Our experiences in the California rebate and voucher programs leads us to recommend REBATES over VOUCHERS.

In our view, rebate are better for the following reasons.

• REBATES make a bigger impression on homeowners because they see money coming back to them.
• REBATES keep the focus of the program on homeowners who already have accounts established accounts with the water districts.
• REBATES require less paper work because the paperwork may be reduced to one invoice from the manufacturer or distributor which the homeowners conveys to the water district.
• REBATES can remain a "flat" organization consisting of only 3 parties with paper flow focused on and thru the homeowner which makes them feel more involved in the program. The 3 parties will be as simple as the water district, the homeowner and the manufacturer which makes this the "flattest" arrangement.
• REBATES have cleaner billing issues for manufacturers and distributors.
• REBATES allow low-cost, internet-based transaction between homeowners and manufacturers.

In our view, vouchers are inferior for the following reasons.

• VOUCHERS complicate billing issues for manufacturers/distributors because they must receive payment from 2 sources before completing one transaction. So the manufacturer/distributor must generate two invoices for one transaction. The first invoice goes to the homeowners. The second invoice must go to the water district to complete the transaction. This inefficient double billing raises the cost of the transaction. So, less money is available for ET controllers.
• VOUCHERS complicate billing because manufacturers/distributors must match reimbursements from water districts with specific sales made to homeowners. The separation of these payments in time also makes the sales transaction more expensive.
• VOUCHERS must flow through more hands than rebates. So, this extra administrative paper-handling cost also makes vouchers less desirable than rebates. Flowing through more hands also is more likely to result in errors or lost paper work.