Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) bonds.

Existing law requires the Treasurer to invest or make deposits in banks and savings and loan associations of revenues in the Pooled Money Investment Account in accordance with designations specified by the Pooled Money Investment Board. The Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System is authorized to make any investment authorized by law, including, among others, an investment in real property. The State Compensation Insurance Fund is authorized to purchase general obligation bonds or other evidence of indebtedness issued by the state. Existing law authorizes a legislative body of a public agency, as defined, to determine that it would be convenient, advantageous, and in the public interest to designate an area within which authorized officials and property owners may enter into voluntary contractual assessments to finance the installation of distributed generation renewable energy sources or energy or water efficiency improvements that are permanently fixed to real property. Existing law authorizes a public agency to issue bonds to finance that work, to be repaid by voluntary contractual assessments. Existing law defines a Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) bond as a bond that is secured by a voluntary contractual assessment as previously described or by a voluntary contractual assessment or a voluntary special tax on property to finance the installation of distributed generation renewable energy sources, or energy or water efficiency improvements that are levied pursuant to a chartered city's constitutional authority under Section 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution. This bill would authorize the Treasurer, upon direction of the Pooled Money Investment Board, the Board of Administration of the Public Employees' Retirement System, and the State Compensation Insurance Fund to purchase PACE bonds from specified funds. The Exercise of Powers Act authorizes any separate entity created pursuant to that act to invest any money in the treasury that is not required for the immediate necessities of the agency or entity, as the agency or entity determines is advisable. This bill would authorize a joint powers authority to purchase, and a local agency to sell, the right, title, and interest in an assessment contract, pursuant to an agreement between the joint powers authority and the local agency. The bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 11797 of the Insurance Code, proposed by SB 1407 of the 2009–10 Regular Session, to be operative only if both bills are chaptered and become effective on or before January 1, 2011, and this bill is chaptered last.