The Santa Barbara County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday is slated to weigh the benefits of a new energy-financing district that would pave the way for property owners to make their structures greener and more energy efficient.

The new district would require about $1 million in start-up cash, followed by an infusion of $40 million to cover the initial bank, according to county staff.

In an effort to create incentives for installing energy-efficiency retrofits, water-conservation improvements and solar panels, the state Legislature approved Assembly Bill 811 in July 2008.

The legislation allows cities and counties to create municipal energy finance districts, which grant voluntary participants the opportunity to finance energy-efficient improvements through low-interest loans.

The loans would be repaid as an item on the owner’s property tax bill, according to the AB 811 language.

These districts are described as “a successful strategy for ensuring job creation and retention, increasing the economic multiplies flowing through local economies, and delivering public health and social co-benefits such as increased building comfort and improved air quality,” according to a report by county staff.

While initially county funds are needed for the program, county staff seems confident that federal stimulus grants combined with income generated through the program would support start-up and ongoing costs.

On Tuesday, the supervisors will be presented with the feasibility of the program and prompted to accept approximately $772,000 in grant funds from the state.

The state also has made $120 million in competitive grants available to local jurisdictions planning to launch AB 811 programs, staff said.

If the supervisor decides to move forward with the program, a legal process will ensue to establish the energy-finance district and staff will work with bond counsel to develop program documents.

The program could be up and running by April 2010 if everything is completed and approved on schedule, staff said.

In a separate matter, the board is slated to approve the final reading of two new laws: an alcoholic beverage ban on county beaches in Isla Vista and a mandatory pet spay-and-neuter ordinance.

Both were roundly debated in public hearings, but the board began the initiation process, and if the ordinances are approved Tuesday, then both go into effect Jan. 1.

The Board of Supervisors meets at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the hearing room on the fourth floor of the county Administration Building at 105 E. Anapamu St.

The public can address the board in person or by using the remote audio and video equipment at the Betteravia Government Center at 511 E. Lakeside Parkway in Santa Maria.

For more information on the Board of Supervisors or to get copies of agendas and minutes of the meetings, visit countyofsb.org.

November 29, 2009