Community Rating System

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Community Rating System (CRS)

The Community Rating System (CRS) is a voluntary incentive program offered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to any community participating in the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The CRS program uses flood insurance discounts to reward cities, counties, and other communities for adopting floodplain management activities that exceed minimum NFIP requirements.

The goals of the CRS program are to reduce flood damage to insurable property, strengthen and support the insurance aspects of the NFIP, and encourage a comprehensive approach to floodplain management. Communities that join the CRS program are assigned a rating, or class, based on the number of floodplain management activities they implement in the following categories:

Public information
Mapping and regulations
Flood damage reduction
Warning and response

Within a CRS community, residents receive flood insurance discounts based on the community’s CRS rating. CRS Classes are rated from 9 to 1. Most communities enter the program at a CRS Class 9 or Class 8 rating, which entitles residents in Special Flood Hazard Areas (SFHAs) to a 5% discount on their flood insurance premiums for a Class 9 or a 10% discount for Class 8. As a community engages in additional mitigation activities, its residents become eligible for increased NFIP policy premium discounts. Each CRS Class improvement produces a 5% greater discount on flood insurance premiums for properties in the SFHA. These incremental discounts are shown in the table below.

CRS Class	Flood Insurance Discounts in SFHA
1	45%
2	40%
3	35%
4	30%
5	25%
6	20%
7	15%
8	10%
9	5%

Bryan County actively participates in the NFIP and CRS on behalf of residents living in the unincorporated areas. As a result of the County's efforts, we hold a CRS rating of Class 6. This means that flood insurance premiums for properties located in the unincorporated areas of Bryan County receive a 20% discount.