Modernize your schools on the construction schedule, not the reimbursement schedule.

How RISE finances school modernization and solar for California TK–14 districts: what it solves, how it works, what your district gets, and what it needs to bring.

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01 · The problem

Your district can see the funding. It cannot front the cost.

Proposition 2 matching, utility programs, and federal clean-energy credits where they are still available can together carry a large share of a modernization or solar project. Almost none of it pays up front. Grants reimburse after the work is done, and credits are claimed after the project is placed in service.

So the district has to spend the money to receive the money. Most capital budgets cannot carry that gap, and projects stall, happen later at higher cost, or get cut down to what the general fund can front.

02 · How it works

Scoping call. A short, no-cost conversation about the project, the schedule, and the funding already in play. The Authority confirms eligibility and program fit.
Funding review. The Proposition 2, utility, and federal layers the project may qualify for are identified. Detailed net-cost modeling is an optional service, billed separately.
Board approval and membership. Your board joins the Authority, which is free and carries no obligation, and approves the structure it has chosen.
Issuance and closing. The financing goes to competition, is priced and closed, and capital is in hand to begin work.
Build, receive, comply. As funding arrives it pays down the bridge. Post-issuance compliance is administered for the life of the financing.

03 · What you get

Capital at the start of the project, sized to the construction schedule rather than the reimbursement schedule.
Bridge financing that is paid down as Proposition 2 matching, utility incentives, and federal credits where still available arrive.
A competitive process: private placements go to a broad list of lenders, and public offerings run a competitive underwriter selection.
Standardized documents and a financing team the Authority has already engaged.
Post-issuance compliance administered for the life of the financing.
An optional career-technical program that puts your students on the work.

04 · What you provide

A board action joining the Authority. Joining is free and does not commit the district to a financing.
The project scope, schedule, and cost estimates.
The current budget and the most recent audited financial statements.
Funding already awarded or applied for, including any Proposition 2 application.
The repayment source the district intends to pledge.
A board meeting at which the financing is approved.

05 · Questions

Does our district have to be a member?: Yes. Districts that finance through RISE join the Authority. Joining is free, carries no obligation to finance, and takes a single action by your governing board. Optional services a district elects are billed separately.
What happens if a grant or credit does not come through?: The financing is structured for it. Bridge capital covers project cost without depending on any single funding source; if a layer is reduced, the residual rolls into the long-term financing.
Are federal clean-energy credits still available?: For some projects. Eligibility depends on the technology and on construction and placed-in-service timing under current federal law, so it is confirmed with your counsel before it is counted in the plan.
Is the Authority our municipal advisor?: No. CalMuni PFA is the issuer. Its municipal advisor and bond counsel act for the Authority. Your district is welcome to retain its own advisors.

06 · Your contact

Reach the Authority team through the Contact page at calmunipfa.com/contact.