Destin, FL

Nestled along Florida’s Gulf Coast, the City of Destin is shaped by its peninsular coastal setting, which plays a central role in community planning and development. Like many coastal communities, Destin faces increasing risks from tropical weather, flooding, and storms. With resilience top of mind, the city set out to modernize its approach to floodplain management.

In 2023, Destin partnered with Forerunner to improve internal workflows, enhance compliance, and better communicate risk to the public - all while unlocking measurable time savings and operational efficiencies across departments.

Fragmented Systems Emphasize Need for Smarter Tools

Before partnering with Forerunner, Destin’s floodplain management had limitations, including fragmented records and inefficient, paper-based processes. Critical information was scattered across multiple servers, folders, and filing cabinets, forcing staff to piece together data from different systems. These challenges surfaced in several key areas:

• Elevation Certificate (EC) review and approval: The process relied heavily on paper files, making errors easy to miss. Staff often had to re-review documents and process revisions, which delayed Certificates of Occupancy and slowed Community Rating System (CRS) documentation.
  
  
• Substantial improvement communications: Drafting letters or conducting outreach to repetitive loss properties required hours of manual work each week, as staff searched across disparate systems for the necessary files.
  
  
• Substantial Improvement and Substantial Damage (SI/SD) tracking: Without a centralized system, determinations for substantial improvement and substantial damage were calculated manually, increasing the risk of errors when assessing whether improvements exceeded 50% of a building’s market value.

In hurricane-prone areas, disconnected systems and manual workflows leave vulnerabilities to delays and errors – particularly during post-disaster response, when workloads spike. The inefficiencies can divert staff time away from broader resilience initiatives.

Centralizing Data with Forerunner

With Forerunner, Destin replaced fragmented, paper-heavy processes with centralized data and a digital workflow that has reshaped its floodplain management. Instead of toggling between servers, folders, and filing cabinets, staff can now access elevation certificates, permit histories, and improvement documentation from a single, searchable interface. This streamlined access accelerates decision-making, strengthens interdepartmental coordination, and improves service to residents – turning tasks that once took hours into quick, efficient actions, and freeing staff to focus on higher-priority resilience projects.

Forerunner also closed critical gaps in Destin’s Elevation Certificate review and SI/SD tracking. The platform’s automated EC error detection tool flags issues early, generates punch lists for surveyors, and ties compliance directly to key milestones like Certificates of Occupancy. As a result, review timelines have shortened, EC accuracy has improved, and CRS audit preparation is more thorough. For SI/SDs, staff can now track cumulative improvements and damages over time, compare them against assessed values with greater precision, and automatically generate official letters when thresholds are exceeded.

The impact has been especially clear during storm recovery efforts. When workloads spike and every hour matters, these efficiencies reduce administrative overhead and allow the city to redirect its focus toward recovery, risk mitigation, and long-term resilience.

Supporting CRS Compliance and Streamlining Daily Operations

Forerunner has also transformed Destin’s Community Rating System (CRS) workflows, making compliance faster, more accurate, and less burdensome. By streamlining data retrieval for new construction and substantial improvements within the floodplain, the platform has reduced the time required for CRS audit preparation and reporting. Information that was once scattered and difficult to document is now easily accessible – ensuring the city stays on track with CRS requirements and works toward lowering flood insurance premiums for residents.

These efficiencies extend beyond CRS to everyday operations. When drainage complaints come in, staff can quickly determine whether a property is in a repetitive loss area or review its Elevation Certificate before conducting site visits. For one of the city’s largest outreach efforts  - sending more than 900 repetitive loss letters each year - Forerunner’s automated letter generation and mailings tools have replaced a multi-day, manual process. The new system incorporates detailed parcel information, improves accuracy, and delivers letters more efficiently, saving staff several days of work annually.

By automating repetitive tasks and consolidating critical workflows, Destin has not only reduced the time needed for compliance and communication but has also improved the accuracy, accessibility, and long-term utility of its floodplain data.

Empowering Residents with Accessible Flood Risk Information

To enhance transparency and improve public understanding of flood risk, Destin launched a public-facing flood information website, powered by Forerunner. This platform offers residents, real estate agents, insurance professionals, and other stakeholders self-service access to property-specific flood data and documentation – including elevation certificates, flood zone maps, and compliance records. By making this information available online, the city has reduced the volume of routine inquiries handled by staff while fostering greater community awareness and engagement.

Available in both English and Spanish, the site is designed for accessibility, ensuring residents can make informed decisions about their properties. The city promoted the launch by creating a video-based public service announcement and also shared a news release through 35 regional media outlets, helping drive adoption and awareness. As Chief Building Official Noelle Bell explained, Destin is “focused on developing our community in a way that creates long-term resilience, as well as creating processes that make information readily accessible to the public.”

Looking Ahead

Destin’s digital transformation with Forerunner continues to expand. The city is working with Forerunner to expand its account data across a few key areas:

• Integration with permit management system: Enabling staff to move seamlessly between permitting, inspections, and floodplain workflows. This integration will reduce system friction, further automate compliance processes, and ensure that permitting data flows directly into floodplain management activities.
• Track repetitive loss properties: Offering a more comprehensive analysis of flood risk to strengthen future CRS audits and support long-term resilience planning.

By replacing outdated, disjointed systems with an integrated, automated platform, Destin has made substantial strides in operational efficiency and risk preparedness. With streamlined workflows, improved data accuracy, and deeper community engagement, the city has positioned itself as a leader in managing flood risk and laying the groundwork for a more resilient future.