Missouri City councilmembers voted unanimously Tuesday to approve an interlocal agreement with the First Colony Levee Improvement District that transfers the Lid’s floodplain management responsibilities to the city and makes Lid properties eligible for the city’s FEMA Community Rating System discounts.

Debbie Kaufman, a First Colony Lid board director who spoke during public comment, urged the council to approve the agreement so Lid residents “can benefit from the discount that Missouri City and Sugar Land already have in place.” Kaufman told the council that, based on FEMA records, First Colony Lid has 1,066 flood-insurance policyholders and that roughly 565 of those are in Missouri City.

Shashi Kumar, director of public works, told the council the Lid was created in 1982 to build and maintain levees and pump stations along the Brazos River. Under FEMA’s updated risk-rating policies, properties behind levees have been reclassified in ways that raise flood-insurance premiums; communities that participate in FEMA’s CRS program can offer discounts to policyholders. “By absolving their flood plain 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.

Kumar and staff estimated the immediate, recurring benefit at about $50 per flood policy; Kaufman said Missouri City policyholders in First Colony could have saved about $50 per policy in 2024, which she estimated totaled roughly $29,000 for Missouri City residents in that area. Staff also said the Lid will manage the FEMA request to remove the Lid’s separate community ID (CID) at its expense; once FEMA removes the Lid CID, the Lid properties’ policies will default to Missouri City’s CID.

Council members asked about fiscal and operational impacts. Kumar said there would be no major new costs because the city already performs floodplain management duties; however, he noted that if new development occurs inside the Lid boundaries, the city would bear sole responsibility for administration. The agreement directs the Lid to handle the FEMA CID removal process and keep the city informed.

The motion to approve the interlocal agreement was made by Councilmember Joanna Otterberg and seconded by Mayor Pro Tem Brown-Marshall; the vote was unanimous.

The council and staff said they will notify affected residents after the Lid completes the FEMA process and the policy changes take effect.