EPA sends money to Westminster for business HVAC improvements

BY LUKE ZARZECKI LZARZECKI@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

e Environmental Protection Agency announced on Jan. 26 that e program will be a two-year pilot program with the city covering about 20% of cost. If successful, the city may decide to continue the program with their own funds. e goal is to make HVAC systems more e cient and reduce requires the state to return excess state revenues to taxpayers.

Westminster will receive $180,000 in grant funding to improve pollution prevention through upgrades to local heating and air conditioning systems for local businesses.

“It depends on how the program goes as a pilot and we’ll assess if it’s worth continuing,” said Sustainability AssociateBridger Tomlin.

“We have done so on various occasions and through various statutory methods,” Dan Carr, a spokesperson for Colorado’s revenue department, said in an emailed statement. “We have provided this information to the Internal Revenue Service in response to the questions they’ve raised to many states. We will continue to monitor the IRS process and be clear on our position that these refunds are not taxable.”

Colorado’s excess tax revenues utility bills. Meaning, the chosen buildings may install a higher efciency model of what currently exists or install an electric system. Heat pumps are also a possibility. e Building Performance Colorado program requires owners of commercial buildings 50,000 square feet or larger to report an - totaled about $3 billion last year. at resulted in sizable refund checks of $750 for individuals and $1,500 for joint lers. Normally those refunds would have been paid this spring, but Gov. Polis and the legislature moved up the timeline to last summer. is story is from CPR News, a nonpro t news source. Used by permission. For more, and to support Colorado Public Radio, visit cpr.org.

Last year, 19 states o ered special tax refunds and payments, according to the Associated Press. Many were meant to provide relief from in ation. Colorado’s TABOR refunds, though not prompted by in ation, were issued at the same time as the other states’ checks.