Hammond’s insurance costs increase
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HAMMOND — City government’s general insurance coverage is going up about $140,000 for the year, apparently because of potentially large liability claims which could be settled during the life of the current policy.
The City Council unanimously agreed Tuesday to spend $764,782 for an insurance policy covering such things as vehicle insurance, general liability, damage to city-owned buildings and property, employee liability coverage and other items.
The new policy, which went into force retroactively on May 1, will cover city liability issues through April 30, 2009, officials said.
Don Stiel, representing Speed-Stiel Insurance Agency, the company that writes the city’s insurance policy, told the council that the suggested amount of the policy is the best that could be written at this time.
When Councilman Mike Williams asked why the cost of commercial liability coverage had gone up so much, Stiel replied the city has had problems with general liability cases during the past year. Two pending lawsuits could result in potentially large settlements, he said.
During the discussion, Mayor Mayson Foster said Police Department vehicles had been involved in about 20 wrecks during the past year. He said the city has started training police drivers how to avoid such claims in the future.
At the same meeting, Foster announced that sales tax revenues for April were $1.47 million, an increase of about 9.5 percent over April 2007, when about $1.35 million was collected.
Foster termed the upswing in tax revenues “terrific news,” and said if the trend continues, the city could reap $140,000 more in sales tax receipts for the fiscal year than the $15.6 million originally budgeted.
