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Board approves 4% health-insurance rate increase; employee-only premiums unchanged
Summary
The board approved a district health‑insurance renewal that raises district rates 4% for calendar year 2026; the employer estimates a partial-year FY26 cost of $255,000 and projects a healthy self‑insurance fund balance.
Marshall Crutcher, the district chief financial officer, presented the health-insurance renewal to the board and said district insurance rates will increase 4% for calendar year 2026 but that the employee-only premium rate will not change — the employee-only rate has remained stable since 2015, he said. The board voted 7–0 to approve insurance rates as presented.
Crutcher told the board the FY26 portion (January through June) of the rate change will cost the district about $255,000 and that claims expense is projected to grow roughly 10% year over year (an increase the CFO estimated at about $1.4 million). He said stop‑loss premiums are expected to rise about 20% (about $300,000). The projected self-insurance fund balance at the end of 2025 is approximately $12.2 million, and the forecasted ending balance for 2026 is about $11.5 million; he said the district’s target net loss in the fund is between $500,000 and $750,000 while the long-term target fund balance is about $9 million.
Board members praised the level of detail in the insurance‑committee reports and noted that maintaining a healthy fund balance provides a buffer for catastrophic claims. A formal motion to approve the calendar‑year 2026 insurance rates passed 7–0 with no coverage changes to plans and no increase to employee-only premiums.
