Legal questions delay green loan program

A planned city initiative to lend money to residents who want to make their homes more energy efficient would not be workable under state law, an expert told the College Park City Council last night.

District 1 Councilman Patrick Wojahn and the UMD for Clean Energy student group had encouraged the College Park City Council to set up such a program, and enthusiastic officials said last month they hoped to enact one by the end of this year. But the plan's questionable legality may force supporters to delay the initiative.

Former Annapolis City Attorney Fred Sussman, who worked with the city of Annapolis on a similar proposal, said such a plan would not actually be legal. Prince George's County, which collects property taxes, lacks the authority to collect a tax only from certain properties, and the city cannot easily take out a lien on properties if homeowners stop repaying their loans.

Under the city plan, College Park would have partnered with a company offering low-interest loans to homeowners hoping to add solar panels, improved insulation or energy-efficient appliances that could be repaid through a fee tacked on to property taxes.

The city must wait for state laws to change if it wishes to go ahead with its energy efficiency loan plan, Sussman said. The next legislative session begins in January.

"So did you just put the program on hold for six months?" Mayor Stephen Brayman asked rhetorically at last night's council work session meeting. "It sounds like if we tried to run with this program [now], we're really wasting our effort. Everyone sees that, as disappointing as it is."

Matt Dernoga, UMD for Clean Energy's campaign director and a Diamondback columnist, attended last night's meeting. He said he was disappointed by the delay but that it was actually in line with his group's original timeline.

"They got our hopes up last session," Dernoga said, referring to the meeting last month when Brayman called for beginning the program before the end of the year. "Before, we didn't even think it would be possible until there is a new city council."

City officials, including Brayman, were impressed with a plan in which the city would not need to put up its own money for the loans – paying only administrative fees to the Edison-Wright company.

A loan tied to a property tax rather than a homeowner keeps someone from being stuck with payments on environmentally friendly improvements to a home they may move away from, the plan's proponents said.

UMD for Clean Energy is interviewing the 15 candidates in next month's council election and may make endorsements later this month based on which appear to be the most supportive of environmental initiatives, and it will begin to lobby the state and county after the city election, Dernoga said.

But Brayman, who is not running for re-election, isn't waiting for Nov. 3 to pass: He is immediately beginning to plan the city's lobbying effort to persuade state legislators to make explicit provisions that would let College Park and Maryland's other municipalities conduct their loan programs.

"This is an item we'd like to prioritize and commit some of our future elected officials' time to," Brayman said.

State Del. Tawanna Gaines (D-Prince George's), who had attended last night's council meeting to discuss an unrelated agenda item, said any such policy change would require "a vetting process like no other," to be sure that no cities or counties could exploit a loophole and turn into unscrupulous lenders.

However, she suggested that homeowners might be able to apply for state grants to improve their homes' energy efficiency, an idea District 3 Councilwoman Stephanie Stullich said the city should seek to publicize while it waits for state authorization to institute its own broader program.

bholt@umdbk.com