commercial
Property
Assessed
Clean
Energy
Program
(©1-9)
•
Memorandum
from
Public
Financial
Management,
Inc.
(The
PFM
Group)
to
the
Department
of
Finance
(©10-12)
•
County
Executive
Transmittal
Memorandum
of
May
19
(©13-14)
•
Montgomery
County
Implementation
Plan:
Commercial
Property
Assessed
Clean
Energy
Program
(©15-33)
and
Summary
(©34)
Background
As
required
in
Bill
11-13,
Commercial
Property
Assessed
Clean
Energy
Program,
on
May
19,
the
County
Executive
transmitted
an
implementation
plan
for
the
creation
of
a
commercial
PACE
program
in
Montgomery
County.
Laura
Franke
of
Public
Financial
Management,
Inc.
(The
PFM
Group)
will
do
a
presentation
on
the
Commercial
PACE
Implementation
Plan.
The
following
Executive
officials
and
staffwill
also
be
available
to
participate
in
the
Committee
discussion:
•
Joseph
Beach,
Director,
Department
of
Finance
•
Robert
Hagedoorn,
Chief,
Treasury
Division,
Department
of
Finance
•
Mary
Casciotti,
Management
and
Budget
Specialist,
Department
of
Finance
•
Stan
Edwards,
Chief
of
Environmental
Policy
and
Compliance,
Department
of
Environmental
Protection
(DEP)
•
Michelle
Vigen,
Senior
Energy
Planner,
DEP
•
Scott
Foncannon,
Associate
County
Attorney,
Office
of
the
County
Attorney
•
Eric
Coffman,
Chief
-
Energy
and
Sustainability,
Department
of
General
Services

Bill
11-13
does
not
require
Council
approval
of
the
Implementation
Plan. However,
implementing
legislation
will
be
required
to
move
forward
with
the
program.
If
the
T
&E
Committee
is
supportive
of
the
Implementation
Plan,
then
the
Executive
will
draft
and
forward
legislation
to
the
Council
for
action.
PACE
Program
Concept
The
concept
of
PACE
(whether
for
residential
or
commercial
application)
is
to
make
energy
efficiency
and
renewable energy
improvements
(which
can
reduce
energy
costs
and
in
some
cases
improve
property
values)
more
economically
viable
for
property
owners.
A
key
element
of
a
PACE
program
is
that
the
loan
payback
is
done
via
a
property
owner's
property
tax
bill
(with
a
transfer
of
ownership
also
transferring
the
loan
obligation
to
the
new
owner)
and
secured
via
a
lien
on
the
property.
Utilizing
the
property
tax
bill
for
loan
repayment
provides
potential
lenders
with
a
very
safe
loan
opportunity.
For
property
owners,
the
fact
that
the
loan
stays
with
the
property
upon
sale
or
transfer
means
that
a
property
owner
can
consider
improvements
even
where
the
payback
scenario
might
exceed
their
ownership
of
the
property.
In
an
ideal
situation,
the
annual
energy
cost
savings
will
be
the
same
or
greater
than
the
annual
loan
obligation.
However,
even
in
situations
where
the
annual
savings
may
not
offset
the
annual
loan
costs,
the
improvements
may
still
be
worthwhile
if
an
increase
in
property
value
can
be
assumed
as
a
result
of
the
improvements.
Residential
PACE
Because
of
concerns
raised
by
the
Federal
Housing
Finance
Agency
(FHFA)
regarding
the
mortgage
implications
of
a
residential
PACE
program,
the
County's
Home
Energy
Loan
Program
(i.e.,
Residential
PACE
program)
legislation
(enacted
several
years
ago)
has
not
been
implemented.
Commercial
PACE
Commercial
PACE
programs
are
not
affected
by
the
FHFA
concerns
noted
above.
Also,
as
noted
later,
one
of
the
assumed
terms
for
approval
of
a
PACE
loan
is
that
the
applicants
with
mortgages
must
get
lender
approval.
Commercial
PACE
loans
tend
to
be
quite
large
and,
therefore,
these
programs
typically
utilize
private
loan
funds
with
the
governmental
entity
providing
the
collection
process
via
the
property
tax
bill.
However,
until
recently,
in
the
State
of
Maryland,
counties
and
municipalities
did
not
have
the
authority
to
use
the
property
tax
bill
mechanism
to
collect
private
loan
payments.
Fortunately,
enabling
legislation
was
approved
during
this
past
legislative
session
(Senate
Bill
186,
signed
by
the
Governor
on
May
15,
2014).
Councilmember
Berliner
introduced
Commercial
PACE
legislation
(Bill
11-13)
on
April
23,
2014.
As
originally
drafted,
Bill
11-13
established
the
program
and
defIned
many
of
the
criteria
for
the
program.
However,
after
further
deliberation,
the
bill
was
amended
by
the
Council
to
require
the
Executive
to
develop
an
implementation
plan,
and
the
elements
of
the
bill
creating
and
defIning
the
program
were
removed.
2


