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luke
Date: 6/9/2008 5:15 pm
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If you live in Austin, you might have heard radio ads or received flyers in the mail decrying a proposed policy to improve energy efficiency in older homes at the "point of sale". The Austin Board of Realtors, worried that efficiency upgrades might cause delays
that cut in to their profits, have launched a campaign to confuse the public about the proposal. Here is the real story, straight from Mayor Wynn.
Dear
Friends,
Over the last
several weeks you may have heard talk of a City plan for achieving energy
efficiency in existing homes. You may have heard it called the "point of
sale" ordinance. Some are even calling it the "green home tax."
There's been a great deal of confusion and misunderstanding on this
matter -- frankly, because certain groups and individuals have been deliberately
misleading people. So, I wanted to take a minute to set the record
straight.
We face a rapidly
changing energy future. Fact is, if you like what's happening with
gasoline prices right now, you're going to love the cost of electricity in this
country in the next few years. Powering our homes and buildings is only
going to get more expensive. And we have a tremendous opportunity to get
in front of this challenge by dealing with the highest-return/lowest-cost
opportunity available, while simultaneously making housing more affordable and
home ownership more secure.
We have to remember
that we're all in this together. We all share in the cost of wasted
electricity. It forces us to make expensive power purchases on
the energy markets during the heat of summer, and it brings closer the day
when we would have to build new -- and very expensive -- power plants.
These are the forces the drive up electric rates for everyone, not just for the
homes and businesses that are wasting energy.
Anticipating these
challenges, the City Council established a highly inclusive 28-member task force
to study and make recommendations on ways to achieve better energy
efficiency in our homes, rental properties and commercial buildings. Made
up of members of the real estate industry, this task force is still in the early
stages of its work and hasn't made any recommendations yet. They do have a
draft concept they're working on, though, and it's a far cry from what people
are being lead to believe.
We're several months
and a lot of public process away from the City Council considering anything, but
if the task force draft concept were adopted today here's what it WOULD
NOT do:
1) It would not
impose a tax on selling your home.
2) It would not
require people to make energy efficiency upgrades before they could sell their
home.
3) It would not
require people to pass and energy efficiency inspection before they could sell their
home.
4) It would not require people to get a
"certificate of compliance" before they could sell their
home.
5) It would not force people to buy expensive
items like new air conditioners and new windows.
6) It would not cause lengthy and burdensome
delays to home sales.
If the draft concept
were adopted today, here's what it WOULD do:
1) It would require
sellers to get an energy audit and provide that information to prospective home
buyers. Sellers wouldn't have to make upgrades, and they wouldn't have to
pass an inspection. They would just have to let buyers know what kind of
efficiency condition the house is in. The idea of requiring "audit
and disclosure" was recommended by the Austin Board of Realtors, and I think
it's a good one. Information is the first step to making smart energy
choices. And buyers deserve to know what they're getting into when they
make the biggest investment most people will ever make in their
lives.
2) People would be
encouraged to voluntarily participate in a program for basic efficiency
upgrades if a house needs it. "Low hanging fruit" like weather stripping
and duct sealing would be prioritized. Spending caps would be put in
place. And all of Austin Energy's rebates and incentives would be
available, including their low-interest loan program. These energy
strategies are self-financing -- the savings on utility bills outweigh the costs
of the upgrades, putting money into the pockets of homeowners from Day 1 and
putting home ownership in reach of more people.
3) We would set
participation targets and track whether we're meeting our goals over the next
few years. If Realtors do what they've committed to do and become full
partners in this process, and if the City and Austin Energy does what we've
committed to do and make this an easy, seamless process, I have no doubt we'll
meet our goals. But if we're falling short, we need to recognize that and
try a different approach. Under the task force draft concept, the basic
efficiency program would become mandatory if the voluntary program wasn't
working.
4) Even under a
mandatory program, all a home seller would ever be required to do
is disclose energy audit info to prospective buyers. They would never
be required to make upgrades or pass an inspection before they could sell.
Homeowners could make upgrades before they sold a home if they wanted to -- and
many probably would so they could reap the savings and so their homes would be
more attractive and valuable when it came time to sell. Ultimately,
though, it would be up to buyers to make the upgrades if the seller chose not
to. Unlike today, however, buyers would go into the process knowing what
condition the home was in.
These ideas are
still open to a lot of discussion and debate, but I think we're starting from a
good place. If all parties work together in a spirit of good
faith and cooperation and bring our best efforts to the table -- rather
than taking a 'shoot first and ask questions later' approach -- we can develop
solutions that will make our homes more affordable, keep electric rates lower
for the entire community and put us on strong footing as we enter a
shifting energy economy. I appreciate your interest in this important issue and look
forward to hearing your input once the task force develops its
recommendations.
Regards,
Will
Wynn
Austin
Mayor
