San Francisco Sentinel - July 22, 2009
"Mayor Gavin Newsom today joined Supervisor Eric Mar to announce an innovative new program to finance energy-efficiency, renewable energy, water conservation and other environmental improvements to San Francisco residential and commercial buildings.
The new “green financing” program would allow home and building owners to fund environmental improvements, with the financing attached to the property and paid back
through a special line item on the property tax bill over the life of the improvements.
The first enabling piece of legislation to establish this program was introduced yesterday at the Board of Supervisors.
“Cutting energy and water use in our homes and office buildings will bring long-term results in our fight against climate change and drought” said Mayor Newsom.
“Our ‘green financing’ program will help home and property owners overcome the large up-front costs of major environmental improvements to their buildings.”
The Mayor’s Office, working with Supervisor Mar, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (SFPUC), the Controller’s Office of Public Finance and the Department of Environment, has developed an accessible, low-cost loan program that residential and commercial property owners can use to finance environmental-oriented building improvements.
San Francisco’s loan program will establish a Citywide Mello-Roos Special Tax District that would be available to finance privately-owned energy efficiency, renewable energy
and water conservation improvements. The loan is attached to the property, rather than the individual, and is paid back through property taxes over the life of the loan.
“With almost half of San Francisco’s greenhouse gas emissions being produced by our homes and local buildings, this new green financing program will drastically curb San Francisco’s carbon footprint and reduce the strain on our regional water supply,” said Supervisor Eric Mar.
“It will also help put San Franciscans to work through our growing green jobs academies and programs.”
It is estimated that 45% of San Francisco’s greenhouse gas emissions come from energy used in local buildings. Drought and climate change also threaten regional water supplies and compel greater water conservation.
Even with tax breaks and traditional loan arrangements, many local home and building owners cannot support the upfront investment for environmental improvements that pay for themselves over time.
“As we have seen with the first-year success of GoSolarSF, our solar energy incentive program, San Franciscans will seize the opportunity to make their homes and buildings greener if we create the right incentives and make targeted investments,” Newsom added."
###
