FL - New flood maps could discount Longboat homeowners insurance
With the adoption of Sarasota County’s new flood maps, the town of Longboat Key is considering new ordinances to improve its flood management and earn discounts for homeowners on flood insurance.
The town of Longboat Key is in the process of adopting Sarasota County’s newest base flood elevation map, which impacts flood insurance and certain building requirements on the island.
Staff with the Planning, Zoning and Building Department contemplated several new ordinances with the adoption of this new map. Those ordinances could have potentially led to a greater insurance discount for homeowners, but Town Attorney Maggie Mooney cautioned commissioners on taking any action at the moment.
Planning, Zoning and Building Department Director Allen Parsons discussed the updates with town commissioners at the Dec. 4 commission meeting, presented as the first of two public hearings on the matter.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency regularly updates base flood elevation maps as they pertain to flood insurance. Manatee County’s latest update occurred in 2021 while Sarasota County’s maps hadn’t been updated since 2016.
“It’s not anything totally new, but it is a very interesting conversation about what some of these changes are,” Town Manager Howard Tipton said at the start of the hearing.
While the main voting matter pertained to adopting the new Sarasota County flood maps as an amendment to the Town Flood Control Code, Parsons mentioned that the town participates in the National Flood Insurance Program and the Community Rating Systemprogram.
With the adoption of new flood maps, Parsons presented the opportunity to also look into potential amendments to the town’s Flood Control Ordinance and other actions that could increase the town’s status in the CRS.
“Those are things we are looking at that have the benefit long term not only on insurance discounts, but also resiliency structures,” Parsons said.
Playing for points
The CRS grades municipalities on floodplain management practices. Based on those points, municipalities are assigned to a “class” which then translates to flood insurance premium discounts.
Longboat Key is currently classified as a Class 6 municipality, which is reflected with a 20% discount.
In order to qualify as a Class 6 municipality, the community must fall within 2,000 and 2,499 credit points. The next level up, Class 5, requires between 2,500 and 2,999 credit points and would provide a 25% discount.
