Missouri City — The Missouri City Council on Jan. 6 unanimously approved an interlocal agreement with the First Colony Levee Improvement District that transfers floodplain administration responsibilities to the city and is intended to enable residents inside the district to access federal Community Rating System discounts on flood insurance.

The City Council voted to accept the interlocal after a presentation from Shashi Kumar, the city’s director of public works, and a public comment from Debbie Kaufman, a board director for First Colony Levee Improvement District. "We're asking both cities to execute agreements that will be the first step of several that the District will take," Kaufman said during the public-comment period, urging the council to approve the measure so residents may receive discounts on their National Flood Insurance Program policies.

The interlocal responds to changes in FEMA's risk-rating program for flood insurance and the district’s status spanning Missouri City and Sugar Land. Kumar told the council that by consolidating the floodplain management authority under the city — which participates in FEMA’s CRS program — residents within the levee district would become eligible for the city’s CRS discounts. "By absorbing their floodplain management responsibilities and transferring that to the city ... the residents both within the First Colony Levee Improvement District as well as our residents now will be able to get the benefit of discounts on the flood insurance policies," Kumar said.

Speakers at the meeting gave differing counts for the number of affected policies. Kaufman said, citing FEMA records, that "First Colony LID has 1,066 policyholders," with roughly 565 in Missouri City and 501 in Sugar Land. Kumar later summarized the city's estimate as "about 66 flood insurance policies," a discrepancy discussed during the meeting. Kumar and city staff said the district will manage the FEMA request to remove the separate community identification (CID) number; once FEMA processes that change, policies tied to the city’s CID would qualify for CRS discounts.

Councilmembers asked about fiscal and implementation implications. Kumar said the city already enforces minimum floodplain standards and would absorb sole administrative responsibility going forward; he said the district will handle the FEMA process "at their cost." The council also heard that preliminary estimates presented at the meeting put the per-policy savings at about $50, which staff and the district said could translate into tens of thousands of dollars collectively for affected policyholders.

The motion to approve the interlocal agreement passed unanimously (mover: Councilmember Joanna Otterberg; second: Mayor Pro Tem Brown Marshall). The agreement will require the levee district to file the formal request with FEMA to retire the district CID and align affected properties under Missouri City’s CID for future updates to the CRS roster.

City staff said they will coordinate outreach to affected residents after the administrative steps with FEMA are underway to explain the change and expected savings.