State and municipal Property Assessed Clean Energy (“PACE”) programs provide commercial property owners with the ability to finance the installation of energy efficiency and water-saving improvements through a voluntary assessment on the property owner’s tax bill. As a result of the tax assessment, the financier of the improvements has a first priority lien on the real estate (equal to the priority of the local taxing authority) on which the improvements are installed. Repayment of the PACE financing is made by the property owner when the property owner pays its annual (or semi-annual) property tax bill.