City staff report lower-than-pool claims rates in risk-management briefing with CJPIA representative

City staff and a regional risk manager from the California JPIA (CJPIA) briefed the Atascadero City Council on the city’s risk-management program and recent claims experience.

The nut graf: Tim Carson, senior risk manager for CJPIA, and City staff told the council the city’s normalized claim costs—claims measured against payroll—were below the pool average for the joint-powers pool and that the majority of claims are promptly managed and closed. Council members asked clarifying questions about total severity, reserves for incurred-but-not-reported claims and how major storm events affected liability figures.

Assistant City Manager/City Clerk Lara Christiansen framed the city’s relationship with CJPIA as both claims coverage and a partner in loss-control work, from safety training to policy templates and facility assessments. Carson said CJPIA has 128 member agencies and the city’s performance metrics compared favorably, noting that the city’s liability spike in 2022–23 reflected storm-related claims and that workers’ compensation has since returned to more typical levels.

Carson and staff explained that charts shown to council represented total severity (paid and reserved amounts) for claims in the management period; staff noted some figures are reserves for open claims and will be adjusted as claims close. Councilmembers asked about the pool’s funding methodology, the city’s reserves and whether large storm events would produce new large claims; staff emphasized the pool’s normalizing methodology accounts for incurred-but-not-reported values.

Ending: The item was a receiving-file briefing with no council action requested; staff said risk-control partnerships, training, and follow-up with CJPIA continue as part of operational risk management.