County hears insurance renewal as equipment replacement values rise

Scott Curran, an insurance representative who introduced himself to the board, reviewed Humboldt County's upcoming ICAP renewal and the schedules that determine premiums. He told the board the insurer revised several values this morning and that the overall premium for the package fell to about $291,529 after small line-item adjustments.

Curran said the biggest driver of the premium change was a revaluation of non‑licensed county equipment on the equipment floater. "For instance, we have some 2011 John Deere 722 motor graders — those were previously listed at 246,000; the revised went up to 527,900 on each of those," he said, and explained that moving pieces to a replacement‑cost basis increases the scheduled value and the premium for that class of equipment. He said the equipment floater schedule rose from roughly $6.9 million to $9.216 million after the vendor applied current market values.

Curran walked through other coverage lines: the county's blanket property limit (replacement cost blanket noted at $24,610,476), a $2 million per‑occurrence general liability base, crime limits for employee dishonesty ($200,000) and money/securities ($10,000), and a $6 million umbrella that layers to provide $8 million total limits under the current structure. He also described Cyber coverage (current limit $1 million) and said higher limits (e.g., $2 million or $3 million) would require an application and underwriting review.

On workers' compensation, Curran credited the county's recent safety work: the actuarial experience modification dropped and, combined with IMWCA/IAP credits and a good‑experience credit, reduced the county's workers' comp premium from the base class figure (about $86,105) to an estimated $27,082 this term.

Board members asked operational questions about replacement cost versus actual‑cash‑value listings and whether older pieces should be kept on replacement cost. Curran recommended reviewing the equipment schedule line by line and said he would share the detailed list with department heads and with Trish for follow-up before the July renewal.

The board did not take immediate action on coverage limits or deductible changes; members were given the alternate deductible and coverage options to consider in advance of the renewal.