Joe Siminski, risk management consultant for the Minnesota Counties Intergovernmental Trust, briefed the Blue Earth County Board on Aug. 19 about trust-wide trends driving member costs and local performance metrics.

Siminski said property insured values have increased materially and that reinsurance costs have risen, prompting MCIT to raise large-loss retentions. He said MCIT increased casualty retention from $850,000 to $1,000,000 per claim and increased the workers' compensation retention from $500,000 to $1,000,000; those changes reduced reinsurance premium increases compared with alternatives, and Siminski cited a $470,000 premium savings tied to the work-comp retention change.

He identified climbing total insured values plus higher labor and materials costs as the “biggest driver for cost” and said the trust is pursuing multiple mitigation measures, including adjusting retentions and encouraging members to maintain risk management programs. Siminski also reported positive developments: MCIT continues to return dividends when actuarial conditions permit; the trust has added equipment-breakdown and electronic circuitry impairment coverages; and members have improved cyber defenses, reducing ransomware payouts in recent years.

On county-level performance, Siminski said Blue Earth County's workers' compensation modifier for 2025 is 0.873, which he described as strong evidence of effective workplace safety and claims management and which reduces the county's premium. He also called attention to higher claim counts in public-safety units (sheriff and jail) and noted that auto claim frequency is relatively high but with lower per-claim costs.

The presentation was informational; no board action was required. Commissioners thanked MCIT for the report and for resources provided to members.