Granite County commissioners vote to pursue resolution of intent for commercial PACE financing

Carolyn Jones, CPACE program manager at the Montana Facility Finance Authority, told Granite County commissioners on Jan. 14 that commercial PACE (CPACE) is a state-authorized financing mechanism that lets building owners place a long-term assessment on property tax rolls to fund energy-efficiency and renewable-energy improvements.

The commissioners voted to place a “resolution of intent” on a future agenda to begin the local approval process required for the program to operate in the county.

CPACE, Jones said, is a financing structure the Montana legislature created that attaches assessed repayment to the property rather than to a traditional short-term commercial loan. “Rather than a monthly principal and interest payment to a lender for those seven years, you're basically — it's an...additional line item on the tax assessment just like a current, another special improvement district,” Jones said.

Jones explained state protections built into the program, including lender consent when there is existing senior debt and an independent third‑party review of energy assessments. She said eligible projects include commercial, industrial, mixed‑use, agriculture and multifamily properties (four or more units), and that Montana’s enabling statute is recorded as MCA 90-4-13.

County Treasurer Ashley Todd spoke during the discussion about local implementation questions and administrative workload; Todd told commissioners she had discussed the program with other participating treasurers and did not foresee unmanageable work for her office.

Commissioners debated whether to ask staff to draft a resolution of intent and put it on an upcoming meeting agenda. After a second, a motion to draft and place a resolution of intent on a future agenda passed with the commission voting in favor.

Next steps explained by Jones include: (1) the board adopting a resolution of intent, (2) holding a public hearing, and (3) adopting a final resolution should the county choose to opt in. Jones offered county staff template documents and said program staff would complete most of the drafting and highlight fields the county must fill in.

Jones also said the CPACE administrator typically handles ongoing remittance tracking and interaction with lenders so that county treasurer offices do not have to manage lender relations for the life of the assessment.

The commissioners directed staff to place the resolution of intent on a future agenda and invited Jones and program staff to provide draft language and follow‑up information for the public record.