2. PACE stands for “Property Assessed Clean
Energy”
PACE is designed to provide commercial and
residential property owners a means to
finance the costs of installing renewable
energy and energy efficiency improvements
to their buildings and pay for the costs over
the functional life of the improvement as an
on-going assessment on property tax bills.
Florida legislation also permits the financing
of wind resistance improvements.
3. In 2010, Florida enacted Section 163.08, Florida Statutes, to
provide general law authority to use special assessments to
finance qualifying improvements to real property.
Supplemental authority is granted to cities and counties to levy
special assessments to finance “qualifying improvements”.
All PACE special assessments are voluntary.
Mandates special assessments be collected only on annual
property tax bill; and are not severable from property taxes due.
Establishes certain credit limits and amount limits for
assessments.
Authorizes local governments to work together and to work with
for-profit and not-for-profit entities to operate a program.
4. Cities or Counties can act individually or collectively as a
conduit to make financing available to property owners.
Each separate financing is secured by a statutorily
authorized non-ad valorem special assessment on the
improved property in the form of a financing agreement.
Each financing is paid back through assessment payments
made as part of the property tax bill (the mortgage escrow
can be increased to include the annual assessment as part
of the owner’s monthly mortgage payment, which
effectively converts the annual cost to a monthly cost).
Assessments are on a parity with other special
assessments and property taxes and are senior to all titles,
mortgages and other non-tax related liens.
5. Cost of start up and implementation can be expensive and small
local programs have to rely on local government funding or
resources.
Current lack of local government funding resources, expertise
and focus are limiting factors.
Individual local programs have resulted in a lack of uniformity of
standards from one local government to another.
Inability to create large demand which is needed to attract
significant funding.
Unsettled issues raised by federal mortgage giants.
Liability concerns.
1. Based on findings in Financial Innovations Lab Report, Milken Institute, April, 2010
6. An entity with authority to operate throughout a state allows for
establishment and use of uniform standards and procedures for both
property owners and vendors.
Statewide entity only acts upon invitation from local government.
Larger scale enhances ability to attract needed financial resources to
adequately fund growing demand.
Centralized administration provides efficiencies and cost savings.
A statewide program fosters a partnership with commercial and
industrial groups, educators, energy auditors, contractors, suppliers and
installers – and creates local private sector jobs!
Uniform approach works to address concerns in residential mortgage
market.
Provides limited liability for local governments.
7. The Florida PACE Funding Agency was created in June 2011 by general law
through an interlocal agreement between Flagler County and the City of
Kissimmee. The Agency is a separate legal entity independent of these
incorporators.
The Agency’s mission is to facilitate the implementation, planning, development,
funding, financing, marketing and management of a uniform statewide platform
so that counties and cities can easily and economically take advantage of a
scalable program for their property-owning constituents.
The Agency has adopted a master bond resolution, and has validated with respect
to the Agency’s Program the Agency’s ability to issue bonds to fund voluntary
financing agreements entered into pursuant to general law, together with a litany
of matters and issues associated with the statutorily authorized non-ad valorem
assessments which will comprise the sole revenues to repay the bonds, and the
insulation of liability by subscribing governments to debts and obligations of the
Agency for the Program.
No local or state funds other than revenues from the special assessments are
available to the Agency to fund program costs or reserves.
8. The mission of the Agency is be to aspire to
and undertake, cause and/or perform all such
acts as are necessary to provide a uniform,
efficient, and scalable statewide platform in
Florida, so that, when and if embraced by
individual local governments and interest
property owners, the Agency can facilitate the
provision, funding and financing of energy
conservation, renewable energy, and wind-
resistance improvements to Florida
properties.
9. The Agency has been designed to encourage local governments to
subscribe to its statewide, uniform program. It is believed that such a
subscription approach will be attractive to create markets with little or
no cost to local government treasuries. The form of subscription
agreements were approved by the Court in the validation Final
Judgment.
No special assessment will be imposed on any property for the cost of
qualifying improvements unless all owners of the property voluntarily
agree to allow the assessment to be imposed pursuant to a financing
agreement entered into by the property owners and the local
government.
The Agency has judicially validated the nature and validity of non-ad
valorem assessments imposed pursuant to its program providing
certainty as to the impact on mortgage lenders doing business in
Florida, as well as the ability to only issue bonds on an as needed basis
to underwrite energy efficiency, renewable energy and wind resistance
improvements.
10. Key points of the program that serve as benefits to local
governments include:
◦ This unique platform will allow for local governments to participate
in the advantages of the PACE programs and access capital
markets, without having to implement or deploy individual
programs or individually seek capital for their constituents.
◦ The Agency will not provide its services within the jurisdiction of
any local government that does not desire and request to
cooperatively enter into a subscription agreement.
