PLACEMENT: Consent
TITLE:
title
ADOPT THE MARTIN COUNTY REPETITIVE LOSS AREA ANALYSIS AS REQUIRED FOR CREDIT UNDER THE NATIONAL FLOOD INSURANCE PROGRAM (NFIP) COMMUNITY RATING SYSTEM (CRS)
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
executive summary
This is a request for the Board of County Commissioners (the Board) to adopt, by resolution, the Martin County Repetitive Loss Area Analysis as required for credit under the National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS).
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DEPARTMENT: Public Works
PREPARED BY: Name: Lisa A Wichser, P.E., CFM
Title: Chief Project Engineer
REQUESTED BY: Louann Patellaro, ISO/CRS Specialist (Contractor Support to the NFIP Community Rating System Program)
PRESET:
PROCEDURES: None
BACKGROUND/RELATED STRATEGIC GOAL:
The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) provides federally backed flood insurance within communities that enact and enforce floodplain regulations. Since its inception in 1968, the NFIP has been very successful in helping flood victims get back on their feet. As of Jan. 31, 2025, there were 4.7 million residential and commercial policies in force, with $1.29 trillion in written coverage with annual premiums of about $5.3 billion. From 1978 through January 2025, more than 1.96 million losses were paid, totaling over $86.2 billion.
To be covered by a federally-backed flood insurance policy (for the structure and/or its contents), a property must be in a community that participates in the NFIP. To qualify for the NFIP, a community adopts and enforces a floodplain management ordinance to regulate development in flood hazard areas. The objective of the ordinance is to minimize the potential for flood damage to future development. Today, over 22,200 communities in 56 states and territories participate in the NFIP.
The NFIP has been effective in requiring new buildings to be protected from damage by a 1% chance flood, also known as the 100-year or base flood. However, flood damage still results from floods that exceed the base flood, from flooding in unmapped areas, and from flooding that affects buildings constructed before the community joined the NFIP.
Under the Community Rating System (CRS), communities can be rewarded for doing more than simply regulating construction of new buildings to the minimum national standards. Under the program, the flood insurance premiums of a community’s residents and businesses are discounted to reflect that community’s work to reduce flood damage to existing buildings, manage development in areas not mapped by the NFIP, protect new buildings beyond the minimum NFIP protection level, preserve and/or restore natural functions of floodplains, help insurance agents obtain flood data, and help people obtain flood insurance.”
Unincorporated Martin County became a CRS community in October 1992 and is currently a CRS Class 5 Community, which provides a 25% discount on NFIP flood insurance policies issued in the Special Flood Hazard Area.
Repetitive loss properties, as defined by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), are those properties for which two or more claims of more than $1,000 each have been paid by the NFIP within any 10-year period since 1978. FEMA maintains a list of repetitive loss properties for the NFIP. The repetitive lost list includes the property address, the dates of the claims, and, sometimes, the current insured’s and/or previous owner’s name. For CRS purposes, there are three categories of repetitive loss communities based on the number of properties on the community’s updated repetitive loss list.
§ Category A: A community with no unmitigated repetitive loss properties.
§ Category B: A community with at least one, but fewer than 50, unmitigated repetitive loss properties.
§ Category C: A community with 50 or more unmitigated repetitive loss properties.
Martin County’s current list, which is based on data collected through April 30, 2026, includes 160 unmitigated repetitive loss properties, making it a Category C community. It should be noted that nearly 20% of the 197 properties on FEMA’s list have been mitigated. To retain its Class 5 rating and as a Category C community, Martin County must either prepare a floodplain management plan that covers all repetitive loss properties (areas) or prepare a Repetitive Loss Area Analysis (RLAA) for all repetitive loss areas.
The Repetitive Loss Area Analysis was performed by Martin County staff to address the requirements set forth in the 2025 National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS) Coordinator’s Manual.
ISSUES:
The draft Repetitive Loss Area Analysis is available on the Martin County website at www.martin.fl.us/RLAA <www.martin.fl.us/RLAA>; the final Repetitive Loss Area Analysis will be provided via Supplemental Memorandum to the Board.
Failure to adopt the Repetitive Loss Area Analysis will result in Martin County losing its Class 5 rating in the Community Rating System program, which will affect property owners’ ability to obtain and/or retain federally-backed flood insurance policies.
LEGAL SUFFICIENCY REVIEW:
This item has been reviewed for legal sufficiency to determine whether it is consistent with applicable law, has identified and addressed legal risks, and has developed strategies for legal defensibility.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
RECOMMENDATION
Move that the Board adopt the resolution accepting and adopting Martin County’s Repetitive Loss Area Analysis.
ALTERNATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS
Pull this item from the Consent Agenda and provide direction to staff.
FISCAL IMPACT:
RECOMMENDATION
None
ALTERNATIVE RECOMMENDATIONS
None
DOCUMENT(S) REQUIRING ACTION:
☐Budget Transfer / Amendment ☐ Chair Letter ☐Contract / Agreement
☐Grant / Application ☐Notice ☐Ordinance ☒Resolution
☐Other: