The city of Belleair Beach recently voted unanimously to lower its lookback period from 5 years to one year. If you read that sentence and wonder what that means — your home's lookback period impacts all homeowners who live in a special flood hazard area. To understand your lookback, you first need to know about FEMA's 50% rule. This rule applies to anyone who wants to participate in the federally-backed FEMA National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) to help people purchase flood insurance. If you live in a special flood hazard area, this impacts you. The FEMA 50% rule means that if you, a homeowner, need to fix or improve your house, the cost of the work done can not equal or exceed 49% of the home's depreciated market value within the specified lookback period of the municipality issuing the building permit. Your lookback period is set by the municipality in which you live. Some communities require the cost of improvements to be calculated cumulatively over one or multiple years. Some cities don't have a lookback period at all. In Belleair Beach, the city is lessening its lookback period to just one year, which gives residents more flexibility in making home repairs. Just down the road, another beach community is considering changing its lookback period. Treasure Island is considering creating a lookback period of 10 years. Right now, there is no lookback period. MORE: https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/pinellascounty/belleair-beach-reduces-home-lookback-period/67-989f3483-8310-4c97-a0b9-c8c18d52a7af ►Subscribe: https://on.wtsp.com/youtube ►Website: https://www.wtsp.com/ ►Facebook: https://facebook.com/10TampaBay ►X: https://twitter.com/10TampaBay