Effective in October, Mandeville residents will see a 5 percent reduction in their annual insurance premiums thanks to the Community Rating System Class 7 upgrade the city was recently awarded.

The upgrade made Mandeville one of only four municipalities in the state to be ranked at that level.

The CRS is part of the National Flood Insurance Program that was implemented in 1990 to recognize and encourage communities to exceed the minimum NFIP standards through a points-based rating system. Communities are not required to participate, but under the CRS, flood insurance premium rates are adjusted to reflect the efforts the community actively takes part in to reduce the risk of flooding, ultimately saving residents money. Building Inspector and Floodplain Manager Chris Brown said several months ago the Insurance Services Offices Inc., a risk assessment agency that administers the CRS program for the NFIP, performed an audit on Mandeville’s floodplain management practices, which is done every five years. The city raked in enough points to have their class improved from eight to seven, which knocks another 5 percent off residents’ yearly insurance premium.

“It’s a one to 10 rating system,” Brown said. “Class 10 receives no discount but a nine gets 5 percent off and it keeps going in 5 percent increments.”

Mandeville’s current class rating already gives residents 10 percent off their insurance premium, but the new Class 7 earns residents 15 percent off their premium, placing them on par with East Baton Rouge, Jefferson and Shreveport. According to the CRS, no city is rated below Class 7 in the state. This also gives Mandeville the best rating on the Northshore, with Slidell’s Class 9 expected to drop to eight next year and sister city Covington currently ranked a Class 10.

Communities earn points from the CRS by implementing programs that create more flood-resistant structures.

“We have quite a good number of regulations that exceed the federal regulations,” Brown said. “In Mandeville we require one foot of freeboard above the FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) flood elevation requirements.”

Yearly distributions of citywide flood awareness brochures also helped improve the city’s ranking, Brown said

Nationally, over 1,000 communities participate in the CRS, but few are listed below Class 6 with only one, Roseville, Calif., ranked Class 1.