Hancock County supervisors approve insurance-pool membership and decline deductible buy-down

The Hancock County Board of Supervisors approved membership in the Coast Government Insurance Pool and voted to accept policy terms without a buy-down of the total-insured-value (TIV) deductible, the board said at a special meeting. The actions passed unanimously, 5-0.

The decision matters because the buy-down would have lowered the county’s per-occurrence deductible (discussed in the meeting as moving from roughly $1.4 million to $500,000) at a one-time cost the insurance agent described as about $91,000–$92,000. Supervisors weighed that upfront cost against long-term premium savings and the county’s exposure for a major loss affecting high-value county assets, including the courthouse, jail and library, which participants said together represent a substantial share of the county’s covered value.

The board’s insurance agent for the supervisors, identified in the meeting as Mr. Saint Ford, presented the pool membership documents, policy terms and the buy-down analysis. According to the presentation, the buy-down would reduce the county’s per-occurrence deductible and was estimated to produce premium savings in some scenarios, but the buy-down market has hardened and the agent said the county would pay roughly $92,000 for the reduction. The agent also walked the board through the composition of county exposures and how a single catastrophic event would affect the county’s loss position.

Supervisors debated the trade-offs. One supervisor said the county could pay the buy-down now and potentially not experience a major event for several years, making the purchase less attractive; another observed that even with a buy-down the county would retain substantial out-of-pocket exposure in the event of a catastrophe. After questions and discussion about the relative size of savings and the likely frequency of a large loss, Supervisor, District 1 moved that the board not purchase the buy-down; the motion was part of broader approval of the policy terms "without the buy down."

The board also approved a slate of related documents and governance items for pool membership: a resolution to join the pool, bylaws/association documents, policy terms and conditions (explicitly without the buy-down), dual corporate policies, and a memorandum of agreement covering limits and TIV calculations. The board named Jimmy Lager as the county’s appointee to the pool’s board in the membership resolution discussion. Each of those actions passed on recorded voice votes of 5-0.

Votes at a glance

- Motion to spread on the minutes / accept meeting agenda: passed 5-0. - Resolution to approve membership in the Coast Government Insurance Pool and appoint Jimmy Lager as the county appointee: passed 5-0 (mover: District 4; second: District 3, per the record). - Approval of the pool bylaws/association documents: passed 5-0. - Approval of policy terms and conditions (explicitly without the buy-down option): passed 5-0 (mover: District 4; second: District 3). - Approval of dual corporate policies: passed 5-0 (mover: District 1; second: District 4). - Approval of the memorandum of agreement and related limiting documents for TIV: passed 5-0 (mover: District 4; second: District 1).

The meeting record shows the board conducted the actions as a special meeting held under the Mississippi statute cited in the record ("Mississippi statute 19 3 21 subsection 3"). The board adjourned after completing the listed votes.

Ending

Board members did not request additional follow-up actions during the meeting beyond approving the documents and appointing the county representative. The board scheduled its next regular meeting for 9 a.m. on Monday, 05/05/2025, according to the record.