3A Public Hearing 2010 0201 - Laserfiche WebLink

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State Enemy Program Grants/CaliforniaFIRST ~ February 1, 2010 to repay the financing through property tax assessments (often referred to as AB 811-style programs). The State of California Energy Commission (CEC) has indicated that it will prioritize award of these grants to broad regional consortiums of local governments. Alameda County is participating in a joint grant application with 13 other California counties in six regions throughout the state including the Bay Area, Capitol, Central Coast, Central Valley, Mid Coast, and Southern California Regions. The County of Sacramento is the Iead applicant. The grant amount requested will be approximately $16.5 million, with approximately $780,000 allocated for the County of Alameda. These funds would be administered by the County on behalf of all the cities in the county as no direct monies would pass to the cities. The grant is intended to support the successful launch of the CaliforniaFIRST financing program. The proposal consists of both statewide and countywide components. The statewide component provides a one percent interest rate buy-down on the first $25 million of projects in the CaliforniaFIRST pilot. It is hoped that a lower interest rate will snake the program snore attractive to property owners in the initial phases of the program. Additionally, the statewide component provides funding to offset the costs to all participating counties and cities for initial program set- up, including legal validation of financing districts and websites for property owners to file their applications. For San Leandro, this would equate to a savings of up to $15,000 for the total administrative and legal set up costs to join the CaliforniaFIRSTpmgram. The countywide component will focus on increasing participation in the municipal financing program by providing enhanced customer service to residents and businesses in both cities and unincorporated communities. CaliforniaFIRST's customer service program will provide web- based tools for relatively sophisticated property owners to use to secure property-assessed financing. The property owner would need to assess their eligibility against underwriting criteria, arrange for an energy audit, obtain contractor bids, and present a completed project proposal In order to maximize participation, the countywide component would fund enhanced outreach and customer service, including one-on-one consultations that would be available to those property owners who require more personalized assistance prior to enrolling in the program. Califon~ia Comprehensive Residential Building Retrofit Program (SEP2): SEP2 grant funding will be allocated for programs that support a tiered approach to home energy reh~ofits. Alameda County jurisdictions are participating with eight other Bay Area counties in an Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) proposal under this grant. The ABAG proposal is requesting approximately $10.7 million for the region. At the regional level, these funds would be used to provide key region-wide program elements including retrofit standards development, marketing and market analysis, training and workforce development, and quality assurance. The focus is the promotion of comprehensive whole-home retrofits. $1.6 million is anticipated to be received by StopWaste.Org on behalf of Alameda County jurisdictions that would be used to expand elements currently covered at a basic level by jurisdictional contributions to the Green Packages Program, including workforce and training provider program coardination, a single- familymedia campaign, and multifamily property outreach.