CRA board approves straw poll to allocate $100,000 for sustainability policy consultant

The Salt Lake City Community Reinvestment Agency board approved a staff-requested straw poll to allocate up to $100,000 to hire a consultant to review the CRA sustainable development policy and incentive structure.

Lauren Preci and Christina Herold of the CRA presented the request and said the consultant would research alternative compliance pathways, perform cost-benefit analysis, and lead stakeholder engagement to help update incentives that encourage net-zero, low-carbon, and other sustainability outcomes. Staff said the current policy (adopted in 2022) requires projects awarded more than $900,000 to be all-electric and offers interest-rate reductions for measures such as on-site solar; however, few projects have accepted the incentives because the benefits are not sized to new construction costs and small urban infill sites often cannot accommodate on-site solar.

Board members asked for details on the scope and timeline. Staff said they expect up to a year of consultant work and that $100,000 is a not-to-exceed allocation while staff finalize the scope and vendor. Commissioners asked the consultant to consider ways to make incentives adaptable to changing construction costs and technology, and to consider mechanisms that could extend sustainability incentives beyond city-funded affordable projects to market-rate projects (for example, a separate low-interest fund for solar installations) while recognizing CRA funds have statutory restrictions.

A motion to allocate the funds as a straw poll was recorded as six votes in favor with one absent. The board described the allocation as for policy research and updates; staff said they will return with a defined scope and next steps for contract procurement.

Ending: Staff will proceed to define a scope of work and return with proposed contract language and timeline; the straw poll authorizes staff to plan for a consultant engagement not to exceed $100,000.