Residents of Mandeville affected by tainted Chinese drywall will now see a little relief, however slight.

The City Council approved a measure Thursday night that would give individuals who make repairs after finding tainted drywall in their homes a break on their permit fees.

Anyone with proof that the tainted drywall was used in their homes can receive a 75 percent reduction when paying for the permits to replace the plumbing, sheetrock and electrical wires in their homes. The measure was introduced by Councilman Jerry Coogan who said he feels every homeowner or builder who used the drywall from China not knowing of what it contained had their trust violated, and they deserve to get some relief.

He said since they are not getting that relief from the federal government, it is up to the local government to do what it can to help defray the homeowner’s cost of replacing the affected parts of the home.

At Tuesday night’s Planning and Zoning meeting when the item was discussed, building inspector Chris Brown said the city could not offer a 100 percent rebate, because the electrical and plumbing inspections are contracted out and therefore the city incurs a cost.

Planning Director Louisette Kidd explained the city came up with the 75 percent figure by basing it by excluding the percent of the average home requires electrical and plumbing inspections, which are bathrooms and kitchens.

So far, Kidd said only six people have came in and applied for permits to make repairs to homes affected by the tainted drywall. Those individuals will be given rebates on the money they paid for permits.

However, she anticipates a lot more people in the near future realizing that they too were affected.

She said the tainted drywall was on the market for approximately 18 months and that was during a time after Hurricane Katrina when a lot of homes were being rebuilt and a lot of new homes were being built.

She said there are homes in the Woodlands, the Sanctuary, the Chinchuba Creek Garden Homes and in Old Mandeville that are believed to be affected.

The St. Tammany Assessor’s Office has already helped these people by reducing or eliminating their property tax on their homes. Anyone who has qualified for a reduction in property tax because of the tainted drywall, can bring the paperwork provided by the assessor’s office to Mandeville City Hall when applying for their building permit, and they will receive the reduced rate.

Kidd said building permit fees were not reduced following Hurricane Katrina because most of those people were covered by insurance, where as of now, insurance companies have not covered necessary repairs to homes built with tainted drywall.

“Right now there is no relief for them to look to,” Coogan said. “Some people save all their lives for their dream home and now their dream home is a health death trap,” Coogan said. “I really feel for these people and this is something the city can do on a temporary basis to cut them some slack.”