C-PACE Assessment Lifecycle

This sheet walks the C-PACE assessment through its full life: the owner’s project, the team the owner assembles independently, the application, the district’s statutory findings, senior lender consent, execution of the assessment contract, recording with the county, construction and funding, and annual collection by the county collector. Alongside each step it states the municipal role and the municipal exposure, which for most of the lifecycle is none. Two features carry most of the reassurance. The obligation is a covenant running with the land, so it transfers on sale and leaves no orphaned balance behind. And it is collected, not underwritten — collection alongside property taxes is a mechanical similarity, not a fiscal one. The assessment is a charge the owner voluntarily agreed to pay, not a tax, not a levy on anyone else, and not a claim on the general fund. Term limits are covered as well: up to twenty years, and no longer than the weighted average useful life of the improvements, with both limits applying.