Carver County hears CPACE financing update; staff to return revised joint powers agreement Nov. 4

Carver County commissioners heard an update Thursday from Brad Hansel, manager of environmental services, and Holly Houston, MN PACE program representative for the Saint Paul Port Authority, on the Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy program, known as CPACE.

CPACE is a financing mechanism that places voluntary, project-specific loans on a property's tax assessment to fund energy efficiency, renewable energy and resiliency improvements. "It's paid with the property tax assessment. It's collected by the county. And then as the administrator, it's sent to me and I send it to the lender," Holly Houston told commissioners during the work session.

The program allows long-term, fixed-rate financing for eligible improvements and can cover up to 100% of the project cost. Under Minnesota rules described in the presentation, loans may run up to 30 years (the useful life of the improvement) and can reach as much as 30% of a property's value. An energy study completed by a certified energy auditor is required for each project, and mortgage-holder sign-off is required and must be notarized before an assessment is placed on the tax roll.

Houston said Minnesota adopted enabling PACE legislation in 2010 and that the state has one of the largest counts of projects nationally, consisting largely of smaller deals: "over…