Selma council approves beneficiary designation for JPA travel-accident program

Selma City Council approved a motion to designate accidental-death benefits from the Central San Joaquin Valley risk management Joint Powers Authority travel-accident program to named beneficiaries for participants.

Staff told the council the total cost to the program for the city is $33 for the year, which breaks down to $2.58 per person plus a $2 administrative fee. “The total cost to the program, for Selma is $33 for the entire year,” said a staff member. The benefit limit discussed was $100,000 per person.

The program covers a narrow set of circumstances, staff said. “It’s while you’re actually at the conference if something happens,” the staff member said, adding that the policy does not cover incidents while traveling to or from the conference and does not cover health-related events. Staff also said the program is separate from the city’s Colonial Life policy.

Council was presented with options for how proceeds would be distributed if a covered death occurred: a 50/50 split between a designated beneficiary and the city, directing all proceeds to an individual beneficiary, or leaving the allocation to the employee’s designation. Staff said the City of Selma is the only participating city in the JPA that designates the funds to the city under some options. The city currently has 12 people enrolled in the program, limited to council members and department heads.

Council members were also told they could opt out of the program for the 2627 fiscal year to avoid the $33 expense; no such opt-out motion was taken. The council moved to designate benefits to participants’ beneficiaries, the mayor called for the roll, and the item passed; the transcript does not record who made the motion, who seconded it, or the roll-call tally.

The meeting then moved to oral communications, where no members of the public spoke, and the mayor adjourned the meeting.