Commercial
PACE
Implementation
Plan
The
required
elements
of
the
Implementation
Plan
as
noted
in
Bill
11-13
are
shown
below:
Sec.
18A-33.
Commercial
Property
Assessed
Clean
Energy
Program.
(a)
Definition.
In
this
Section,
Commercial
Property
Assessed
Clean
Energy
Program
or
Program
means
a
program
that
facilitates
energy
improvements
and
requires
repayment
through
a
surcharge
on
the
owner
s
property
tax
bill.
(b)
The
Executive
must,
by
May
19,2014,
prepare
a
plan
for
implementing
a
Commercial
Property
Assessed
Clean
Energy
Program
that
analyzes
and
provides
recommendations
on
the
following
elements:
(1)
standards
for
eligible
energy
and
environmental
improvements;
(2)
energy
audit
or
project
design
review
requirements;
(3)
procedures
for
monitoring
project
progress
and
post-installation
inspections;
(4)
programfonding
sources;
(5)
lending
standards
and
priorities;
(6)
minimum
and
maximum
loan
amounts;
(7)
interest
rates,
terms,
and
conditions;
(
application
procedures,
including
necessary
supporting
documentation;
(9)
criteria
for
adequate
security;
(10)
procedures
to
refer
applicants
to
other
public
and
private
sources
of
fonds
and
incentives;
(11)
procedures
related
to
decisions
on
loan
acceptance
and
denial,
or
loan
terms
and
conditions;
(12)
procedures
for
nonpayment
or
default;
(13)
disclosure
requirements
for
real
estate
transactions;
(14)
criteria
for
loan
disbursement;
and
(15)
any
additional
requirements
necessary
for
program
operation
or
security
of
loan
funds
identified
by
the
Executive.
(2013
L.MC.,
ch.
33,
§
1.)
Ms.
Laura
Franke
of
Public
Financial
Management,
Inc.
provided
consultant
support
to
Department
of
Finance
and
DEP
staff
in
the
development
of
the Implementation
Plan.
She
also
provided
a
memorandum
to
the
Department
of
Finance
(see
©10-12)
which
notes
how
the
Implementation
Plan
addresses
each
of
the
items
noted
in
the
legislation.
Some
key
elements
of
the
Implementation
Plan
are
summarized
below:
•
The
program
is
assumed
to
be
"self-supporting"
once
operational,
with
the
County's
ongoing
administrative
costs
to
be
recovered
through
program
fees.
County
payment
of
start-up
costs
could
be
recovered
as
well.
Alternatively,
the
County
could
choose
to
absorb
the
startup
costs
(presumably
from
the
general
fund)
in
order
to
avoid
higher
initial
costs
for
applicants.
•
The
Plan
includes
a
number
of
additional
positions
needed
to
develop
and
manage
the
ongoing
program
that
could
be
filled
with
contract
or
in-house
staff.
Based
on
discussions
with
County
staff,
the
assumption
is
that
3
rd
party
administration
will
be
pursued.
Given
that
the
County
does
not
have
in-house
expertise
to
manage
this
program
and
that
the
program
scale
is
not
certain
at
this
time,
contracting
out
the
administration
is
a
reasonable
approach.
3


•
"Owner-arranged"
financing
is
assumed:
This
is
a
key
assumption,
since
a
County*
funded
loan
program
would
require
an
upfront
County
fmancial
infusion
plus
ongoing
management
and
oversight.
Given
the
uncertainty
of
the
initial
and
ultimate
demand
for
this
program
and
the
fact
that
the
consultant
asserts
that
outside
funding
is
available
for
these
types
of
loans,
outside
funding
makes
sense.
•
As
required
by
SB
186,
property
owners
with
existing
mortgages
would
have
to
get
lender
consent
before
their
project
could
proceed.
•
The
minimum
loan
amount
would
be
$5,000
up
to
a
maximum
loan
amount
of
20
percent
of
the
assessed
value
of
the
property.
The
maximum
loan
tenn
would
be
limited
to
the
use:fu1life
of
the
improvement.
•
Eligible
improvements
are
defined
as
"pennanently
affixed
to
existing
structures,
that
provide
energy
efficiency,
clean
energy
generation
or
water
conservation
benefits
to
the
consumer.
"
One
element
not
included
in
the
Implementation
Plan
is
the
requirement
for
an
energy
audit
or
a
renewable
energy
system
feasibility
analysis
for
the
property.
This
requirement
was
included
in
the
original
County
legislation
as
introduced.
Instead,
the
Plan
notes
that
the
County
will
rely
on
the
administration
team
to
"defme
the
specific
thresholds
of
projects
eligible
for
PACE
funding."
The
intent
is
to
make
the
program
as
flexible
and
streamlined
as
possible
to
keep
costs
for
the
property
owner
as
low
as
possible,
while
still
requiring
a
viable,
lender
approved
project
to
go
forward.
Council
Staff
Recommendation
Council
Staff
met
with
Ms.
Franke
and
with
Finance
and
DEP
staff
and
suggested
some
minor
revisions
to
the
Implementation
Plan
which
have
been
incorporated
into
the
latest
draft
of
the
plan
(attached).
Council
Staff
believes
the
Implementation
Plan
provides
a
sufficient
framework
for
the
County
to
move
forward
to
create
a
Commercial
PACE
program.
The
next
steps
will
include:
enactment
of
County
legislation
establishing
the
program
and
the
selection
of
a
contractor
to
develop
and
administer
the
program.
Attaclunents
KML:f:\Ievchenko\dep\energy
issues\energy
efficiency
and
pace\t&e
discussion
7
21
14
commercial
pace
implementation
plan.doc

http://www.montgomerycountymd.gov/co...140721_TE3.pdf