11 - Expansion of Property Assessed Clean Energy Program

Home Browse Search

Item No. 11 TO: Mayor, Mayor Pro -Tem & City Council Grayson Path, City Manager FROM: Stephanie H. Harris, City Attorney SUBJECT: RESOLUTION ESTABLISHING A PROPERTY ASSESSED CLEAN ENERGY (PACE) PROGRAM DATE: August 9, 2021 BACKGROUND: Chapter 399 of the Texas Local Government Code (LGC) codifies the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) Act. PACE financing is an alternative to traditional financing for energy efficiency, water conservation and renewable energy projects for privately - owned commercial and industrial properties. C -PACE makes it possible for commercial, industrial, and certain residential property owners: to obtain low-cost, long-term financing ➢ to improve energy efficiency, generate renewable energy, and achieve other vital public benefits ➢ to increase the value of their property through improvements to lighting, roofing, HVAC systems, boilers and chillers, insulation, glazed windows, hot water heating systems, renewable energy systems, and more to finance these projects in a way that is cash-flow positive — payback terms of up to 30 years can result in yearly savings from energy improvements greater than annual PACE payments Unlike more traditional means of financing, PACE financing is secured by an assessment on the property that is in turn secured by a senior priority lien on the property that runs with the property and cannot be extinguished by a foreclosure of a mortgage or a property tax lien. The PACE lien is enforced in the same manner in which a property tax lien is enforced, through foreclosure by the local governmental entity. PACE financing is designed to be risk- and cost-free for the local government.