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Summit County council reviews insurance renewal as labor contracts mirror deputies' raises
Summary
Council staff told members the county's insurance renewal holds the same coverage layers with a little over a 6% overall increase and described matching wage increases in new collective bargaining agreements that mirror deputies' raises.
Summit County council members spent part of the meeting reviewing the county's annual insurance renewal and related labor agreements.
Brian Harnack, director of the Department of Law and Risk Management, told council that the county had secured quotes for the coming year and that the coverage layers were largely unchanged. "You're looking at the same kind of coverage that we had last year, and about a 6% little over 6% increase overall," Harnack said, describing the county's final negotiated renewal.
Marvin Evans in the executive's law and risk management office reviewed changes to several collective bargaining agreements and said some agreements include a "me-too" clause to mirror deputies' wage increases. "Basically, they're mirroring the deputies contract as far as the annual increases for the next three years, which is 4%, 3 and a half percent, and 3%," Evans said.
Council members asked how the county assesses risk. Harnack said the county works with its broker, Wichert, to analyze loss exposure and obtain competitive quotes: "Wichert helps us with that, and then the insurance companies themselves." A council member suggested the county could periodically perform its own risk calculations in-house to seek potential savings.
County staff and council also discussed the county's self-insurance approach. A staff member said the county self-insures most building damage and that the self-insured retention for liability policies is $250,000 per occurrence. "We have over $900,000,000 in property being insured," the staff member added, urging caution about pushing deductibles higher.
Why it matters: The renewal sets the county's financial exposure for property and liability risks for the coming year and has budget implications for departments that rely on insurance coverage. Matching provisions in the labor agreements will affect payroll costs across multiple departments over the next three years.
The council approved related collective bargaining resolutions on first reading and took up a separate late-filed resolution to procure the county's annual insurance package; the insurance procurement resolution was later adopted by voice vote. The meeting did not record a detailed roll-call vote on insurance pricing or the specific underwriting terms discussed.
