Flood protection: If it’s not your business, it’s none of your business
August 29th, 2010 by BrianFrom the Daily Camera:
The idea [from City of Boulder officials] is that a new set of codes would apply to new construction and substantial remodels of buildings that are designated as “critical facilities.” Under the city’s definition, those buildings include hospitals, sewage treatment plants, gas stations, nursing homes, police and fire stations, emergency shelters, urgent care centers, schools, day care centers, communications facilities and businesses that store or use hazardous waste.
The Daily Camera solicited its editorial advisory board to submit their views on this. Mine was printed on August 28:
If it’s not your business, then it’s none of your business. Government has no right to mandate how private property owners protect against floods — let alone commandeer their buildings during emergencies. The proper response to a busybody in your life is “This is private and none of your business.” The same goes for private properties that the city considers “critical facilities.” These include gas stations, nursing homes, day care and urgent care centers, and private schools and hospitals.
Property owners have the right and responsibility to insure against risk according to their own best judgment. In a free-market, short-sighted owners would pay for lax precautions through repairs, lost revenue, higher insurance premiums, and possibly lawsuits if hazardous materials are involved.
But government sabotages responsible ownership with tax-funded disaster assistance and the monopolistic National Flood Insurance Program. As a Competitive Enterprise Institute analysis discusses, the NFIP has little incentive to accurately asses flood risks. Over several years the NFIP “paid out $806,591 for repeated storm damage to a suburban Houston home that was valued at $114,480,” reported the Houston Chronicle.
Private flood insurers have beneficially balanced incentives. Selling policies that require excessive safety measures risks losing customers to competitors. But lax measures result in paying many costly claims.
Government mandates cannot achieve this balance. Boulder officials should consider the risks of mandates that significantly increase construction and remodeling costs. These can obstruct renovations and new construction, which can result in lost jobs, tax revenue, or continued use of already flood-prone buildings.
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