By Yaël Ossowski | Florida Watchdog

TAMPA— Ravaging Florida’s Gulf Coast on Sunday and Monday, the rains and winds brought by Tropical Storm Debby made quite an indelible mark on the Sunshine State.

Not just because it was the fourth named tropical system of the official hurricane season and brought on record rainfall totals and wind damage in such a short time, but also because it has stirred new debate about who should foot the bill for the clean-up costs, and how those costs will be divided — especially when the biggest property insurers are the taxpayers of Florida.

Currently boasting 1,431,738 policies, more than 25 percent of all insurance contracts, Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is the state’s largest property insurance company, formed in 2002 in the merger of the Florida Residential Property and Casualty Joint Underwriting Association and the Florida Windstorm Underwriting Association.

Read more: Florida Watchdog