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Composition
The goals of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's ("FEMA") National Flood Insurance Program ("NFIP") are to provide flood insurance to property owners, to encourage flood loss reduction activities by communities, and to save taxpayers' money.
The City of Miami Beach participates in the NFIP and the Community Rating System ("CRS"), a voluntary program that provides both incentives and tools to further these goals.
The Program for Public Information ("PPI") provides activity points to improve the City's CRS score, which in turn helps to reduce flood insurance premiums.
An advisory ad hoc Resiliency Communications Committee was first created per Resolution No. 2016-29585 to serve as a PPI Committee from October 1, 2016, through October 1, 2017; and annually thereafter.
The current PPI Committee was created, pursuant to Resolution 2023- 32844, and will expire on December 31, 2024; therefore, a new PPI Committee would need to be created.
A PPI was developed by the initial ad hoc PPI Committee, according to a seven-step planning and public involvement process, defined by the CRS Program, and the PPI was adopted by the Mayor and City Commission per Resolution No. 2017-29771.
A new PPI is required every five-years and was developed by the ad hoc PPI Committee to update and replace the 2017 PPI, and the PPI was adopted by the Mayor and City Commission on July 20, 2022, per Resolution No. 2022-32216.
An evaluation report is prepared annually by a PPI Committee and submitted to the City Commission on October 28, 2024, the PPI Committee, that was created per Resolution No. 2023-32844, approved the Annual Update and Evaluation Report to be transmitted to the City Commission.
The City Manager recommends that the Mayor and City Commission accept the 2024 Report, attached to Resolution 2024-33415.
The members of the new ad hoc advisory PPI Committee (the "Committee") shall be as follows: the City's Communications Director; the City's Floodplain Manager; Scott Diffenderfer, a real estate agent; Carlos Gutierrez, a real estate agent; Alex Carrasco, a local bank representative; and John Lee, a local insurance agent.
The powers and duties of the Committee will be to serve as a PPI Committee in accordance with NFIP requirements for credit under the CRS, to implement, monitor, and evaluate the PPI, and to submit an annual evaluation report of the PPI to the City Commission.
The term of membership on the new ad hoc Committee shall commence on January 1, 2025, and expire on December 31, 2025, subject to earlier or later sunset by the City Commission.
PPI Committee Overview
The Program for Public Information (PPI) Committee is tasked with identifying communication projects that reduce flood risk and increase flood awareness. The Committee works together to create the PPI Plan and yearly updates. This not only shows activities conducted for flood awareness but also demonstrates the impact that outreach projects have on the community. The annual report allows the Committee to keep track of the plan’s outcomes, celebrate achievements, identify areas of improvement and continue planning for the future.
In 2017, the City of Miami Beach completed the Program for Public Information (PPI), referred to as the Resiliency Communications Plan at the time, through FEMA’s Community Rating System (CRS). Since then, the Program for Public Information (PPI) Committee has met to monitor and evaluate the status of projects and outcomes. City staff conducted outreach projects and other CRS activities, collected data on implementation and measures. In 2022, the Committee created a new, five-year Program for Public Information.
PPI Committee 2022
The Program for Public Information (PPI) Committee, made up of private and public stakeholders, guides the Program for Public Information (PPI).
| Name | Title |
| Melissa Berthier | Communications Director, City of Miami Beach |
| John J. Lee | Vice President, First Service Financial |
| Scott Diffenderfer | Broker Associate President, Belle Isle Residents Association |
| Carlos Gutierrez | Broker Associate, Coldwell Banker 2016 President Miami Association of Realtors |
| Mohsen Jarahpour | Floodplain Manager, City of Miami Beach |
| Alex Carrasco | Vice President/Private Banking Relationship Manager |
PPI Plan
The Program for Public Information Plan was developed in 2017 to help reduce flood risk and the cost of national flood insurance premiums for residents and businesses. The plan is updated every year to highlight the progress made toward desired outcomes, review project implementation status and propose recommendations for improvement. In 2022, the Committee created a new, five-year Program for Public Information.
The plan and annual report are part of the Community Rating System (CRS) requirements, a voluntary program under the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) allowing communities to earn flood insurance discounts.
Miami Beach pursued an aggressive goal to improve its CRS ranking from a Class 6 to a Class 5 and was officially awarded the new score in 2019. In 2022, the City received formal notice that its Class 5 rating was officially recertified. With this score, the City continues to receive a 25% discount which totals $8.6 million in savings annually. This helps offset increasing federal rates.
