County finance officials warn of rising risk-pool costs; staff highlight training growth and annex mitigation completion

Kathy Funk Baxter, the county finance director, and Shelley Pierce of risk management briefed commissioners on risk-management finances and operational changes, including prospective insurance premium increases and completed mitigation work at the county annex.

Budget and premiums: Funk Baxter said the county budgets goods-and-services for risk management at about $3.3 million for the year and has collected roughly $3.0 million so far, with about $289,000 still to collect. She said services (where the county pays risk-pool premiums) were budgeted at roughly $22.8 million and that a large portion of premiums are paid as lump sums; staff expect January billing could show a 20–25% increase. “When we paid in October of last year, it was like it was a 20% increase ... and now they're estimating that January of 26, that bill will be 20 possibly 25%,” Funk Baxter said.

Claims and deductibles: The county maintains a liability-claims transfer of $300,000 funded from risk management to cover anticipated claims; Funk Baxter said the county is responsible for the first $100,000 on liability claims and $5,000 on property claims. She told commissioners the annex building water-damage claim is posting expenses in the liability account and staff plan a budget amendment to add expected reimbursements of about $140,000–$150,000.

Industrial-accident (workers’ comp): Industrial-accident revenues are largely internal service billings; the department budgeted $796,800 and had received about $613,000. Funk Baxter said claims and per-claim costs are rising and that the county uses a third-party claims processor that she estimated would cost roughly $30,000–$36,000 annually.

Training and operations: Shelley Pierce said risk management is partnering with human resources to join new-hire orientation sessions so staff view risk management as a partner rather than a barrier. She reported increased training completions: NeoGov courses completed rose from 1,348 in 2023 to 2,434 in 2024; risk-pool trainings completed were 188 in 2023 and 62 in 2024 (by fewer staff), and the county will highlight top performers and issue certificates.

Annex mitigation and policy updates: Pierce said the annex mitigation and remodel work is complete and available for tours, with only minor paint touch-ups remaining. She also told commissioners the music-festival insurance policy will be updated and brought to the board for approval; the update will change insurance and liability coverage amounts and will appear on a future agenda.

What commissioners asked and next steps: Commissioners asked whether other counties are seeing similar premium increases; Funk Baxter said the increases are widespread. Commissioners also asked for clarification on whether liability-account transfers represent deductibles; Funk Baxter confirmed they cover the county’s liability priorities up to the deductible. No formal votes were taken on policy changes during the briefing; staff indicated they will bring the music-festival policy update and budget amendment for the annex claim to future agenda items.