Cowlitz County finance staff warn of looming insurance assessment increases; $300,000 transfer set aside for liability claims

At a Cowlitz County Board of Commissioners budget meeting, county finance staff said the county should expect higher risk-pool assessments and outlined recent premium payments, interfund transfers and upcoming budget amendments.

Susie Moon, finance manager, said the county’s risk-management fund has collected about $3,000,000 so far this year from internal service billings and about $4,300 in miscellaneous revenue. “At the beginning of every year, risk management will bill the various departments for insurance charges,” Moon said.

Moon and Finance Director Kathy Funk Baxter explained the county recently paid a full 12-month premium last October and will pay a short “stub” premium in April to move the insurer’s renewal cycle to a January–December year. “Yes. We've we've already paid for, the premium for 12 months, and then we're going to pay for another premium here this month in April for what's called the stub stub year because they're trying to get us on a January to December time frame as opposed to an October to September time frame,” Funk Baxter said. She added that after the stub payment, the county will not pay another risk-pool premium until January 2026, and departmental billings will be made in January 2026.

County staff said the risk pool has warned of another increase in assessments. “They informed us … that we'll be getting those in the month of October of 25, and we'll be expected to pay those assessments in January of 26,” Moon said. Commissioners and staff discussed that recent annual increases have been sizable; one commissioner said the county has “seen 30% increases.”

On expenses, staff said a premium payment of about $2,000,000 earlier in the year has caused services to exceed targets. The risk-management presentation listed two planned transfers: $300,000 to the liability claims fund and $550,000 to the general fund. Moon described the $300,000 transfer as additional funding to the liability claims reserve, up from prior transfers of $100,000, because the county’s deductible is $100,000 per claim and the county currently has multiple open tort claims.

The county expects to seek a budget amendment and public hearing for mid‑May: “We are anticipating a budget amendment for miscellaneous revenues related to a return on insurance premiums related to 2024. That amount will be about $6,000 so we're anticipating that that budget amendment will be, May 20,” Moon said. County staff said they will put a formal public‑hearing request on the agenda in the next few weeks to adjust revenues and expenses associated with restoration costs for county facilities such as the annex.

Staff also noted recovery efforts related to restoration at the annex and said the liability-claims transfers will help cover those costs; the county may seek to recover money from responsible parties and will return with a budget amendment if recovery occurs. Scott (risk analyst) was identified in the meeting as the staff member who will update commissioners on the current number of tort and liability claims.

Ending

County staff asked commissioners to factor the anticipated rate increases into the upcoming budget cycle and to expect departmental billings in January 2026. They also said a public hearing for the proposed budget amendment will be posted for the May 20 meeting.