Berkeley Maintains Its Class 6 Rating With National Flood Insurance Program, Mayor Says

The National Flood Insurance Program has again certified Berkeley Township as a class 6 community, which means some policy holders get a 20 percent discount on their flood insurance bills, Mayor Carmen F. Amato said.

"Since assuming office in 2012, our professional staff went to work immediately on ways to improve our community rating," Amato said. "Because of our efforts, in October 2013, we moved from a class 7 rated community to a Class 6. Which means our discount went from 15 percent to 20 percent. This is significant for those in our maritime community that are required to have flood insurance."

For municipalities that participate in the Community Rating System, flood insurance premium rates drop in increments of five percent. For example, a Class 1 community would receive a 45 percent premium discount, while a Class 9 community would receive a five percent discount, according to FEMA's website.

The CRS classes for local communities are based on 18 creditable activities, organized under four categories:

1. Public Information,
2. Mapping and Regulations,
3. Flood Damage Reduction, and
4. Flood Preparedness

"We have been through a lot since Superstorm Sandy severely impacted our area," Amato said. "With the implementation of the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 followed by the Homeowner Flood Insurance Affordability Act of 2013, there is a lot of uncertainty with the NFIP and its impact on homeowners' Flood policies. That is why it's important we not only maintain our CRS rating, we continue to improve our resiliency with the hopes of improving our rating again."

Berkeley has the second lowest rating in participating NFIP Ocean County municipalities, he said.

73 Communities in the State of New Jersey participate in the NFIP - CRS Program.
https://www.fema.gov/media-library-data/1445271112005-260161604f6df628e6998e1eecb597ee/CRS_Oct-2015-Data.pdf

Image: Harvey Cedars Beach Patrol