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Honey Creek Conservancy says FEMA map revisions could strip flood-insurance mandates for most parcels
Summary
Counsel for Honey Creek Conservancy described decades of flood projects and a long-running effort to persuade FEMA to revise flood maps; counsel estimates the district's engineering could remove about 95% of parcels from mandatory flood-insurance zones if FEMA accepts the revisions.
Craig McKee, counsel to the Honey Creek Conservancy District, described the district's work since its 1990 formation to design and build levees, internal drainage and other flood-control projects in the southern Vigo County area. McKee said the projects were funded by a combination of local, federal and district borrowing and that the flood works were designed to a 100-year standard.
"We have a map that, based on what we have built, we believe would remove somewhere around 95% of the parcels in the district from the mandatory flood maps," McKee said, describing repeated document exchanges with FEMA and rule changes after large national disasters that have prolonged the map-revision process. McKee said the district has encountered repeated requests for additional documentation and changing FEMA criteria, making the revision effort lengthy and frustrating.
McKee said Honey Creek has never petitioned for a special-benefits enhanced tax rate and instead levies the standard conservancy rate; he listed a current operating budget in the neighborhood of $325,000340,000 and said the board previously carried larger debt-service budgets when bonds were being paid. He also said the district actively recruits directors and that vacancies have been hard to fill, which can complicate administration and reporting to the court.
McKee emphasized that while map revision could reduce mandatory flood-insurance requirements for many properties, homeowners in parts of the district may still need to carry flood coverage depending on their proximity to creek or ditch features.
