Working with Congressman Seth Moulton’s Office and the Harvard Kennedy School and Applied Field Lab- Advanced Budgeting and Financial Management and Operations Class, a field study was conducted in various sections of Newburyport and on Plum Island to review it as a potential location project for the class.
If selected the project will determine if the city can qualify for the Community Rating System (CRS) through FEMA. The CRS is The National Flood Insurance Program’s (NFIP). The CRS is a voluntary incentive program that recognizes and encourages community floodplain management activities that exceed the minimum NFIP requirements. As a result, flood insurance premium rates are discounted to reflect the reduced flood risk resulting from the community actions meeting the three goals of the CRS:
- Reduce flood damage to insurable property.
- Strengthen and support the insurance aspects of the NFIP
- Encourage a comprehensive approach to floodplain management.
Qualifying for the CRS could give residents up to a 40% discount on their flood insurance.
We look forward to working with the Advanced Budgeting and Financial Management and Operations Class to not only reduce the financial liability to both municipal and private residents but to take a progressive approach to Storm Surge and floodplain management. The opportunity that Congressman Moulton has offered our community could be considered critical as a City that borders can be defined by a river, the ocean and wetlands.