Almost everywhere I turn, I hear complaints about nay-sayers who can only criticize government. They have no credibility. Well, here I go again:
Last night, the City of Asheville hosted a public forum to help the public feel inclusive with respect to the PACE program. PACE stands for Property Assessed Clean Energy. Several local government luminaries were present. The concept was introduced by Buncombe County Commission Chair David Gantt, who told how government used to just exist to make sure people were safe, providing fire and rescue and sidewalks. “Those days are over, folks!” He went on to explain there was not one local government these days that was not looking at carbon footprints.
The PACE program is in the process of being piloted in Sonoma County, CA, and Boulder County, CO. County governments float bonds to loan to private homeowners for investing in green retrofits for their houses. Traditional lending institutions were not as good as government for making the loans for several reasons. Government is a source of secure loans. It has a great track record for borrowing money. The federal government was cited. Governments have taxing powers. Government is also experienced in pooling resources for public projects. (I would say government ruined loaning institutions through regulation, but I think only one other person present didn’t think banks needed more regulation. I also seem to hear speculation about the federal government defaulting on some of its loans, and I thought the stock market was doing well because people were shying away from government bonds. What do I know?)
The loans would be paid back through a special property tax that would apply only to the affected building and run with the property, not the person who takes out the loan. It would be repayable in 10-20 years. City Councilman Brownie Newman explained people are so transient these days, they do not want to secure a six-year loan for retrofits if they’ll be moving in four years.
I attended one breakout session. It was the one that was supposed to collect questions on the program’s accountability. Only four of the 120 attendants chose to participate in this group, but a couple more came toward the end. The main concern of the majority present was how government was going to certify installations and installers. The question of balancing the costs and hassles of a certification bureaucracy with its utility was, fortunately, raised. Mayor Terry Bellamy came by and asked us to think about what the program would mean for the taxpayer.
