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Augusta approves $613,107 insurance renewal after broker negotiates lower premiums
Summary
Council accepted ICI Insurance's proposal to renew the city's 2025 insurance program for $613,107 after staff and broker negotiated reductions; city staff and broker described the increase as driven primarily by updated property valuations for the power plant.
The Augusta City Council voted March 3 to accept the city’s 2025 insurance renewal proposal from ICI Insurance for $613,107, excluding flood policies. City staff said the figure is lower than an earlier estimate after the city’s broker worked to reduce premiums and spread an equipment valuation increase over two years.
Bridal Jones, city clerk and director of finance, told the council that the earlier proposal would have been $639,152 but that broker work produced a revised total of $613,107. “After I met with Ryan and Josh last week, Ryan continued to work with EMC and our other providers to see if they could come up with a solution to reduce the premiums,” Jones said.
Ryan Murray of ICI Insurance described the largest driver as increased insured values — particularly for the city’s power plant — rather than rate changes. He said carriers had identified the plant as significantly undervalued and proposed increasing replacement values; Murray said he negotiated a stair‑step approach so the valuation increase would be 15% this year and 15% next year instead of a single large jump. He told the council: “It was simply the increase in values. ... Originally they said we need to take this from 52,000,000 to 67 and a half million. After pleading with them, they agreed to stair‑step that.”
Staff said property insurance rose about 11% overall, liability about 10% (driven by payroll/exposure increases), and automobile coverage about 4% reflecting higher vehicle values and some replacements. Officials noted small reductions in the city’s crime and cyber policies and that adding a John Deere tractor and skid steer raised inland marine coverage costs by roughly 6%.
Council approved a motion to accept ICI’s renewal proposal with no recorded opposition. Staff said the additional expense related to the power plant will be borne by the electric department and that dividend payments from EMC (a multi‑year rolling rebate) may offset some increases when determined later in the year.
Council members asked about airport building valuations and were told staff will review values and consider stair‑stepping any necessary increases. The council also directed staff to account for the stepped valuation in upcoming budget planning.
