Santa Barbara County’s local government has become one of California’s first to officially implement legislation approved in July 2008 by the state Legislature to establish clean energy retrofitting incentives for property owners.
At its Dec. 1 meeting, the Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to begin laying the groundwork for a municipal energy financing district tentatively called the Central Coast Energy Independence Program. The board is expected to officially adopt the program in the beginning of 2010.
“Creating a municipal energy financing district shows we are serious about saving money, saving our environment, and creating jobs,” Supervisor Janet Wolf (2nd District) said in a press release from the county. “This program will also act as a jobs stimulus—boosting job creation in one of the hardest-hit sectors: the building and construction trades.”
Based on Assembly Bill 811, the program will allow property owners to retrofit their homes, businesses, or agricultural structures using money generated by their property taxes. The money must be used for energy-efficient upgrades, such as installing solar panels or new windows, heating and air conditioning systems, or irrigation systems.
The program will also help the county better comply with Assembly Bill 32, which requires counties to reduce greenhouse gas emissions 25 percent by 2020.
According to a county staff report, participants in the voluntary program will be allowed to finance improvements over time through a supplemental assessment on their property tax bill. If the owner sells the property, the remaining assessment balance is transferred to the next owner.
It will cost the county $1 million from the general fund to start the program, but county staffers estimate approximately 75 percent of the money will be reimbursed through the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act.
To limit the degree of financial risk involved, the county will be assessing applicants’ credit scores and using only first-position loans, 3rd District Supervisor Joni Gray told the Sun.
“It’s a whole new venture, really,” Gray said. “Some of the supervisors were concerned it could be too risky for the county if the loans weren’t first position, but the banks seem to be willing to do it that way.”
A first-position loan takes priority over all other encumbrances on a property.
County spokesperson William Boyer said the program has already proved to be of interest to local business owners, especially contractors.
“Right now we have contractors calling every day asking, ‘When’s it going to start? When’s it going to start?’” Boyer said. “It’s going to bring millions of dollars to the North County.”
County officials are currently working on opening offices in the North and South County were property owners can apply for the program, and a webpage launch through the county’s website, countyofsb.org, is scheduled for January 2010.
If everything goes according to plan, Boyer said, the program could be up and running by April 2010, in time for the 40th anniversary of Earth Day.
This article appears in Dec 10-17, 2009.