What is the LMS?

The Tallahassee-Leon County Local Mitigation Strategy (LMS) is a countywide comprehensive hazard mitigation plan intended to make our community safer and more resistant to natural and other types of hazards.

The LMS identifies and analyzes hazards faced by the community, and proposes a series of mitigation initiatives, including objectives, programs, or specific projects that are intended to reduce potential impacts from these hazards. This plan also ensures the community's eligibility for federal and state assistance.

The LMS reduces exposure to hazards and minimized their potential effects (including the costs associated with these hazards) by:

• Identifying potential hazards, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, fires and hazardous materials releases;
• Determining where the community is most vulnerable to these hazards;
• Assessing the critical facilities and other structures that are most vulnerable to hazards, including potential damages and costs;
• Prioritizing list of mitigation projects to take advantage of available funding;
• Identifying funding sources for mitigation projects; and
• Advocating hazard awareness and education for the community.

The initiatives and projects identified in the LMS are focused on disaster resilience. The LMS has assisted in identifying mitigation projects for which the Tallahassee-Leon County community is able to pursue federal and state grant dollars more efficiently.

The LMS is prepared and updated annually as necessary with guidance from a Working Group and a Steering Committee composed of selected local, state, and regional government agencies, local colleges and universities, the Red Cross, the business community, and neighborhood representatives.

The current LMS was approved by the State of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management (DEM). It was adopted by resolution by the Tallahassee City Commission on April 22, 2020, and also by the Leon County Board of County Commissioners on April 28, 2020. It expires on May 21, 2025.

Five-Year LMS Updates

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) requires that local governments update their LMS at least every five years. The Planning Department last completed a major update of the LMS in 2020 and has begun to update the LMS for 2025. The Department will update the LMS with the assistance of the LMS Working Group and Steering Committee, which is composed of local and state government staff, along with representatives of several non-profit organizations within the community. The Working Group and Steering Committee will meet several times in 2024 to discuss these proposed changes, as well as develop projects intended for hazard mitigation grant funding.

The Planning Department, working with its media departments in the County and the City, will be reaching out to the public, including underserved communities and vulnerable populations, to hear and understand what natural and other hazards they may be concerned about, as well as any potential hazard mitigation projects they’d like to see in our community.

You can review the existing LMS at the below link:

2020 LMS Update

Annual Updates

The Local Mitigation Strategy initiatives are assessed annually by both the County and the City separately. The reports for both the City of Tallahassee and Leon County Mitigation Initiatives, Annual Progress Report – Year 2024 are found online. The LMS annual progress reports include details on issues ranging from increased intergovernmental coordination of floodplain management to promoting disaster resistant critical facilities. The LMS annual update also plays a role in meeting the requirements of the Community Rating System (CRS) program because LMS projects implement it and are reflected in the annual LMS Progress Reports which also serve as the required CRS reports.

Both the City of Tallahassee and Leon County participate in the voluntary federal Community Rating System (CRS) program. The CRS program is intended to encourage best practices for floodplain management that reduce the costs of annual flood insurance premiums for property owners whose property may be affected by flooding. This is accomplished by conducting floodplain management activities beyond the minimum requirements of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's (FEMA) National Flood Insurance Program.

The CRS program requires participants to prepare an annual report on these activities and the annually updated LMS report serves this function. The annual reports meet the requirements of the federal CRS annual recertification. Current activities include retrofitting owner-occupied, low-income homes to improve disaster resistance and providing updates to the Flood Insurance Rate Maps. Both the City and the County receive points for communicating with residents about the CRS program.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact the LMS Coordinator:

Tyler Maldonado, AICP
Principal Planner, Comprehensive Planning
Tallahassee-Leon County Planning Department
Renaissance Center
435 N Macomb St., Tallahassee, FL 32301
850-891-6400 • tyler.maldonado@talgov.com