The Florida fund that helps private insurers pay out claims after a hurricane continues to be in strong shape ahead of the storm season that begins June 1.
Estimates show the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund will has $17.6 billion available this year. This marks the second year in a row that the fund has more money than needed to pay out if storms racked the state.
The estimates are expected to be formally approved Thursday by a panel overseeing the fund. The financial health of the fund is important because the state can impose a surcharge on most insurance policies to replenish it if the money runs out.
Some critics have called the surcharge a "hurricane tax."
The fund has grown because Florida has avoided major hurricanes since 2005.