Johnson County establishes commercial PACE program; collection agreement and administration approved

The Johnson County Commissioners Court voted to establish a commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy (PACE) program and authorized the county to contract with outside administrators and collection counsel to implement it.

By a 4–1 vote, the court adopted Resolution 2026-13 establishing the PACE program; Commissioner Bailey recorded the lone vote against the resolution. The court then unanimously approved (a) a services agreement to have the Texas PACE Authority administer the program so county staff will not need to run daily operations, and (b) authorization for Purdue Brandon, Fielder, Collins & Mott LLP to handle enforcement of special assessment liens if PACE assessments become delinquent. "Because it is a special assessment, we would have to be enforced by the county through our attorney," Mr. Medley of Purdue Brandon explained when describing the mechanics of lien enforcement.

County staff said the item originated from a local business owner seeking financing for property improvements; the PACE program would be commercial-only and limited to projects that save energy or water and are cash-flow positive over the financing term. The court approved the collection-resolution (2026-14) authorizing collection if a PACE loan goes delinquent on a 4–1 vote, and separately approved the contingency contract for collection services to mirror existing tax-collection terms.