2023 New York Laws › GMU - General Municipal › Article 5-L - Municipal Sustainable Energy Loan Program › 119-GG - Sustainable Energy Loan Program.

§  119-gg. Sustainable energy loan program. 1. The legislative body of
  any municipal corporation may, by local  law,  establish  a  sustainable
  energy  loan  program  using  federal grant assistance or federal credit
  support or monies from the state of New York or any state  authority  as
  defined  by section two of the public authorities law available for this
  purpose.
2. Such program may make loans to the owners of real property  located
  within   the  municipal  corporation  to  finance  the  installation  of
  renewable energy systems and  energy  efficiency  improvements,  related
  energy  audits  and renewable energy system feasibility studies, and the
  verification of the installation of such systems  and  improvements.  No
  municipal  corporation  shall  make  such a loan to an owner of property
  that has received a loan from another municipal corporation pursuant  to
  this article.
3.  Each  such  local  law  establishing  the  sustainable energy loan
  program shall provide for the criteria for making  such  loans  and  the
  terms and conditions for repayment of such loans. The sustainable energy
  loan  program  shall  use such lists of cost effective energy efficiency
  improvements for  different  building  types  as  are  approved  by  the
  authority.
4.   The   municipal  corporation  shall  verify  and  report  on  the
  installation and performance of  renewable  energy  systems  and  energy
  efficiency  improvements  financed  by the loan program in such form and
  manner as the authority may establish.
5. Every loan made under the sustainable energy loan program shall  be
  repaid over a term not to exceed the weighted average of the useful life
  of  such  systems  and  improvements  as  determined  by  the  municipal
  corporation. The  municipal  corporation  shall  set  a  fixed  rate  of
  interest  for  the repayment of the principal amount of each loan at the
  time the loan is made.
6. a. For loans made to an owner of real property that is a commercial
  entity, not-for-profit organization, or entity other than an individual,
  the  municipal  corporation  shall  have   the   authority   to   impose
  requirements  on  the  maximum  amount that may be borrowed through such
  loan, which may consider  factors  including  but  not  limited  to  the
  property   value,   projected   savings,   project  cost,  and  existing
  indebtedness secured by such property.
b. For loans made to an owner of real property who is  an  individual,
  the  principal  amount  of each such loan, excluding interest, shall not
  exceed the lesser of ten percent of the appraised real property value or
  the actual cost of installing the renewable  energy  system  and  energy
  efficiency  improvements,  including  the  costs of necessary equipment,
  materials, and labor,  the  costs  of  each  related  energy  audit  and
  renewable  energy system feasibility study, and the cost of verification
  of such renewable energy system and energy efficiency improvements.
7. No such loan shall  be  made  for  energy  efficiency  improvements
  unless determined to be appropriate through an energy audit, and no such
  loan shall be made for a renewable energy system unless determined to be
  feasible through a renewable energy system feasibility study.
8.  The  loan  made  under  the  sustainable energy loan program shall
  constitute a lien upon the real property benefitted by such loan.
9. The municipal corporation may  require  the  loan  made  under  the
  sustainable  energy  loan  program  to  be  repaid by the property owner
  through a charge on the real property  benefitted  by  such  loan.  Such
  charge  shall  be on the real property and shall be levied and collected
  at the same time and in the same manner  as  municipal  taxes,  provided
  that  such  charge  shall  be  separately  listed  on  the tax bill, and
  provided further that in the event such charge should not be paid  in  a

  timely  manner,  no  other  municipal  corporation  shall be required to
  credit or otherwise guarantee the amount of such unpaid  charge  to  the
  municipal  corporation  which  authorized  the loan, notwithstanding any
  provision of law to the contrary.