◦ The Agency’s charter, any future subscription agreements with
local governments and the validation final judgment are all
designed to make it clear that no local government is responsible
for the actions or liabilities incurred by the Agency, thus providing
and confirming the insulation of liability pursuant to general law to
any participating local government.
11. On November 7, 2011, the incorporators of the Agency appointed Cheryl Grieb, Barbara
Revels, and Edward Marquez to serve on the Board of Directors for the Agency.
◦ Cheryl Grieb currently serves as the Mayor Pro-Tem for the City of Kissimmee and
has done so since 2006. Concurrently since 2000, Ms. Grieb has been the
Owner/Manager of Olde Kissimmee Investments, Inc., specializing in commercial and
residential real estate construction, renovations and investments.
◦ Barbara Revels currently serves as the Vice-Chair of the Flagler County Board of
County Commissioners. She is also a general contractor and realtor who serves as
the president and owner of Coquina Real Estate & Construction, Inc., a full service
real estate company and general contracting firm. Ms. Revels has previously served
as the President of the Florida Homebuilders Association.
◦ Edward Marquez, was appointed as Deputy Mayor of Miami-Dade County Government
in August 2011 by the Honorable Mayor Carlos A. Gimenez. As Deputy Mayor, Mr.
Marquez is responsible for overseeing the internal management functions of the
County, which include the County’s Management and Budget, Internal Services,
Finance, Audit and Management, and Information Technology Departments. In
addition to serving as Deputy Mayor, Mr. Marquez is also serving as Interim Finance
Director.
The new Board members have a wealth of local government, real estate and financial
experience to bring to the Agency.
12. The Board of Directors held their organizational meeting on November
10, 2011, at which meeting the Board took various actions including
establishing a timetable to bring the Agency’s PACE program online.
The Board of Directors has selected the PFM Group and FirstSouthwest
and Southeastern Investments Securities, LLC to serve as co-financial
advisors to the Agency.
On November 15, 2010, responses to the Agency’s Request for
Information from Providers of Third Party Administration and/or
Investment Banking and Program Finance Services (the “RFI”) were
received.
The Board at its December 7, 2011 meeting established the parameters
for the Agency’s Program and directed that a formal RFP for Third Party
Administration and/or Investment Banking and Program Finance Services
be issued.
On January 9, 2012, the RFP was issued with a February 2, 2012
response date, on February 24, 2012 the short-listed firms will be
selected for negotiation and by March 21, the Board expects to approve
contracts with the selected firms.
By the end of the second quarter of 2012, the Agency anticipates being
in a position to fully commence initial operation of its PACE program.
13. The Agency conducted a lengthy Request for Information process
seeking industry input on how best to effect the operation of the
first statewide platform for a PACE Program.
With respect to administration functions, the Board determined
that a single administration firm (or team) capable of
administering both a residential and commercial program would
be preferred.
The administration firm would be acting as an agent of the
Agency and would be subject to fiduciary obligations to the
Agency.
The firm or team of firms providing financial services would need
to link the availability of short term funds necessary for the
operation of the Agency’s program with the delivery of long term
debt solutions.
Both the administrative services provider and the financial
services provider would need to be committed to the long term
operation of the program, even if market demand and
acceptance is slow to materialize or never materializes.
14. The Agency intends on pursuing a statewide
launch of the Program shortly after the service
providers are selected and under contract.
Although Florida has 67 counties, about 15 of
these counties represent roughly 85% of total
Florida population
The service providers will be expected to launch
in both heavily populated counties and less
densely populated counties.
The overall success and acceptance of the
Program will heavily depend on the ability of the
service providers to successfully market the
Program to both vendors and property owners.
15. The Agency prefers to engage a single TPA Service Provider to oversee
the administration and marketing of the Program to both residential and
commercial property owners and potential vendors of Qualifying
Improvements in jurisdictions where the local government has
subscribed to the Program.
The Agency is seeking a TPA Service Provider that can readily
demonstrate the capability and experience to undertake the delivery of
services and marketing efforts believed to be needed to accommodate a
rapid subscription by counties and cities to the Program.
This robust subscription process may result in a need to serve virtually
all of Florida within a very short time frame.
Since no statewide PACE program currently exists, the Agency believes
that the required skill sets for the Program can be found in existing
administrative service providers.
The ability of the TPA Service Provider to provide the services listed in
the RFP and to develop and manage the new marketplace will be critical
to the success of the program.
The Agency will not be in a position to provide funds to the selected
provider to cover the Program start-up and initial operating costs.
16. The Agency seeks a financial Service Provider to provide both short term
revolving funds and to underwrite the issuance of long term debt
obligations as necessary to fund the Agency’s Program.
The Agency prefers to engage a financial Service Provider or team of
providers that readily demonstrate the capability and performance
experience to deliver a program funding solution that assures consistent
funding at the lowest possible cost.
