Medina votes against flood map changes
August 19, 2010
Valencia County Commissioner David Medina took a stand last night against flood map changes that mean more homeowners throughout the county will be required to buy flood insurance.
The issue has been contentious over the past couple of months, as the Valencia County Commission demanded answers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) about why the agency is including more Valencia County homes in the designated floodplain this year.
The county commission went so far as to arrange to have FEMA officials out of Texas fly to New Mexico to answer questions about the flood map at a county commission meeting. The issue even caught the attention of United States Rep. Harry Teague, who held a special forum to discuss it with his constituents.
Inclusion of a home in the floodplain means the homeowner will have to buy flood insurance. In many instances, however, mortgage lenders require flood insurance anyway, and sometimes at three times the cost of what the homeowner will pay if included on the flood maps.
High-risk areas in the floodplain pay more than low-risk areas.
Medina said he couldn’t vote to force residents not paying for flood insurance to start paying for flood insurance.
Commissioner Ron Gentry, who was one of four votes to approve the new flood maps, said the county commission was forced to vote to approve it.
Had the commission not approved the flood maps, it would mean many homeowners would have to continue buying flood insurance anyway, just at a higher rate. That would penalize homeowners already in the floodplain, Gentry said.
Disapproval also could have increased property development costs because new mortgages would have the added amount tacked on, which some commissioners feared would harm growth.