The Journal News - Hayworth Develops Energy-Efficiency Bill for Homes

News Article

By David Gabrielson

Rep. Nan Hayworth, R-Mount Kisco, recently introduced the "PACE Assessment Protection Act of 2011," important legislation that allows Bedford (and every other community in the U.S.) to establish Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) programs that promote energy-efficiency upgrades to homes.

Nan (as she insists) has made this legislation a top priority, and her staff (with added thanks to Don Scott, her district director) has worked hard to develop legislation and bipartisan support in a clearly divided House of Representatives. I commend her efforts.

PACE is a new application of a centuries-old technique for financing things in the public good. Pursuant to state laws, municipalities across the United States provide benefits to their residents by financing things like parks, street lighting, sidewalks, water and septic systems and the like with assessments added to property owners' tax bills.

PACE works the same way, but it's entirely voluntary; only homeowners who choose to participate receive an assessment.

Introduced only in 2008, PACE enabling legislation has been adopted by 27 states already, because nearly everyone recognizes the myriad public benefits associated with energy efficiency. Around here spending about $12,000 for weather sealing, more insulation and maybe upgrades to heating and cooling systems could cut energy use by as much as 35 percent. Repaying that cost with a long-term assessment (that stays with the property, along with improvements, if you move) is a winner for everyone.

Here's the public benefit: Homeowners save money every year and are hedged against rising fuel costs; homes are more comfortable and more valuable; our nation imports less oil; we avoid building new power plants; and we generate thousands of jobs. Programs can be entirely self-sufficient. Low-cost financing comes from the private sector. No federal, state or local tax dollars are needed.

So why the legislation? Just over a year ago, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, which oversees Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (our troubled mortgage giants), directed them to stop buying mortgages with PACE assessments. They claim that exposure to delinquent taxes and assessments that are paid first when a home falls into foreclosure threatens the mortgage industry. That's bitterly ironic, given the mortgage industry's contribution to our current economic malaise, and data from surviving programs that show actual senior lien exposure has been about $3 per home.

Our "Energize Bedford" program finances energy-efficiency loans with low-cost, government-subsidized loan funds. While we are implementing PACE for buildings not subject to the FHFA ban, we need it for homes. Rep. Hayworth's legislation can make that happen.

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