Parish focusing on flood insurance rates

Officials meeting with Congressional delegation on program

With flood insurance rates due to expire in June, St. Charles Parish officials are working with the area’s Congressional delegation and toward finding discounts that can buffer residents from a major premium hit.

Rising rates are nothing new with the program and are expected to rise by another 15 percent this year.

Earl Matherne, parish planning administrator, said they’ve risen every year since Hurricane Katrina and each year Congress decides by how much.

“Efforts to build levees will eventually result in re-mapping and therefore lower rates,” Matherne said. Most of the parish’s efforts focus on the Community Rating System(CRS), which is where the parish can do activities that come with a discount on their premiums.

The parish currently has a 10 percent discount and they are looking for activities that could further reduce rates.“It should be noted that, while we can get our folks a 10 percent discount off of their premium, there is no program available to keep pace if the federal government feels it needs to raise premiums by 15 percent per year,” Matherne added.

With the parish implementing the Flood Aware Program, an informational effort to keep residents informed about potential disaster, Matherne said they hope to raise that figure to 15 percent.

Reauthorization of the flood insurance program is in full swing, he said.

“St. Charles Parish has been answering and writing questions for our federal delegation during their hearing with FEMA,” he said. “We keep emphasizing the importance of affordability like everyone else.”

Since rates began rising in 2013, FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) has lost 556,004 policies but collects $28.6 million more in premiums a year, Matherne said.

“You can see that the ones of us with flood insurance policies are carrying an increased burden each year,” he said.

In St. Charles Parish, Matherne said he’s seen a recovery.“This year, we have 716 policies more than last year,” he said. Although the figure does not reflect a drop of 331 policies.

 

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