How We Have Ended Up Paying for 1 Percenters Beach Vacation Homes

[unhappycamper]

http://www.alternet.org/economy/how-we-have-ended-paying-1-percenters-beach-vacation-homes?paging=off¤t_page=1#bookmark



It's time for the wealthy with vacation homes and valuable shoreline land to pay their own way -- and not rely on us.

How We Have Ended Up Paying for 1 Percenters Beach Vacation Homes
Salon.com / By David Dayen
November 2, 2013

Last May, when conservatives still pretended to love cutting the deficit and liberals still pretended to want to combat climate change, a broad bipartisan coalition passed a sweeping flood insurance reform bill – by a 402-18 count in the House – designed to align the costs of insuring homes in flood zones with the realities of increased storm frequency.

But yesterday, Rep. Maxine Waters – the lead author of the law – stood with several of her colleagues and proudly introduced a bill that would stall the implementation by up to four years, delaying any increase in flood insurance premiums until 2017. It’s difficult to argue that homeowners in flood zones alone should have to bear the burden of massive rate increases. But shrinking from the real costs from climate change and delaying them, rather than facing up to how it will affect every aspect of our economy, is a testament to a political class that is simply not equipped to deal with the consequences of a warming planet.

The National Flood Insurance Program, designed in 1968 to provide mandatory federal insurance to Americans living in coastal areas, has been hemorrhaging money after years of extreme weather. The NFIP, a division of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, is meant to be self-supporting through premiums, relieving the pressure on disaster relief funding. But the NFIP borrowed $19 billion from the Treasury in 2005, after damages from Hurricanes Katrina, Rita and Wilma. According to experts, its deficit after payouts from Superstorm Sandy approaches $28 billion.

The Biggert-Waters reform legislation, named for former Republican Rep. Judy Biggert and current Democrat Waters, was uncontroversial when it was introduced in 2012. It passed the House easily, and was eventually incorporated into a larger transportation bill that sailed through Congress. Biggert-Waters forced the creation of new FEMA maps to determine who needed flood insurance. It also allowed higher annual premium increases – to 20 percent from 10 percent – so premiums could gradually come more in line with actuarial realities. And for high-risk homes built before flood maps were adopted, which enjoyed generous subsidies, flood insurance rates would increase 25 percent a year, until they reached a level commensurate with the actual risk. If the homes changed hands, they would immediately move to the risk-adjusted rates. Over time, subsidies for 1.1 million policyholders, 20 percent of the program, would be phased out.

[Fuddnik]

1. That's just the good part about it.

In Pinellas County, Florida (St. Pete, Clearwater), rates are jumping as much as 2,000%. I live in neighboring Pasco county, and haven't seen what my rates will be next year, but I'm expecting the worst.

A four year delay will save some residents some money for four years, but they've already killed the real estate market for good. Who in their right mind would buy a home, with those kinds of costs looming?

And homes sold in the last two years, and in the future don't get any subsidies on rates. Even worse, Florida ratepayers have been subsidizing the rest of the country for years, receiving about 60% less in claims paid as to premiums paid.

I paid $1,300 last year, for $180,000 coverage (+$3,000 homeowners), and I can't find any accurate reliable info until I get next years bill soon. I know that homeowners just jumped another 10% for next year.

[cantbeserious]

2. The Oligarchs, Billionaires And Millionaires Own And Control The Politicians That Own And Control Us

eom