Conference of Mayors Endorse Flood Insurance Affordability Bill

VILLAS – The Cape May County Conference of Mayors has offered a resolution of support for a U.S. House of Representatives bill that would prevent huge increases in flood insurance premiums.
Lower Township Mayor Michael Beck, president of the county Conference of Mayors, said mayors and officials attending Feb. 27 meeting voted unanimously to urge House members to cast a “yes” vote on the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014: H.R. 3370.
“This would help to lessen the impact of the original FEMA regulations from the Biggert-Waters Act which would have a huge impact on residents of Cape May County and throughout the United States,” he said. “We decided this bill is probably our best opportunity to try and bring some kind of sanity to this legislation.”
The Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2014 would allow “grandfathering” of policies to continue for homes built to flood insurance codes at the time of their construction that have maintained insurance and have not suffered from repeated flooding.
The bill would also remove the sales “trigger” which would raise flood insurance rates to fully actualized value when a home is sold to new owners.
In addition, the bill would offer retroactive refunds to some policy holders who paid a higher premium under the Biggert-Waters Act.
The bill would increase funding for the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) from $750,000 to $3 million to undertake an affordability study to be completed within two years.
To help build up the National Flood Insurance Program reserve fund, a $25 annual surcharge would be added to National Flood Insurance policies for primary homes and $250 for second homes.
Beck said he is asking second home owners whose primary home is in another legislative district such as Pennsylvania to contact their legislators and ask for their support of H.R. 3370.
“The impact is so severe of the original Biggert-Waters legislation, I think we all see the extent that it would damage home sales and raise the cost of flood insurance,” he said.
The House bill has been endorsed by the National Association of Federal Credit Unions, the National League of Cities, the National Association of Realtors®, the American Bankers Association and the National Association of Home Builders.
A Senate version of the bill would put market rate increases on hold for four years while FEMA conducts an affordability study.