Cleburne County commissioners agreed in an emergency session to bind temporary property and auto insurance coverage after staff reported a steep increase in premiums that threatened a lapse at midnight.

Lisa, the county staff member who presented the options, told commissioners the county faced “a significant increase somewhere on the order of a 100 and 25% increase in property insurance.” She said the county's previous underwriter no longer writes municipal property policies and that a broker had provided a preliminary quote “of 155,000 to start with,” while continuing to search for lower rates.

The commission considered three binding options presented by staff: pay the full year, place autos on a three'month minimum (requiring a 25% down payment), and put buildings and equipment on month'to'month coverage while the county seeks competitive bids. Lisa recommended paying 25% on autos to secure three months of coverage and using month'to'month payments for buildings and equipment to allow time to find better pricing; she noted prorated refunds would be possible if the county cancelled a month'to'month portion after finding a replacement policy.

Commissioners pressed staff on deductible levels for vehicles and property, expressing concern that very high deductibles would leave the county exposed to sizable out'of'pocket costs after accidents. The draft resolution read into the record would authorize altered deductibles for automobiles and equipment while maintaining a $10,000 deductible for building property coverage and use a payment plan to buy time to seek other options.

A motion to accept the resolution was made and seconded, with commissioners discussing specific numeric options for vehicle deductibles (the transcript records a figure rendered as "25100" in some places, which was not clarified in the record). Staff read an immediate-payment example total of $38,649 for the recommended mix of 25% on autos and short terms on buildings and equipment. The transcript ends with commissioners directing staff to proceed with the payment plan to avoid a coverage lapse while continuing to solicit other insurance quotes; no formal roll call vote on the final resolution appears in the provided record.

Next steps: staff will bind the interim coverage under the broker'proposed plan and continue to seek lower rates; commissioners indicated they will revisit deductibles and policy choices if better offers surface.