County offers toilet rebate
Presiding officer vote splits board
by Andy Phelan
andy@dekalbchamp.com
Residents who replace their pre-1993 water-wasting toilets with new, higher efficient ones could receive up to a $300 check from DeKalb County for their efforts in 2008.
As expected, the county Board of Commissioners unanimously approved Jan. 8 to set aside $500,000 for the voluntary toilet rebate program.
In the face of the historic drought, and to comply with the 2003 Water Supply and Conservation Management Plan adopted, the county took its first major step to address the ongoing crisis at the local level.
Residents who own a house, condominium or apartment built before 1993 that is individually metered are eligible for the rebate. Mastered metered buildings, such as many apartment complexes, that operate off one meter are not eligible.
Older toilets built before 1993 use five gallons with each flush. The county will provide a $100 rebate for every water customer who installs an ultra low-flow toilet that uses just 1.28 gallons per flush and $50 rebate for every regular low-flow commode that uses 1.6 gallons per flush.
The county has more than 160,000 homes built before 1993 that would be eligible for the rebate.
Customers would receive a check for up to three re-installations. The $500,000 set aside for the program, would expire Dec. 31, 2008, or whenever the $500,000 runs out – whichever comes first.
Officials originally proposed giving residents who retrofit their homes a credit on their water bills but decided it was easier to distribute checks, said Francis T. Kung’u, county director of the Department of Watershed Management.
Kung’u emphasized that water customers who take advantage of the program would not only get a rebate but help save water and money.
A list of qualifying toilets and the necessary receipts needed to take advantage of the program can be found at www.dekalbwatershed.com.
The board deferred a mandatory retrofit law that would require homes built before 1993 to change all plumbing fixtures with low flow showerheads, faucets and toilets upon resale. Realtors are against the plan the way it is written, they say, because it criminalizes people who don’t conform with hefty fines and even jail time.
Board Leadership
A vote on who would replace Commissioner Burrell Ellis as presiding officer for 2008 got a lot of attention after competing nominations pitted deputy presiding officer and Super District Commissioner Kathie Gannon against District 3 Commissioner Larry Johnson.
The presiding officer runs commission meetings when the CEO is absent, and appoints members of the board to committees that deal with the budget, contracts, land use and economic development.
Gannon was ultimately voted presiding officer 4-3, but not before an initial 3-3 deadlock in which Commissioner Elaine Boyer, the lone Republican on the board, did not vote. When the CEO pursued the possibility with the county attorney whether he could vote on the issue, Boyer reconsidered.
Her vote tipped the balance to Gannon, but it was Ellis’ vote for Gannon that most upset Johnson, who declined an offer to be deputy.
“I’m very disappointed because I supported him for four years,” said Johnson afterward, surrounded by about 20 supporters. “But I’m moving forward.”
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