City extends BERTO reporting deadline to Aug. 15; officials say baseline year will clarify compliance

Council members asked administration officials April 22 about the city’s implementation of BERTO (the building emissions/benchmarking standard) after an announcement that reporting deadlines and certain flexibility measures were extended.

City staff said the extension to Aug. 15 follows ordinance provisions that allow additional time when compliance pathways change; the extended window is intended to give building owners additional flexibility on purchases and calendar‑year accounting. "We have extended the deadline from May 15th to August 15th," Chris Osgood, director of the Office of Climate Resilience, told the committee.

Officials emphasized this is the first year regulated buildings will actually be sending payments or otherwise creating revenue flows tied to alternative compliance. They said about 6,000 buildings are covered by the standard and estimated that, depending on building category, 70–90% are likely to meet reporting expectations and many will be able to meet emissions limits. Compliance and emissions results in the first year will establish the baseline for future enforcement and fund distribution.

The city described how alternative compliance payments will be deposited into an Equitable Emissions Investment Fund (sometimes referenced as the BERTO fund) seeded previously with operating dollars. Administration staff said the fund was seeded with $3 million in earlier operating commitments and that an open grant round is targeting approximately $600,000 in awards this cycle; revenue from alternative compliance payments in later years is expected to replenish the fund and support grants for energy efficiency, equity‑focused projects and building assistance.

Councilors asked whether the deadline extension will materially change cash flows for the fund. Administration staff said their projections anticipate continued funding capacity: payments will arrive from spring into late summer and the city expects to continue grant rounds at a similar scale this year. Staff also noted that some program services (technical support for building owners) are budgeted in FY26 operating; where necessary for FY27 they proposed one‑year shifts to revolving funds to smooth implementation.

What to watch: the Aug. 15 reporting window will produce the first comprehensive BERTO compliance dataset; councillors and stakeholders should expect a clearer picture of fund inflows and program needs after that date.