A Pismo Beach resident discovered a loophole in the local water rebate program, compelling the city to close it.
On Feb. 7, Pismo Beach leaders unanimously set a new limit on the reimbursement amount for an incentive scheme called Cash for Grass, which rewards residents for replacing their lawns with drought-resistant landscaping or artificial grass.
Cash for Grass initially gave residents 50 cents for every square foot of lawn replaced, but the Pismo Beach City Council increased that rebate amount to $2 per square foot in October 2022.
That increased rebate rate ate into the city’s water budget at an unexpected level. By Jan. 20, the remaining money left in the city’s water incentive programs budget was $6,470. At the Feb. 7 meeting, the city greenlit one resident’s Cash for Grass application totaling $10,000, which is the program’s maximum rebate limit. City staff were concerned that the resident was using the rebate program to foot the bill for a landscaping project.
“We don’t have a total project cost yet but it’s estimated that the rebate is going to be a substantial portion of the project cost,” Public Works Director Ben Fine said at the meeting. “Staff’s understanding when council raised the rebate … is that it’s meant to offset the high cost of the turf and not fund the majority of the conversion.”
Fine added that the city had previously approved 38 rebates, paying out a total $44,809.97.
The City Council changed the rebate ceiling to either $10,000 or 50 percent of the total project cost, whichever is less. The council also voted to transfer $50,000 from the Water Enterprise Fund to the budget for incentive programs, bringing the new total to $56,470. The Water Enterprise Fund is fed by water utility payments.
In September 2022, Councilmember Scott Newton said that raising the city’s rebate incentive to $2 would put Pismo Beach’s rebate higher than the $1 rate set by neighboring cities, and make the city competitive with those outside San Luis Obispo County.
“If we want the residents to be partnered with us, it’s going to take money on our end,” Newton said at a meeting last September. “Sometimes it won’t all make sense financially for everything … but I don’t want to see us at the eleventh hour saying, ‘We’re going to 50 percent [water cutbacks].'”
The city believes that the new limit will make the Cash for Grass program more sustainable in terms of budgeting, according to Pismo Beach spokesperson Jorge Garcia.
“It is one of the highest rebate amounts but it’s also the area that has the highest return on water savings,” Garcia said. “We want the money to go into the community to incentivize these changes.”
He added that Pismo Beach residents had reacted favorably to the rebate increase because the cost of installing artificial grass can be as high as $11 to $18 per square foot. The city anticipates more Cash for Grass applications in the spring.
Residents can learn more about Cash for Grass online at thinkh2onow.com. It’s not the only water conservation incentive program for the beach city. Pismo Beach also offers a high-efficiency toilet rebate and a new reimbursement plan for hot water recirculation pumps, among other schemes.
“Individuals will see a savings in their water bill, but we will see a savings in our water portfolio because we will no longer have to produce as much water for the community as a whole,” Garcia said. Δ
This article appears in Feb 9-19, 2023.
