PETERSHAM — Select Board Chair Nancy Allen said Tuesday night the town will see a one-percent decrease in the cost of its property, liability, and worker’s compensation insurance in the upcoming fiscal year. The town gets its insurance through the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association.
“We’re very pleased,” said Allen. “I told (MIIA representative) Joanne (Stoll-Pizzano) I have no memory of ever having a decrease and she agreed. She said she’s only been with MIIA for three years, but she’s never seen a decrease. I know it’s only one percent, but it’s in the right direction.”
“But,” she continued, “there’s a big caveat coming up. The agreement tonight covers property, liability and worker’s compensation coverage. I had sent out very happy emails to the Finance Committee and Select Board that we’d be meeting with our rep and she’s already announced a one percent decrease.”
Allen said that what it does not include, is the injury on duty cost – called IOD – for the town’s fire and police. That gets broken out. “In the world of insurance, it’s a different cost,” said Allen, “The way we put our budgets together, it’s all one. So, in my mind when she said we were going to have a one-percent decrease I thought the IOD is in there. Of course, it’s not – and she doesn’t have the final figures on that yet.”
Allen said the expectation is that the cost of IOD insurance will increase, rather than decrease.
“We’ll be getting that figure in April,” she said, “and it’s still projected to be a four or five percent increase on the IOD. That’s consistent with what was suggested to us (by MIIA) in December 2018.”
The Chair said she did not have information at the meeting to allow her to state definitively what the town paid this year for IOD coverage. She said it was approximately $20,000. “Our current number, when you combine all of that (coverage), comes to $81,366 for FY19. That’s for everything in that category; everything that’s non-health insurance.”
According to Allen, the cost to Petersham for property, liability, and worker’s compensation insurance in FY20 will be $64,791. Last year the town paid close to $70,000.
“So,” said Finance Committee member Mark Bishop, “if 80 percent of it’s going down by one percent, and 20 percent of it is going up by four percent, we’re looking at basically the same cost. Can we all agree on that?”
The vote to renew the town’s property, liability, and worker’s comp coverage through MIIA was unanimous.
Asked if the vote committed the town to getting its IOD coverage from MIIA, Allen said, “No. It doesn’t really commit is to that, but I don’t see why we’d look at anyone else. It just makes sense to get it all from one carrier.”
In other action Tuesday night, the board voted without dissent to re-nominated Marc Paige for the position of town Animal Inspector. The final decision on the nomination is made by the state Dept. of Agricultural Resources. Paige has served as inspector for the past several years.