North Cook News

Roselle’s village leaders heard some information about creating a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) area in the village during a recent board meeting.

Village leaders had been approached by multiple businesses about funding support for constructing electric vehicle charging stations, and found the Illinois Finance Authority’s PACE program as an entity that could help with funding these projects.

“The way I see it, this is a great way for us to provide targeted financial vehicles for businesses who are interested in redevelopment,” Mayor David Pileski said during the Nov. 28 meeting, uploaded on YouTube. “I think a lot of times municipalities focus on TIF as a way to provide money, but this is a great way where it’s not our direct - we’re not financing it directly, it’s for us to not worry about whether you’re in a special district or not. We can really make money available through this programming at a competitive rate to help incentivize developments.” 

The Illinois Finance Authority’s PACE program is an initiative that encourages and provides funding for green energy initiatives in commercial businesses. It is based on the business’ EAV, or property worth, and they can get funding up to 20% of their EAV. They can fund projects like solar energy, EV charging stations, or water conservation efforts. 

In light of these incentives, the village staff recommended adopting the village area as a PACE area to increase green initiatives in local businesses. The area would be administered by the Illinois Financial Authority. 

The board decided to move forward with this ordinance, the next step of which would be to schedule a public hearing.