Senate bill expands CPACE to cover resiliency and public‑safety projects for private buildings

Senator Ken Bogner presented Senate Bill 458 to expand eligible projects under Montana’s Commercial Property Assessed Capital Enhancements (CPACE) program beyond energy efficiency to include public-safety and resiliency measures. The bill lists six additional project categories: structural resilience (seismic), indoor-air quality and asbestos mitigation, durability to resist wind/fire/flood, resilience to withstand power outages (e.g., battery systems), stormwater control measures, and firearm-storage infrastructure for public firearm-hold agreements.

Representatives from the Montana Facility Finance Authority and the renewable-energy sector supported the measure as a tool to help businesses and critical facilities afford long-term fixed improvements that reduce disaster impacts and help keep buildings operational after events. They emphasized that CPACE enables longer terms and potentially lower rates by putting an assessment on the property tax bill as security for private financing rather than creating a new state loan program.

The committee heard questions and ended the hearing without recorded opposition in the transcript excerpt; the sponsor urged the committee to pass the bill to provide private financing options for resiliency projects, especially for businesses impacted by flooding and wildfire.

What’s next: Committee testimony was generally supportive; further committee action will determine whether the change becomes law.