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Insurance staff: not yet cost‑effective to add countywide coverage for warning sirens
Summary
County insurance staff presented cost estimates to add warning sirens to the county's property policy and advised commissioners that, given depreciation and low incident history, adding coverage is not recommended at this time; staff will return with recommendations tied to any future siren replacements.
Adams County insurance staff presented estimates for adding the county's outdoor warning sirens to the county property insurance program and recommended against adding them now because of premium cost relative to likely recovery under depreciation schedules.
Dustin, identified in the meeting as an insurance presenter, said an insurer quoted roughly $8,900 per year to cover 14 sirens at replacement‑value estimates averaging about $30,000 each. He said removing six sirens that the city of Decatur insures would reduce the premium to about $6,000 a year. He explained the policy would pay actual cash value subject to a $2,500 deductible and that depreciation for older sirens could substantially reduce a claim payout: "they would not be insured on full replacement cost. They would be insured on actual cash value. So depending on the age of the siren, there's gonna be some depreciation."
Why it matters: commissioners and staff are evaluating whether to insure aging county warning sirens that a recent study identified as having coverage gaps. Adding insurance raises the county's recurring premium while providing limited expected recovery for older, heavily depreciated equipment.
Insurance staff contrasted the $6,000 annual premium estimate with the aggregate siren replacement value and did a simple comparison: paying about four years of premium would equal replacement cost for a single siren under the estimates presented. Dustin said the county's prior experience showed only one siren had been catastrophically damaged in recent memory (one burned and required replacement), and most incidents to date have been maintenance issues rather than total losses.
Commissioners and staff discussed alternatives. The insurance presenters recommended waiting to insure devices until the county has a coherent replacement plan for sirens (for example, installing new sirens on modern poles and replacing older units), at which point replacement cost and insurable value would increase and make an insurance purchase more sensible. As one participant summarized, if the county replaces old sirens with new, higher‑value units, "then it might make sense to do something."
Barb and Megan were in the meeting representing county budgeting and noted there is currently a sirens line in the council budget and that the county's study will produce a recommended deployment plan. Commissioners asked the insurance staff to coordinate recommendations with the study of current coverage gaps and to return with options once the county has a plan for new or replacement sirens.
No formal motion or vote to change insurance coverage was made at the meeting. The insurance staff said they would support commissioners' direction and assist with policy wording and scheduling if the county chooses to add coverage later.
