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Committee hears bill to expand CPACE multifamily eligibility, sponsors call it a technical fix
Summary
House Bill 120 would revise the CPACE statute’s multifamily definition so typical 2–3 story low-rise apartment buildings without elevators aren’t excluded; proponents said the change removes an unintended barrier to affordable and workforce housing financing.
Representative Julie Darling introduced House Bill 120 to the House State Administration committee, saying the measure would change the statutory definition of “multifamily housing facility” within the Commercial Property Assessed Capital Enhancements (CPACE) Act so more housing projects can access private CPACE financing.
Adam Gill, executive director of the Montana Facility Finance Authority, told the committee the current CPACE definition cross-references a Montana Code Annotated provision tied to housing-discrimination law that deems a building ‘‘multifamily’’ only if it has four or more dwellings plus an elevator and ground-floor units. Gill said that cross-reference excludes the most common new multifamily projects in Montana—two- and three‑story low‑rise apartment buildings that lack elevators—and therefore prevents many affordable and workforce housing projects from qualifying for CPACE.
To fix the problem, Gill said HB120 would add a local definition inside the CPACE enabling statute that defines a multifamily housing facility as a property with at least five units primarily intended for residential use with a full bathroom and kitchen; units may be rental or owner-occupied and may be attached, detached, semi‑detached, or row houses. He described the change as a ‘‘housekeeping’’ correction to align the statute with federal multifamily definitions and to reduce red tape that has blocked projects such as the Riverview Housing Trust project in Missoula.
Proponents included Makena Sellers of the Montana Renewable Energy Association, Caroline Canarios of the Northern Plains Resource Council, and Jasmine Krotkov of the Montana Farmers Union, who said CPACE has delivered economic benefits and can help rural hospitals, care facilities and nursing homes by enabling energy- and water-efficiency upgrades without state appropriations. No opponents appeared, and informational witnesses did not register.
Committee members questioned where the elevator language is removed in the bill, how CPACE financing is secured, and whether the state guarantees loans. Gill explained lenders are secured by a special assessment on the property collected with property taxes; there is no state fund or state guarantee and county/property tax collections route payments through county and authority accounts to lenders.
Representative Darling closed by asking members to review project examples in their districts and urged a do‑pass recommendation. The committee closed the hearing on HB120 without recorded action in the transcript.
