Municipal Fiscal Health and Resilience to Coastal Flooding

The objective of this project is to support investigation into how sea-level rise and coastal flooding impact the ability of local communities to plan for and adapt to extreme coastal events, such as flooding. Many local governments in coastal regions are grappling with financial challenges on budgets and infrastructure investment. This project addresses the gap between fiscal stress caused by extreme coastal flooding events and financial need for adaptation. The findings aim to inform local and regional policymakers and planners responsible for economic planning and land use decisions. Municipalities struggle with limited resources and are unable to effectively manage financial risk and consequence of extreme costal events, such as flooding. This project improves the understanding of how property devaluation due to flooding affects municipal tax revenues, which in turn constrains governments' capacity to invest in adaptation measures. Built upon advanced flood risk models and projections of inundation and accessibility disruption, this project reveals the spatial and temporal patterns of flooding impact on tax base and infrastructure. Furthermore, it explores how these financial challenges influence local adaptation efforts through in-depth engagement with local planners and officials. The findings are expected to offer new insights into how municipalities can adapt their land use and planning policies to cope with rising risks and co-produce integrated solutions to enhance flooding resilience and fiscal stability. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.