This page is intended to provide information on Lake County's Stormwater Management Commission's (SMC) Voluntary Floodplain Buyout Program funded in part by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grants. The Voluntary Floodplain Buyout Program may provide eligible homeowners located in the floodway or subject to severe damage from flooding with the opportunity to sell their property at fair market value. The house is then demolished, and the floodplain property is returned to open space. The voluntary purchase of repetitively damaged houses is one of the most cost-effective flood reduction tools SMC has in its mitigation toolbox. Buying and removing flood-prone structures ensures that floods do not damage them in the future. For the community's taxpayers, buyouts also reduce the future public costs to local, state, and federal agencies that provide evacuation, emergency shelter, and debris removal services. Also, buyouts provide the added benefits of improving flood storage and conveyance and can support water quality improvement.
For a step-by-step process of participating in SMC's Buyout Program and an estimate of how long the process will take from start to finish, please see the SMC Buyout Guidelines Brochure.