The Agency will not have funds to pay initial facility costs for the funding
solution, but does expect to recover such costs through assessment
payments over time. Thus the rapidity of the implementation of the
Program will greatly affect the availability of such revenues to the
Agency and the Program.
The Agency will be seeking identification of the Proposer as a registered
broker-dealer, or if not so registered, the inclusion of a broker-dealer
with the Proposer team, or as a separate Agency selection.
Any Respondent seeking to provide Program financing services must
demonstrate its experience, capability and commitment to finance the
Program as described in the RFP. To the extent that funding is being
offered by a third party warehouse or line of credit, the Proposal shall
include a commitment letter.
17. The Agency anticipates the following schedule for the
procurement process. The Agency reserves the right
at its sole discretion to revise the schedule and other
aspects of the RFP by issuing addendums to the RFP
at any time.
The Agency will post notices of any addendums to
the RFP on the Website.
Each potential Proposer must register with Demand
Star or with the Agency’s point of contact in order to
receive addendums and responses to questions.
Proposers are responsible for monitoring the Website
for information concerning the Program.
All Proposers are required to acknowledge that they
have received and reviewed all materials posted on
the Website or provided through Demand Star.
18. January 9, 2012 RFP Issued
January 17, 2012 Pre-Proposal Conference
January 19, 2012 Last day for written questions
January 25, 2012 Answers to questions published
February 2, 2012 Proposals due
Continuing Proposal Evaluation
February 24, 2012 Presentations/Interviews
(Board)
Continuing Negotiation of Agreement(s)
March 21, 2012 Approval of Agreement(s) (Board)
19. Proposers may submit written clarification
questions via email to the Agency at
procurement@FloridaPACE.gov any time
before 5:00 PM ET on January 19, 2012.
Questions will be answered as promptly and
as completely as possible, and shared with all
registered Proposers. Questions early in the
process are encouraged.
20. Before the submission of Proposals, communication to assemble team
members is encouraged. After the submission of Proposals, no Proposer
or any of its team members may participate in any capacity on another
Proposer’s team or engage in any communication with another Proposer
or its team members concerning the RFP. Team members of any
Proposer teams that are not shortlisted will be allowed to participate on
the shortlisted Proposer teams, subject to the requirements of the next
paragraph. Any Proposer that fails to comply with these requirements
may be disqualified from further participation in this solicitation.
A shortlisted Proposer must obtain the Agency’s written approval before
changing the composition of its team. A shortlisted Proposer must
obtain the Agency’s written approval before communicating with a
member of a Proposer team that was not shortlisted. A shortlisted
Proposer seeking such approval must first submit to the Agency
sufficient details of the proposed change or communication for review,
consideration and approval by the Agency.
21. Submit one original of the Proposal in loose-leaf three ring binders, plus eleven
(11) complete electronic copies in indexed and searchable “PDF” format on CD
(one copy of the Proposal on each of the eleven CDs). Proposals must be prepared
in at least 12-point font size on 8.5” x 11” white paper, with pages sequentially
numbered. Some of the sections described below have page limitations; the
Agency may disregard information not complying with these page limitations.
The Proposal contents shall be separated by sequentially numbered tabs as
follows (and each electronic copy shall be indexed similarly).
The Proposal shall be delivered no later than 1:00 p.m. EST on February 2, 2012,
to:
Debbie Luke, Acting Procurement Officer
Florida PACE Funding Agency
c/o City of Kissimmee
Finance Department/Purchasing Division
101 North Church Street, 4th Floor
Kissimmee, Florida 34741
22. The Agency will initially review each Proposal for: (a) minor
informalities, irregularities, and apparent clerical mistakes which
are unrelated to the substantive content; and (b) conformance to
the RFP instructions regarding organization and format.
Proposals that are deemed nonresponsive to this RFP will be
excluded from any further consideration. The Agency reserves
the right to waive any minor nonconformance.
Proposals may be excluded from further consideration and the
Proposer will be so advised. The Agency may, in its sole
discretion, also exclude from consideration any Proposer whose
response contains a material misrepresentation. The Agency
may, in its sole discretion, request clarifications of the
information submitted, and may also rely upon any information
obtained from any source that pertains to the issue of a
Proposer’s integrity and capability to perform.
23. The Agency’s preferences are (1) to award separate Agreements for TPA
services and for financing services and (2) for a single TPA service
providers for both residential and commercial properties.
Proposers may offer Proposals that do not match the Agency’s
preferences. However, if the Agency receives at least two (2) Proposals
for TPA services and at least two (2) Proposals for financing services that
do match its preferences, the Agency reserves the right to forego
evaluation of Proposals that do not match its preferences. The Agency
will evaluate all Proposals that do match its preferences.
For those Proposals selected for evaluation, the Agency will apply the
following high-level measures:
Past Performance on Similar Functional Requirements
Ability to Meet Program Goals and Objectives
Financial Capacity
