Thanks very much to our city council representative for her perserverence getting us an answer regarding elevating using the ICC insurance coverage... Please see the following email below that I received from Mrs. Beeton this week:
Elizabeth,
Immediately below is the answer to your question from our subject matter expert, Diana Herrera. The basic answer is yes, a historical designated home can qualify for Increased Cost of Compliance (ICC). In order to do that the house, not including the land value, has to be found to be substantially damaged, that is over 50% damaged according to tax assessment value. Since this property is located in the historical district and since there was no requirement to do the substantial damage assessments in that area none were done. So how does one accomplish this?
The property owner has to show the City Planning and Permitting folks that the damage to their home "by flooding" was in excess of 50% of the home's CAD value plus 5%. The best way to do that is for the home owner to obtain an estimate for the repair costs to bring the home back to the pre-storm condition with out considering any improvements, and also not considering the cost of elevating it, and present that estimate to the City Planning Department. I believe it would also behoove the homeowner to check with Lori Schwarz or David Ewald at the Planning and Inspection Department because I think they may also be requiring the home owner to provide a fair market appraisal of the property by a certified appraiser to be consistent with what everyone else must provide. The appraisal is the other way to establish the value of the home for the purposes of determining substantial damage by flooding.
Once the city has made a decision that the home is substantially damaged as a result of flooding, it can issue a letter to that effect to the home owner. The home owner then files a claim for the ICC with his or her insurance company and includes a copy of the substantial damage letter from the city. My understanding is that the ICC claims process is the same it is for a flooding claim.
Furthermore, as Diana has noted, the City Planning Department and the State Historical Preservation Officer (SHPO) must determine what it will take for the home to retain its historical designation and can require certain things be done in the elevating process to achieve that end result; for example, using shrubs and vegetation to hide the piers that are used to raise the property. So I would also suggest that this homeowner consult with Lori Schwarz, the city's historical preservation expert, to determine what has to be done to meet the SHPO and the City's historical preservation requirements.
The final area of your concerns is the question of Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding to assist with elevating a home. As Diana noted, and as you have heard from Shirley Mayes, the State Hazard Mitigation person for this region, the state's primary emphasis for HMGP grants is for "buy-outs", not for any of the other HMGP grant programs. However, one of the other HMGP grant areas is for grants to elevate properties above the base flood elevation. But, convincing the state that it should use the HMGP monies given to it by FEMA for this type of grant is up to the local jurisdiction, we have no direct influence on that. So we cannot guarantee you or your constituents that there will be money from the HMGP program for elevating homes, only that such grants are authorized.
Respectfully, Terry
Terry McArdle
FEMA Liaison to the City of Galveston
AFO-Galveston DR-1791-TX
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