HB 2298 -- Property Assessment Clean Energy Act

Sponsor:  Storch

This bill establishes the Property Assessment Clean Energy Act.
In its main provisions, the bill:

(1)  Authorizes one or more municipalities to form a clean energy
development board to establish a property assessed clean energy
program to finance energy efficiency or renewable energy
improvement projects.  A property owner can apply to the board to
finance the costs of the project through annual special
assessments levied under an assessment contract;

(2)  Requires each board to consist of at least three members.
The number of board members and their terms are to be specified
in the ordinance or order establishing the board.  If only one
municipality is participating in the board, the chief elected
officer will appoint board members with the consent of the
governing body.  If more than one municipality is participating,
members will be appointed in a manner agreed to by all
participating municipalities;

(3)  Requires the board to be a separate body politic and
corporate and have all powers necessary to carry out the
provisions of the bill;

(4)  Requires the board, by July 1 of each year, to submit a
report with the State Environmental Improvement and Energy
Resources Authority (EIERA) and each municipality that
participated in the formation of the board.  The report must
include a brief description of each project financed by the
board, the amount of assessments due and the amount collected,
the board's administrative costs, the estimated cumulative energy
savings from the projects financed during the year and to date,
the estimated cumulative energy produced by all renewable energy
improvements financed during the year and to date, and any other
financial information required by EIERA's rules or regulations;

(5)  Specifies that no lawsuit to set aside the formation or to
otherwise question the proceedings related to the formation of
the board may be brought after 60 days from the effective date of
the ordinance establishing the board.  No lawsuit can be brought
to set aside the approval of a project, an assessment contract,
or a special assessment after 60 days from the date that the
assessment contract is executed;

(6)  Specifies the contractual requirements for any assessment
contract between the board and the benefitted property owner or
owners;

(7)  Specifies that the total special assessments levied against
a property under an assessment contract cannot exceed the total
cost of the project including any required energy audits and
inspections;

(8)  Requires the board to provide a copy of the assessment
contract to the local county assessor and collector, as well as
ensure that a copy of the assessment contract is recorded with
the county recorder of deeds;

(9)  Specifies that the special assessments agreed to under the
contract will be a lien on the property against which it is
assessed by the board.  The assessments will be collected by the
county collector in the same manner as other real property taxes;

(10)  Authorizes a board to establish application requirements
and criteria for project financing approval to effectively
administer the program and ration available funding.  A board may
require an initial energy audit as a prerequisite to financing
and inspections to verify completion of the project;

(11)  Authorizes a board to finance any number of projects to be
installed within a single parcel of property or within a unified
development consisting of multiple adjoining parcels of property
through a clean energy conduit financing rather than through a
property assessed clean energy program.  Clean energy conduit
financing must consist of the issuance of bonds payable from the
special assessment revenues collected under an assessment
contract with the participating property owners;

(12)  Authorizes a board to issue bonds payable from the special
assessment revenues generated by assessment contracts and any
other revenues.  The state or municipality is not liable for any
bonds issued by a board;

(13)  Authorizes the Director of the Department of Economic
Development to allocate any portion of the state's residual share
of the national qualified energy conservation bond limitation
under the federal Internal Revenue Code for these purposes to the
EIERA, any board, the state, any political subdivision,
instrumentality, or any other corporate or politic body; and

(14)  Creates the Property Assessed Clean Energy Local Finance
Fund for the EIERA to loan funds, when available, to boards to
establish and operate property assessed clean energy programs.
The fund will consist of grants, contributions, or other moneys
received from the federal government or any other sources, the
proceeds of any revenue bonds or other obligations issued by the
authority for the fund, revenues received from loan agreements,
and any other funds designated by the EIERA for this purpose.
The EIERA may enter into loan agreements with a board for
financing the development and marketing of the programs.

Missouri House of Representatives
95th General Assembly, 2nd Regular Session
Last Updated September 14, 2010 at 3:13 pm