With 2 of the 5 county commissioners up for election, 2014 was bound to be a significant election for the future direction of the county. One incumbent was defeated in the Republican primary while the other incumbent choose not to run.

Winners are Ron Kitchen, a former mayor of Crystal River and Scott Carnahan, a local businessman and newcomer to politics. Kitchen won in the Republican primary and again in the general election faced off against a no-party affiliation candidate. Scott Carnahan won in the Republican primary which, since there were no opposition candidates in the general election, was open to all voters.

Both winning candidates expressed concern over some county expenditures in recent years including large amounts spent on the “Port Citrus” project as well as public funds spent on the “medical corridor” portion of the CR 491 widening project.

The new county commissioners are expected to join current commissioner Scott Adams and review some recently approved actions such as the fire MSBU passed in 2013.

Another big item on the ballot was the proposed 1% sales tax increase to pay for local road repaving. The tax increase was turned down by a large margin. Citrus county currently collects 12 cents per gallon in gasoline taxes for road improvements plus charges an ad valorem tax for transportation. In recent years, these funds have been reprogrammed to cover other government expenses which has left nothing for local road repaving.

The next several months will reveal whether or not the county government will revert to a more conservative fiscal approach.

Statewide, Governor Rick Scott was elected to a second term, defeating former governor Charlie Crist who has switched party affiliation from Republican, first to no party affiliation for a US Senate race and then to Democrat for the recent governor’s race. The governor’s race was relatively close. Republican incumbents more easily won the other statewide offices, Attorney General, Chief Financial Officer and Commissioner of Agriculture.

Homeowners insurance typically included coverage for the structure itself, coverage for the contents and liability coverage for incidents occurring on the property.

The value assigned to the structures is usually the primary insurance value with contents coverage calculated as a percentage of the structure value. Liability is typically a fixed policy limit. Insurance coverage also comes with a deductible which may be a fixed dollar amount ($500 or $1,000) or a percentage, i.e., 3% of the policy value for wind damage.

The face policy value should be based on replacement value of the structure. Most homeowners policies require that the policy limit be at least equal to 80% of the estimated replacement value of the structure of a “coinsurance” feature will apply for partial losses. For example, if the replacement value of the insured improvements is $100,000 and the policy limit is only $50,000, a partial loss will be covered in the same ratio as the policy limit to replacement cost. For a $20,000 loss in the case above, a 50% coinsurance would apply and the payment for the loss would be $10,000 less the applicable deductible.

These days, it is a good idea to shop around for homeowner’s insurance. If a carrier has what they believe is too much exposure in a particular geographic area, they may stop writing policies or they may simply price them at a very high amount.

Setting a higher deductible is one way of reducing insurance cost. If you can afford a $1,000 loss, it may make sense to have a deductible of that amount. Realize that any claim on a policy is likely to lead to a cancellation and obtaining replacement insurance may cost a lot more.

In the past few years, most policies have been modified to limit sinkhole coverage to situations in which the property becomes uninhabitable. In previous years, owners of properties with only cosmetic evidence of claimed sinkhole damage, such as minor settling cracks, were able to obtain large insurance settlements which they often pocketed instead of spent or repairing the claimed damage.

Another important factor is that flood damage is not covered by typical homeowner’s policies but must be a separate policy. There is a National Flood Insurance Program that involves the Federal government but it has been criticized as collecting far too much from Florida residents which has been used to subsidize other states. Alternative flood insurance sources are now available and may be a better bargain.

Loan documents for properties financed with institutional financing will typically require property insurance and possibly flood insurance. In most cases, the homeowner will place the policies and pay for the first year and future payments will be paid by the lender from the escrow account. It is important to find out what specific policy requirements the lender has.