C-PACE funding for County
The Board of Supervisors approved a new type of funding for some county development at the April 25, 2023 meeting. The Board met at the Botetourt County Administration Center at Greenfield in Amsterdam.
The funding, known as a Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy Financing Program (C-PACE), was put in place at the request of a developer who is making investments in the Town of Buchanan.
This funding, which the Virginia General Assembly approved in 2009, allows a private bank to make a loan to a private person. No county money is involved; however, the county plays two roles in this type of loan, according to information provided to the Supervisors.
First, the County ensures that the financed construction meets goals for energy efficiency, resiliency, stormwater management, or similar benefits. The County then verifies that these parameters have been met when construction ends.
Second, if the loan becomes delinquent, it is collectible in the same manner as a tax lien. This means the County Treasurer collects the funds, not the bank. In order to defray the County’s costs, the borrower pays the County an upfront origination fee to do due diligence and then an annual administrative fee.
The benefit to the lender or bank is that this is an extremely safe form of collateral that is very difficult to discharge in bankruptcy. The benefit to the borrower is that the funds are lent at a relatively low rate. The benefit to the County is economic development that it otherwise would miss out on, as well as high-quality building rather than lowest-common-denominator construction techniques.
C-PACE loans are only available for commercial, industrial, clean energy, and multi-family development.
After a public hearing at which no one spoke, the Supervisors unanimously approved the C-PACE program. It becomes part of the Chapter 6: Buildings & Building Regulations of the Botetourt County Code.
— Anita Firebaugh, Special to The Botetourt Bee
