March 15, 2022
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As a low-lying region surrounded by water, South Florida is on the frontlines of flooding and sea level rise. And with stronger storms and rising seas in the future, keeping communities above water will be expensive.
That’s the thought that jolted awake Keith Kleiman, the Assistant Finance Director for Management & Budget for Coral Gables, Florida, one night in 2016.
“When we first saw one of our sea level rise studies, and we saw what South Florida was going to look like at the turn of the century, it’s completely eye opening,” said Kleiman, whose city is one of the American Flood Coalition’s oldest members and its first municipal member. “We have to start thinking about paying for it.”
Soon after that realization, Kleiman set about working on a resilience fund, a fund specifically for adaptation and resilience projects down the road. Weeks later, the city commission unanimously adopted the plan.
Since then, Coral Gables’ resilience fund, which is financed by stormwater fees and sanitation fees, has grown to nearly $10 million.
Unlike flood projects currently underway in South Florida, which require large city bonds to finance, the resilience fund is specifically designed for the future. As money accumulates, it’s invested in the market.
By 2040, as more flood resilience projects are needed, the city aims to be sitting on a $100 million nest egg, ready to compete for grants and loans when most cities along the coast will be applying for the same dollars.
The resilience fund will also give the city some flexibility: The more funds accumulated by Coral Gables, the less grants and loans the city will have to compete for.
“Coral Gables is at the forefront of dealing with resiliency not only with sea level rise and flooding but also hurricanes and preparing for that next storm that we know is coming,” said Matt Anderson, the city’s resiliency and sustainability manager, who helped establish the resilience fund. “We need to look at how we can help our city be more resilient to all these different shocks and stressors.”
The resilience fund is only one of several projects underway to protect the city from flooding. Coral Gables also has ongoing sanitary sewer and stormwater improvement projects, like raising pump stations, and has previously conducted a risk assessment to determine how its infrastructure is vulnerable to sea level rise, king tides, and storm surge.
Many of these measures will maintain the city’s bond rating in the long run, as bonding agencies look at resilience and planning. The city currently has three AAA bond ratings, the highest possible rating, and is one of only three cities in Florida with three AAA ratings.
“Our city is looking at this from all fronts and making sure we’re as well prepared and educated as possible on making our city more resilient,” Anderson said.
Both Anderson and Kleiman agreed that the fund’s success depends on education. The project first required buy-in from the city commission, who needed to understand the necessity of such a fund.
But communicating that same information to residents, who are paying for the fund through monthly fees, is just as critical.
“The most important thing is to show people,” said Kleiman, who emphasized the city’s sea level rise assessment and other models. “We needed to educate the commission and residents as to what they’re facing: This is not just loss of value, it’s loss of land. This is your property. Planning for the future is the best way to go.”
For more information on setting up a resilience fund, view Coral Gables’ website or reach out to Matt Anderson at manderson@coralgables.com. To join AFC and connect with other municipalities addressing flooding and sea level rise, email info@floodcoalition.org.
This post was authored by Brandon Pytel, Communications Associate at the American Flood Coalition.
