Gov. Charlie Crist weighs bill to help cities go green

Gov. Crist is reviewing a bill passed by the Legislature last month that would help establish a `green corridor' PACE program among several South Florida cities. The measure would allow the communities to purchase clean energy systems for residents' homes

BY HOWARD COHEN

Going green could extend to consumers' wallets if Cutler Bay Mayor Paul Vrooman's plan passes muster with the governor.

The program Vrooman has championed, Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE), enables property owners to borrow money to buy solar panels, wind generators, insulation or shutters for their homes with little upfront expense.

The program would establish a municipal ``green corridor,'' consisting of Cutler Bay, Palmetto Bay, Pinecrest, South Miami and Coral Gables. The five cities would lend money for a homeowner to install a proven energy-saving device -- say, $30,000 in solar panels or $3,000 for solar plumbing.
In return, the cities would place a lien on the home until the loan was paid off by the homeowner, who would be assessed a monthly fee for the loan's duration.

Link to the rest of the Miami Herald story

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Well, there's a bunch the Herald got right and a bunch they totally munched with this story.  I know there's a drive to make all stories have a local angle, and there's a good one with what the cities in the southern part of  Miami-Dade are trying to do, but it isn't everything.  PACE is an umbrella name for using tax-bill financing to get around tight credit markets and the uncertainty of investing in something that may take longer to "pay back" than the homeowner may actually live there.  With Floridians notorious for uprooting themselves every half-dozen years, it is exceedingly difficult to get the average joe-homeowner to invest in their property beyond the granite countertop or whatever Realtor friendly improvement will immediately bump resale value.  So PACE is a tool to get past that since you don't have to settle the debt like you would with a second mortgage or other "traditional" financing vehicle.

Where the Herald totally goofed was mixing the "green corridor" idea with PACE.  The former is a way for small cities like Cutler Bay and its neighbors to bring enough volunteers together for the issuance of debt to start the latter.  That's it.

The County is also pursuing this.  I think there's a report out from the Mayor in response to a Commission directive to come up with a set of options on how to pursue a PACE program for those of us living in the unincorporated area and maybe even the cities.  I'll see if I can find it and will post that here as well.

Update: here's the link to the report.  Summary: County administration thinks PACE is a great idea but they want to bring in a company to do most of the work because of they're cutting budgets and jobs and they don't have the people to manage the program.