KATY, Texas (CoveringKaty.com) — Katy residents with federal flood insurance could eventually pay lower premiums as the city moves closer to joining a FEMA program that rewards communities for taking additional steps to reduce flood risk.
Katy City Council on Sept. 14 approved changes to the city's flood-damage prevention ordinance that officials said were necessary for the city to be considered for FEMA's Community Rating System, or CRS.
The voluntary program allows communities that go beyond minimum federal floodplain-management requirements to earn discounts on eligible National Flood Insurance Program policies. Katy already participates in the National Flood Insurance Program.
City Planner Rachel Lazo told council the city has been working toward joining the program for more than a year and has already submitted its application.
“The former City Council did task staff with trying to enter this program,” Lazo said. “We did hire a dedicated floodplain administrator in January of last year, and throughout the last year and a half plus, we've been working with the CRS agency and trying to prep our application to be considered to enter the program.”
How much could residents save?
That isn't known yet.
FEMA assigns participating communities a rating based on the flood-reduction measures they have in place. The rating determines the discount available on eligible flood insurance policies.
FEMA says CRS discounts can range from 5% to 45%, depending on a community's classification. Katy has not yet received a rating, so residents should not expect a specific discount at this point.
During the meeting, Lazo said communities entering the program are typically placed in classifications that could result in discounts of about 5% to 15%, although she cautioned that she was estimating from memory.
Katy could learn more by next spring
Katy's application has already been submitted.
Lazo told council that representatives helping review the city's application were scheduled to conduct a community visit two days after the Sept. 14 meeting. The visit is part of the process of reviewing Katy's materials and identifying any changes that may be needed before the application is formally processed.
“We are very active in this process,” Lazo said.
She said the city hopes to learn whether it has been accepted into the program by spring 2027. If reviewers identify deficiencies in the application materials, Katy would have 30 days to make changes.
What did the city change?
Katy already adopted stronger floodplain requirements in 2022, including standards generally requiring development to be one foot above the base flood elevation or at the 500-year flood elevation, whichever is higher.
The ordinance approved Sept. 14 primarily makes it clearer that those existing standards apply throughout the city's flood regulations, including to mechanical equipment such as air-conditioning units. City officials said the changes were required as part of the minimum criteria for Katy's CRS application.
Council members questioned whether the changes would make new homes or commercial buildings more expensive to construct.
City officials said the higher elevation requirements are already being enforced under the standards adopted in 2022, meaning the latest changes should have little additional effect on construction costs.
Council approved the ordinance without opposition.
The approval does not mean Katy residents will immediately receive lower flood insurance premiums. The city must complete the review process, be accepted into the Community Rating System and receive a rating before eligible policyholders could receive a CRS discount.
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