Insurance broker reports favorable renewal, staff recommends higher liability limits

The Riley Company presented the city's 2025 liability insurance renewal and said the renewal produced net premium savings compared with last year while some building values and coverage limits increased. "It is that hard of a problem," the broker said, summarizing a package that included roughly an $8,000 reduction in premium compared with last year, a 9% increase in building values and a 5% increase in business personal property and contents valuations.

Riley told the council earthquake coverage on the renewal rose from $10,000,000 to $25,000,000 and that the carrier's dividend program had returned roughly $9,000 to the city last year. He recommended raising public-officials liability from the current $1,000,000 limit to $2,000,000 (estimated at about $1,800 per year) and increasing law-enforcement liability to $2,000,000. He also flagged employee-dishonesty coverage as commonly raised, noting the city's current limit of $250,000 could be raised to $500,000 or $1,000,000.

City Administrator Leslie Riverola and staff said the 2025 budget had anticipated higher insurance costs and that staff's recommendation is to move the proposed increases forward for council consideration. Riverola told the council the staff would "bring back for your consideration" a finalized renewal on March 26 and pursue pollution-liability coverage for the wastewater plant separately after a more extensive application process.

Councilmembers asked about cost impacts and expressed support for raising limits to better protect officials and law enforcement. One councilmember noted the current renewal premium was approximately $177,000'$178,000 down from about $185,000 the prior year and said the council could absorb the incremental cost to raise limits. Staff said it would place the renewal and coverage increases on the March 26 consent agenda and return firm cost numbers then.