TUCSON LAWMAKER WANTS TAX CREDITS FOR WATER-CONSERVING TOILETS
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By GRAYSON STEINBERG
Cronkite News Service
PHOENIX (Friday, Jan. 18) _ A state lawmaker wants to conserve Arizona’s water by giving a tax credit to those who replace their toilets with dual-flush versions, which use less water for liquid waste.
Upgrading to a dual-flush toilet can save thousands of gallons of water per year, said Rep. Marian McClure, R-Tucson.
“With our population living in a desert state in the middle of a drought, it just seemed like a good idea,” McClure said.
Dual-flush toilets use about 20 percent less water than a normal toilet. They have two levers or buttons, one using a full flush for solid waste and one using less water for liquid waste.
They also are significantly more expensive than regular toilets.
HB 2126 would provide a tax credit worth 25 percent of a dual-flush toilet’s cost, not to exceed $100 for one toilet and $200 per home. To qualify for the credit, a toilet would have to use no more than 1.6 gallons for a full flush and 1.1 gallons for a reduced flush.
The state’s budget deficit has McClure wondering how far the bill will go.
“I don’t even know if it will even be heard because of that,” she said. “I’d even have some reservations about that.”
Still, McClure said the tax credit would be beneficial because of the water it would save. She recalls neighbors reminding her that she lived in the desert when she moved to Arizona and began watering her one-acre property.
McClure’s proposal would be a good way to promote water conservation, said Mitch Basefsky, spokesman for Tucson Water, which provides water service to about 700,000 people.
“Part of the response to a drought is to become more water-efficient as a community,” Basefsky said.
The average dual-flush toilet starts at about $150, compared to about $60 for a typical toilet, said Pete Smith, water conservation coordinator for Tempe. That city offers a rebate of 50 percent, up to $75, for each low-flush toilet installed, including dual-flush toilets.
Smith said the program, which began in 1992, has been a great success, with thousands of low-flush toilets installed in apartment complexes, hotels and homes.
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Cronkite News Service reporter Daniel Quigley contributed to this report.
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CAPTION FOR BC-CNS-TOILETS-TAXES: A dual-flush toilet is shown at Westar Kitchen and Bath in Tempe. The toilet has buttons on top of the tank offering a regular flush for solid waste and a lesser flush for liquid waste. Rep. Marian McClure, R-Tucson, has introduced a bill calling for a tax credit for those who install dual-flow toilets, which are more expensive than regular toilets. (Cronkite News Service Photo/Stephanie Sanchez)