By Jennifer Nations, Water Resource Coordinator
Memorial Day weekend is the perfect time to spruce up your landscape with water-efficient plants, repair leaks, and upgrade plumbing fixtures. The Texas Comptroller’s Office offers a sales tax holiday for water-efficient and energy-efficient products from Saturday through Monday.
Legislation passed in 2015 made the sale tax holiday possible, incentivizing Texans to use our limited water resources more efficiently.
Eligible tax-exempt items can help conserve or retain groundwater (College Station’s only water source), recharge water tables, or decrease ambient air temperature to reduce evaporation. A complete list of items is available on the comptroller’s website, but here are some highlights:
- WaterSense labeled products: For example, a new toilet, faucet, shower head, or sprinkler controller. Toilet leaks can waste thousands of gallons a month, so an upgrade could pay for itself quickly.
- Soaker or drip-irrigation hoses.
- Moisture control for a sprinkler or irrigation system, such as a rain shutoff switch or soil moisture sensor.
- Rain barrels: If a rain barrel isn’t on your project list, don’t worry – rainwater harvesting equipment is always exempt from state sales tax.
- Plants, trees, and grasses.
- Soil and compost.
WaterSense-labeled products undergo an independent third-party certification process and meet EPA’s water efficiency and performance specifications. As a result, these water-saving products deliver exceptional performance and can trim your water bills for years.
For more information, visit the comptroller’s Water-Efficient Products Sales Tax Holiday webpage. Stay cool this weekend, and enjoy your water and energy savings!
About the Blogger
Jennifer Nations has been the City of College Station’s water resource coordinator since 1999 after two years as BVSWMA’s environmental compliance officer. Jennifer was appointed to the Brazos G Regional Water Planning Group in March 2021, serving as a voting representative for municipal water interests. A native of Fremont, Calif., she earned a bachelor’s degree in environmental & resource science from UC-Davis and a master’s degree in water management & hydrologic science from Texas A&M.
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