FEMA finds County in Compliance – eligible for Community Rating System (CRS)

Through the years, the County has been in and out of favor with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). At one point, it appeared the County may not be able to hold on to participation in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), given the fact that the County had impermissibly allowed construction of improvements below the minimum base flood level. Loss of the NFIP could have resulted in a serious problem, given all federally backed mortgages require flood insurance in flood prone areas.

Over the past decades the County, under a National Downstairs Enclosure (Pilot Program), was required to inspect downstairs enclosures to assure FEMA that the structures were only used for well-defined storage. County staff, with the support of the County Commission, worked tirelessly with FEMA to end the Pilot program and to demonstrate the County’s willingness to follow FEMA regulations. In June 2013, FEMA agreed to cease the Pilot Program and with that action the County FEMA program came under a series of audits to assure compliance with the regulations. After 5 audits, with multiple findings since 2013, the County has improved its programs and documentation of required FEMA regulations.

Thanksgiving brought good news from FEMA officials. They notified Monroe County that they have closed the NFIP August 2013 Audit, known officially as a Community Assistance Visit (CAV) which originally included 170+ findings. The CAV is generally an audit of past and present permits issued, along with a review of parcels that have been identified by FEMA as potentially non-compliant. FEMA commended the County for its achievements on these fronts.

This is important because the County is now eligible to apply to join the NFIP Community Rating System (CRS) Program. This a significant achievement for the County which, over the past decade, has been perceived to have shortcomings in the compliance arena.

What does this mean for Monroe County citizens of the unincorporated area?

The County will begin application into the CRS program. Once accepted and scored in the CRS program, property owners will be eligible for discounts on their flood insurance.

The insurance premiums have been substantially increasing under federal changes over the past two years. The average flood insurance premium in Monroe County is $1200. Depending on the score the County receives under the CRS program, this could likely result in discounts by between $60 – $240 per policy. There are over 15,000 policies in the unincorporated county, with an estimated savings potential of $3,600,000 within the unincorporated County per year for those insured by NFIP.

The process to participate in the CRS program will take approximately a year to complete and begins with a letter of interest, followed by a lengthy application with scoring performed by FEMA to determine the amount of discounts the citizens ultimately receive.

The County Commission authorized County staff to retain a consultant Lori Lehr, a CRS expert, over a year ago and she has assisted county staff in the audit responses and will lead the CRS application.

If you have any further questions contact Christine Hurley, AICP, Monroe County, Assistant County Administrator at 1-305-393-3361.

 

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