By adopting the Pamlico Sound Regional Hazard Mitigation Plan in June, the City of Washington opens the door for a possible reduction in flood-insurance premiums for city property owners with flood insurance.

“It will, in a round-about way. Indirectly, it will. What happens is being a part of that group and adopting the plan helps what we call our Community Rating System. … FEMA comes in and rates each community by some of the things they are doing. By being a member and adopting that plan, that helps our community rating … and it does lower premiums for flood insurance,” said John Rodman, Washington’s director of community and cultural services.

Currently, the city’s Community Rating System’s score is seven.

“We’re trying to get that down to a six,” Rodman said. Reaching that score would provide a 20-percent reduction in flood-insurance premiums.

Allen Pittman, the city’s chief building inspector and a certified floodplain manager, said the city uses the CRS coordinator’s manual to help it implement programs and other items geared toward lowering CRS scores.

“We are reviewed every five years, and then we have to turn in our annual certification to show we are still keeping up to date and everything,” Pittman said.

The city’s next five-year review cycle comes up in 2017, and if the city has implemented enough new flood-related policies and programs, it could receive a lower CRS score, which would mean lower flood insurance premiums for city property owners, Pittman noted.

“There is some push by FEMA to get counties and municipalities into regions to better coordinate hazard mitigation,” Pittman said. “Our last plan was a county-wide plan.” The change to the regional approach is expected to reduce the cost and burden placed on communities in regard to the update process, according to FEMA.

Washington property owners are receiving a 15-percent discount on their National Flood Insurance Program premiums because the city has one of the best floodplain-management programs in North Carolina. In 2012, Washington was recognized for operating a top-notch floodplain-management program. Washington residents have some of the lowest flood-insurance premiums in North Carolina.

Beaufort County does not participate in the Community Rating system. Belhaven’s CRS score is seven, meaning its property owners with flood insurance receive a 15-percent discount on their premiums. Washington Park has an eight rating. That town’s property owners with flood insurance receive a 10-percent break on their premiums. No other municipality in the county participates in CRS, meaning property owners in those towns who buy flood insurance do not receive discounts on their premiums, which vary based on several factors, including coverage amounts.

The maximum discount under the CRS is 45 percent.

NFIP participants may obtain coverage for their buildings and contents of those buildings.

“The National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP) Community Rating System (CRS) is a voluntary incentive program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management activities that exceed the minimum NFIP requirements,” according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s website.

By exceeding the minimum requirements, flood insurance premium rates are discounted to reflect the reduced flood risk resulting from the community actions meeting the three goals of the CRS, according to FEMA. Those goals are to reduce flood damage to insurable property, strengthen and support the insurance aspects of the NFIP and encourage a comprehensive approach to floodplain management.

In North Carolina during 2014, the average flood-insurance claim was $21,502, according to NFIP data.

From Jan. 1, 1978, through Thursday, Washington property owners had 1,302 policies with $213.5 millions of insurance in force, according to Randy Mundt, with the state’s flood management office. Since 1978, a little more than $12 million in claims have been paid to Washington property owners.

From Jan. 1, 1978, through May 31 of this year, Washington property owners filed 1,177 claims, with $12.2 million paid on most of those claims. During that same period, Chocowinity property owners filed six claims, with $99,791.53 paid on most of those claims. Countywide during that period, 4,606 claims were filed, and $68.3 million paid on most of those claims.

The city’s current CRS score means that policyholders in the city will received a combined $176,442 in savings on premiums this year, or about $136 per policy, according to Mundt.

Participation in a certified plan is required for the receipt of annual FEMA grants and public-assistance funding in the aftermath of a declared natural disaster such as a hurricane or tornado.

For additional information about the National Flood Insurance Program, visit www.floodsmart.gov or call 1-888-379-9531.