Commissioners agree to preserve withdrawal option from workers' comp trust while staff studies alternatives

County staff told commissioners the county must give notice to the joint-purchase workers' compensation trust in order to preserve the option to withdraw from the trust or to change participation. Chris Crockett said the county needs to serve notice before July 1 to preserve its rights for the coming plan year, noting the county can resend notice with 150 days' notice before a plan year if needed.

Crockett said staff will prepare a resolution that simply preserves the county's options rather than committing to a course of action. "I can draft the resolution in a way that just says we're giving our notice to preserve our rights and our options," he told the commission. He also said staff has not yet presented all alternatives and that self-funding is among the options the county could pursue.

Commissioners supported giving notice at the upcoming meeting to preserve the county's timeline while staff schedules follow-up briefings and prepares more detailed comparisons of the trust, current participation and the self-funded option. Staff noted the trust reserves the right to address the commission before the deadline and that representatives (Johnny Miller was named in materials) have requested to present information.

What happens next: staff will draft the preservation notice resolution, file the notice at the next meeting and schedule individual and work-session follow-ups so commissioners can evaluate all options before making a final decision.