Council approves five-year agreement with Hagen Hamilton Insurance to lower broker costs

The St. Helens City Council unanimously approved a five-year agreement with Hagen Hamilton Insurance to change how the city pays for broker services, a move staff said will modestly reduce the city's insurance-related costs.

Under the agreement described by the broker’s representative, the Commission Interlocal Service (CIS) standard 10% commission embedded in premiums would be replaced by an externally invoiced fee of 8% for Hagen Hamilton’s services. The broker said the arrangement reduces the broker’s compensation by roughly 20% in exchange for a predictable five-year relationship and passes approximately a 2% reduction to the city’s premium costs.

Hagen Hamilton’s representative explained that claims activity affects premiums, but the proposed contract structure and the procurement exemption for insurance services make the agreement permissible. City staff said they reviewed procurement rules and that an exemption covering insurance services applies.

Councilors had no substantive objections, asked for a fuller insurance briefing at a later date, and voted to authorize the mayor and staff to execute the agreement.

Next step: staff will finalize the five-year agreement with Hagen Hamilton and return to council with details on current renewal numbers in a future session.