The Mayor’s Blue Ribbon Emergency Response Committee was created on March 2, 2017 to provide recommendations to the Mayor and City Commission regarding proactive measures and response plans to address any emergencies in the City and to protect and enhance the Miami Beach brand. Committee members include Jerry Libbin from the Miami Beach Chamber of Commerce and William Talbert from the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau (GMCVB). Commissioner Micky Steinberg served as chair and the committee was staffed by Susy Torriente and Marcia Monserrat from the Office of the City Manager. 

The committee met five times and discussed several topics, including: resort taxes, reserve policies, role of VCA, role of GMCVB, messaging, social media, branding and insurance. 

The committee has had two discussions previously with Risk Management staff regarding additional insurance coverage options related to terrorism related disasters. Under the federal governments Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (“TRIPRA”), the triggers for coverage are two fold; 

1. The “act of terrorism” must be certified by the Secretary of the Treasury, Secretary of Homeland Security and the Attorney General. 

2. Certified acts must exceed insured losses in 2018 of $160 million. 

During the City’s fiscal year 2017-2018 insurance renewals, a stand-alone terrorism policy was purchased which insures against terrorism acts irrespective of whether a loss is certified by the Secretary of the Treasury or the amount of insured losses. The current stand-alone terrorism policy has a deductible of $10,000 and a coverage limit of $100 million. The stand-alone policy is also endorsed to insure against active shooters scenarios and time element losses (interruption of business operations as a result of a covered loss) which would not otherwise be covered under the federal governments TRIPRA program. 

The Committee has developed the following recommendations for Mayor and Commission consideration. 

1. The Committee recommends that sufficient funds from the RDA be released into the resort tax reserve in order to fund the Commission policy of three-month goal. Currently the resort tax reserve has $11,219,328, which is equal to two months and seven days. The amount necessary for the three-month goal is $14,914,251 (one month equals $4,971,417). The additional amount needed to meet the three-month goal is $3,694,923. 

2. The Committee recommends that the Mayor and Commission re-examine the allocation of the transit reserve funds. 

3. The committee recommends that a referral be made to Finance and Citywide Projects Committee to examine what the triggers to use reserve tax dollars should be set and discuss what else can be done to maximize return of resort tax dollars. 

4. The Committee supports the communications department’s development of a citywide all-hazards communications plan, with support and coordination with Miami Dade County, City of Miami and GMVCB. 

5. The Committee supports exploring additional film incentives in cooperation with GMCVB and the Greater Miami area partner cities. Furthermore, the Committee recommends that the Finance and Citywide Projects Committee (FCWPC) discuss in January priority to invest in film industry, in order to maximize the return of tax dollars; and come back in February to be updated on the NATPE conference held in January 2018. 

6. The final committee recommendation is to monitor and meet one more time in six months to advise the Mayor and Commission.