REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Approval of the 2021 Santa Clara County Multi-Jurisdictional Program for Public Information; a program under the Community Rating System of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's National Flood Insurance Program
Report
COUNCIL PILLAR
Deliver and Enhance High Quality Efficient Services and Infrastructure
BACKGROUND
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requires the elected body of each community who participates in the National Flood Insurance Program's (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS) to approve a Multi-Jurisdictional Program for Public Information (PPI) (5-Year Plan) in order to receive points under the CRS program. CRS is a voluntary program under the NFIP that allows communities to earn flood insurance premium discounts for their residents and businesses. Communities earn CRS points for activities that promote flood risk reduction practices, including implementation of outreach activities under the PPI. Communities are assigned class ratings based on the points earned. CRS Class ratings are assigned at 500-point increments and each improvement in class rating nets an additional 5 percent discount for property owners who pay flood insurance premiums in participating communities. Since Valley Water is not a land-use agency, the points they earn as a "fictitious community" (a special FEMA designation) provide a foundation for communities to build upon. FEMA approved this unique arrangement in 1998. Based on calculations from November 2020, the total savings for City of Santa Clara residents and businesses from CRS discounts is approximately $90,000 a year with the current classification of Class 7. Total savings for Santa Clara County residents from CRS discounts is approximately $2.37 million a year.
The PPI was introduced into Santa Clara County's CRS program in 2013 and participation is voluntary. As part of the PPI process, local communities work together to decide which flood risk reduction messages are t...
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