SANDPOINT — The City Council voted 4-1 to take a step toward becoming the sixth city in Idaho to implement a C-PACE program.

As an economic development tool, C-PACE allows private businesses to leverage private capital from PACE Equity for energy efficiency or green energy-based building improvements. Don Schulz, a representative for PACE Equity, said the program does not use public dollars, but offers numerous benefits to the city, like a revenue generating fee of 1% of the maximum capital up to $50,000. 

Schulz said the program can be used for any private business, which can include improvements to an existing building or new construction. Schulz said other towns in the region that have implemented C-PACE programs have seen the program used to alleviate some costs of building workforce housing. 

“It is an economic development tool for the construction that comes with it. It does add jobs. It does improve the building stock,” Schulz said. “We see C-PACE as a win-win tool for the for the local property owners, the governments themselves and the communities.” 

The Idaho Legislature passed a law in 2024 establishing the Commercial Property Assessed Capital Expenditure or C-PACE program in the state but requires counties or municipalities to formally adopt the program locally. If adopted, Sandpoint would be joining cities like Coeur d’Alene, Post Falls and Boise as some of the first in Idaho to use the program. 

Councilor Kyle Schreiber was the lone dissenting vote and made a motion that would have delayed adoption of the program until the planning department was finished with its overhaul to the downtown and Commercial A zoning code is complete. Schreiber said he while he wasn’t opposed to the C-PACE program, he felt that the city needed to focus its attention elsewhere. 

“It's concerning that we've had several distracting projects come up for the last two years,” Schreiber said. “Over the last two years, we've seen no progress on that, despite there being several projects coming out of the CPD department. I would like them to focus on what the public has asked them for, rather than on these projects that nobody asked for.” 

Planning and Community Development Director Jason Welker, who brought the item forward, said those were two separate departments that he heads. Mayor Jeremy Grimm said that he doubts the implementation of the next steps would take any significant staff time. 

Welker said City Planner Bill Dean has been working hard to complete the code updates, and he expects it to be completed in April 2026.  

“This is a completely different thing than writing code,” Welker said. “This will place zero burden on Bill, who is working on Commercial A. He has absolutely no idea what these programs are about.” 

The C-PACE program is only available to private businesses and paid back through a 30-year property lien on the building the improvements take place in. Schulz said this can result in lower interest rate loans for expensive projects that that business owners would not have the capital to undertake. 

To fully establish the program, the council must pass a resolution which will designate a program administrator within the city and establish a guidebook for the program.  

Schulz said PACE Equity handles a lion's share of the engineering review and because of this, all the administrator needs is a deep understanding of the program. Welker said he feels the city’s permit technician could easily oversee the program as the administrator. 

Schulz said the guidebook is typically copied and pasted, with minor adjustments from city to city. 

Councilor Pam Duquette said she was all for any green energy-based improvements in town. Grimm advocated to the council that the program could be a way the city sees more investment and rebuilding in downtown infrastructure. 

“Anything we can do to make our town more efficient, more environmentally friendly and support creative economic development strategies and tools like this, we should be supporting,” Grimm said. “I don't get to vote, but I hope you would lend your support to this program.” 

The resolution with the guidebook will come before the city council at a future meeting next year. The City Council’s next scheduled meeting is on Jan. 7 at 5:30 p.m. in City Hall.