Is the Town loaning money to homeowners?
The Town is not making loans to residents. The Town is expanding the definition of solid waste to include energy waste, based on its carbon content. By defining energy waste in this way, the Town is able to provide energy-efficient improvements to Babylon residents homes from its solid waste fund. This type of measure is known as a benefit assessment. A benefit assessment can be established when a municipality provides a specific improvement on a parcel of property for a public purpose, assessing the cost of the benefit against the property. In the case of Long Island Green Homes, the energy-efficient improvements to homes serve a vital purpose, remediating the environmental damage caused by leaky and inefficient homes. The Town will provide for energy saving improvements up to $12,000 per home and the homeowner will pay for the improvements through a monthly benefit assessment fee. The amount of the monthly benefit assessment fee is structured to be less than the monthly savings on a
