The National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP), which provides insurance coverage to property owners for damages and loss that are a result of catastrophic flooding, is set to expire May 31, 2019.
The program was last reauthorized for a five-year stretch in 2012, and for the past two years has been funded by a series of short-term funding measures.
All of Maryland’s counties, cities, and a large number of towns currently participate in NFIP, the largest provider of flood insurance coverage for property owners in communities across the country, as the program also offers pre-disaster mitigation funding that is only available for communities that participate in the program.
Due to the short-term funding extensions, the federal government has been using over the past two years to continue the program, counties have often been unable to “effectively plan and implement a workable budget.”
As a result of the impact this will have on counties and county residents, NACo has established two key talking points:
- Congress should enact a long-termreauthorization of the NFIP. When the federal government uses short-term funding extensions, counties are often unable to effectively plan and implement a workable budget. The NFIP is currently operating under a short-term extension that will expire May 31, 2019.
- Flood insurance policy surcharges should be limited to maintain accessibility and affordability for homeowners. New surcharges could make flood insurance unaffordable for some policyholders.
