Commission Discusses Roofing Expenses, Health Insurance

Crawford County commissioners on March 26 discussed courthouse and jail roofing and the insurance premiums for employees.

Commissioners voted unanimously to pay 90 percent of the insurance for employees.

“This will come out to about $33 per pay period for the employees,” said District 1 Foreman Danny Brown, who commended the commission on the decision.

County Clerk John Martin entered the meeting to ask the commission which direction they wanted to go, offering a 90-10 split or an 85-15 split.

“If you decide to go 90-10, we can sustain it for about two to three years, then go year-by-year,” Martin said. “This year’s returns were ridiculously good.”

The county budgeted for a 22 percent increase in insurance, but Dustin Bly, the county’s insurance broker, was able to land a 3 percent increase. 

The county has reversed its fortunes over the last several years on insurance.

More than 10 years ago, a decision to go to a self-funded insurance program put the county deep in the hole.

The county also reduced its share of insurance premiums down to 51 percent at one point.

Roofing

Martin also discussed the roofing at the courthouse and jail.

The project, he said, will have to be completed in three different phases.

Martin said he would like to see an engineer brought in on the project, but Presiding Commissioner Steve Black wasn’t hot on the idea.

“I’d like to avoid an engineer, if possible,” Black said. “I trust our contractors.”

The commission will likely wait until the end of May to get the bids out since Martin said they have other projects and expenses to pay for.