Program Costs

The cost of financing your solar system through the FIRST program includes– a one-time reservation fee, the cost of your solar system and installation, interest payments, and city administrative costs.

The reservation fee is a one-time charge at the time of application. All other costs are built into the amount you pay in property tax twice a year. There are no other costs for participation.

1) Reservation Fee

You will be charged a one-time fee to reserve funding for your application. This fee covers all of the costs of processing your application, checking your property, and providing funding. If you are not approved for participation in the FIRST program, or if funding is not currently available, your fee will be refunded.

During the initial two-week application process, we will not charge an application fee until you have been allocated a reservation slot. If you receive a reservation slot, then you will be asked submit your reservation fee via the website within 7 days in order to secure your space. Failure to remit the payment on-line will result in forfeiture of your reservation.

2) Cost of Your Solar System

You can finance up to the full cost of your solar system, as invoiced by your contractor, minus your rebate. The minimum financing amount is $5,000 and the maximum is $37,500. You do not have to know the exact amount of your system until after your system is installed. We strongly encourage you to do your research and receive bids from multiple solar installers before signing a contract.

3) Interest Rate

You will be charged interest on the amount you have financed through the FIRST program. The interest rate will be fixed for the entire 20 years once you request funding payment and is included in your property tax payment. The rate is fixed when you request funding payment, not at application.

The interest rate for the bond repayment is set at 3.25% over the 10-year U.S. Treasury Note or 6.75% whichever is greater. Initial and on-going City and County Administrative fees are built into the rate and add approximately 1% to the rate.

Please note that the interest rate based on the U.S. Treasury Note can adjust monthly before you request your funding. You can track the program’s published rate here.

Using the payment calculator to the right, you can figure out your estimated semiannual and equivalent monthly special tax payments. Please note that the calculations are estimates. When you submit your funding payment request and receive your FIRST documents, you will be provided with detailed information on the principal, interest and administrative expenses on you special tax payments.

If you would like a more detailed break down of costs before requesting funding, please contact us and we will provide you with a calculation spreadsheet.