Fort Myers flood insurance costs to drop by 20%

While other Lee County localities have struggled to maintain, and in one case has lost, federal flood insurance discounts, Fort Myers residents will see the cost of their policies fall by an additional 15% starting later this year.

That discount is a result of the Federal Emergency Management Agency upgrading the city’s Community Rating System classification for its National Flood Insurance Program.

The city’s rating has risen from a Class 9 to a Class 6. For residents that means policies issued through the NFIP will get a 20% discount, up from the current 5%.

FEMA, in a statement, says the change is effective Oct. 1.

The agency referred questions about its process to Fort Myers, which says the upgrade came “following months of diligent work by the city to provide the required documentation.”

CRS, as the Community Rating System is known, assigns points to localities and qualifies certain communities’ residents for discounts that can cut insurance premiums by hundreds of dollars each year.

The system was little known to many outside the insurance industry locally until early last year when FEMA officials notified Lee, Bonita Springs, Cape Coral, Estero and Fort Myers Beach of a ratings downgrade from a Class 5 that would raise resident’s flood insurance premiums by the 25% — about $300.

FEMA said at the time that the decision was based on large amounts of unpermitted work, lack of documentation and a failure to properly monitor activity in special flood hazard areas, including substantial damage compliance.

The decision set off a monthslong campaign by the county and cities to get the federal agency to change its mind. That meant getting the agency the documentation it needed and submitting a corrective plan by a Nov. 18 deadline.

All the localities but one were able to retain the rating and the discount that came with it.

Only Fort Myers Beach failed to keep its rating and was placed on probation. It was dropped from Class 5 to Class 10 effective April 11.

As for Fort Myers, the city says in a statement that it has partnered with consultants on best practice recommendations and launched several capital improvement projects since joining the CRS program in 1993. The goal has been to mitigate the risks of flood damage and to obtain a favorable rating for taxpayers.

Steven Belden, the director of community development for the city, says in the statement that Fort Myers “has made significant strides in flood mitigation illustrating our efforts to adhere to the CRS requirements and creditable activities.”