Summary
March 1, 2024
The Honorable Jared Huffman
United States House of Representatives
2445 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, DC 20515
Re: Support for reintroduction of the “Water Conservation Tax Parity Act”
Dear Representative Huffman:
On behalf of Marin County, I am writing to express our support for the reintroduction of the “Water Conservation Tax Parity Act” which would exclude water conservation rebates from an individual’s taxable income – as is current law for energy conservation rebates. Energy conservation and water conservation should be treated with the same fiscal incentives: tax policy should reward individuals for responsible use of these resources, and the “Water Conservation Tax Parity Act” would accomplish this.
To reduce water consumption and the impacts of drought in California, many water utilities provide rebates for customers who have voluntarily participated in water conservation measures, such as outdoor turf removal and replacement of aged irrigation and home water infrastructure with new, lower-use faucets, irrigation systems, etc. Currently, individuals who receive rebates for these must treat them as part of their taxable income. However, receiving a rebate for an individual’s direct expenses on a conservation measure such as removal and replacement of their turf, does not constitute an actual increase in their income.
Fixing the law so that individuals are not, in fact, taxed on these rebates as income will incentivize more important resource conservation. Climate change means that California’s weather pattern in the future will continue to be one of steady drought broken periodically by very wet seasons. Therefore, we wholly support removing any roadblocks to more water conservation efforts – key among them being rebates, which have proven one of the most important tools to significantly reduce water usage on private property.
Thank you for your leadership on this important issue.
Sincerely,
Dennis Rodoni, President
Marin County Board of Supervisors
Cc: Marin County Board of Supervisors
Senator Alex Padilla
Senator Laphonza Butler
Marin Water Board of Directors
North Marin Water District Board of Directors
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