County’s Insurance Premium Is Up To A Quarter-Million Dollars
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It’s time to renew the county’s insurance policy and supervisors are contemplating how much coverage are needed for the historic courthouses.
COFFEEVILLE – County officials are reviewing the lengthy inventory list for vehicles, equipment and buildings in preparation for the annual renewal of the insurance policy. The premium for the next year has passed the quarter-million dollar mark and supervisors contemplated increasing coverage on several essential buildings while decreasing coverage on other buildings before the April 1 renewal.
The upcoming premium is $254,270, up from $247,478 for the current policy that ends March 31, and up from $207,581 two years ago. The 23 percent increase from two years ago was attributed to multiple factors including a thorough review of all county inventory to make sure every item is adequately covered. Another factor in the increase was upping coverage on the county courthouses after supervisors determined that insuring the buildings for appraised or market value would not cover the replacement cost if a catastrophic event such as a fire or tornado destroyed one of the historic buildings.
High claims during the last five years was also cited as another cause for the increase.
“Your claims from 2018 to 2023 is 43.3 percent. That increased the premium. Now a positive, a lot of those claims should start falling off after five years and that should help,” Debbie Howell told supervisors during the meeting.
The county’s insurance is provided by the Mississippi Association of Supervisors Insurance Trust (MASIT) with Oxford Insurance Agency as the agent of record. Howell, an account manager with Oxford Insurance Agency, handles the account.
Board President Cayce Washington reminded county officials of several lawsuits that factored into the high claims the county experience.
“We have had numerous accidents in the sheriff’s department cars. The litigation side of things runs that premium up,” Washington said.
Coverage For Buildings
The current coverage for the Water Valley courthouse is $4,887,000 and $3,454,000 for the Coffeeville courthouse, prompting discussion in last week’s meeting about raising the coverage again to get closer to the replacement costs. The discussion also next shifted to under-insured buildings.
“We left a lot of buildings under-insured because we were focusing on other things and the premium appeared to have increased so much,” Howell reminded supervisors during the meeting.
“You need to put your money in the ones you would have to replace,” Chancery Clerk Donald Gray recommended.
“Your courthouses, county barns,” District Five Supervisor Gaylon Gray agreed.
An example cited during the meeting where the insured value was too high is the old jail on Calhoun Street insured for $130,000.
“We probably would not build it back, it is sitting there not doing anything,” Supervisor Kenny Harmon said.
“That old jail, we would sweep the lot off,” Gray agreed about the Calhoun Street jail.
Another example is the old school on Hwy. 51 in Oakland that has been vacant for years and is insured for $248,000.
“We would not build it back if a tornado destroyed it,” District 4 Supervisor Eddie Harris added.
Harmon also questioned the coverage on the county-owned building on Frostland Drive occupied by the Department of Human Services. The building is insured for $645,000 and is appraised for $200,000.
“Did y’all recently get it appraised,” Howell asked.
“A month ago,” Washington answered.
Supervisors opted to lower the coverage for the Frostland Drive building to $300,000, but Washington said the appraised value will likely be lower than the replacement cost.
Yet another building that triggered scrutiny was the county-owned warehouse in Oakland leased by Ajinomoto and insured for $4 million.
“Is Ajinomoto insuring that warehouse as part of the lease contract (with the county). If they aren’t not, we absolutely need to be insuring it. If they are, do we need to insure it?” Washington stressed.
“That building alone increased the premium significantly,” Washington reminded county officials. “We built that for their specific use.”
Board Attorney Shannon Crow said Ajimonoto is required to insure the building.
“That would help drop the premium,” Washington noted if the county could drop coverage.
Following the discussion, supervisors agreed to revisit the insurance coverage for many of the buildings after Howell and Donald Gray do additional research on unanswered questions. Supervisors are expected to make any changes to the policy during the March 25 meeting in Coffeeville and then vote to renew it.
