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Council debates opening PACE clean‑energy loans to homeowners, raises caps and admin questions
Summary
Councilors and administration discussed a bill to expand the state PACE clean‑energy loan program to residential properties, including proposed $50,000 caps, administrative costs, lien priority on tax bills, and likely amendments to preserve commercial financing options.
Anne Arundel County Council members debated a proposal to expand the Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) loan program to residential property owners and to adjust program thresholds during Monday’s legislative session.
“The PACE program is basically a program that was established by the state and is in county law… this bill would allow both residential and commercial properties to make investments that would allow them to operate more energy efficient, using more clean energy,” said the sponsor (identified in the transcript as Ms. Rodbien), summarizing the bill’s intent to broaden eligibility and raise financing caps.
Finance staff explained the county’s administrative role: private lenders underwrite and provide PACE loans; the county records the agreement in land records and places an annual repayment line item on property tax bills to collect repayment, which the county remits to the lender. Brian Schenk, Finance, said the county’s role is largely administrative — reviewing loan documentation, recording the charge, and collecting repayment.
Councilors pressed for clarity about thresholds. The draft language would remove commercial‑only language and introduce a $50,000 maximum; Finance noted a current commercial minimum of $25,000 and examples of existing commercial projects ranging from roughly $200,000 to multi‑million dollar loans (Arundel Mills and a Pasadena senior facility were cited). Several members flagged that imposing a $50,000 cap could unintentionally eliminate large commercial projects.
Members also raised consumer‑protection and administrative workload questions: whether the county would need extra staff if many residential loans were pursued, how lien priority would interact with tax sale procedures, and whether different minimums or caps should be set for residential versus commercial borrowers. Finance said lenders are notified if a tax payment default occurs and lienholders who buy tax liens would then receive the amounts assessed, including PACE charges.
Administration and sponsor signaled amendments are likely to clarify intent and to set different thresholds for residential and commercial projects; the council asked staff to research whether other Maryland jurisdictions have adopted similar residential expansions.
No final vote was recorded during the session; council members indicated support pending technical amendments to address caps, minimums and administrative staffing.
