County gets big insurance refund
Improved safety record worth $402,000
Safety has paid off for Flathead County, to the tune of $402,000.
Representatives from Western States Insurance and Liberty Northwest presented the check to the county commissioners on Tuesday as a return on the county's effective risk-management program and safety record.
Three years ago the county broke away from the insurance pool operated by the Montana Association of Counties and chose instead to be insured by Liberty Northwest, the regional carrier for parent company Liberty Mutual.
Robin Boon of Western States Insurance, the agent for Flathead County, lauded county employees and department heads for their efforts in improving the county's safety record.
"We set down a path to aggressively change the safety culture, and we've effected that change," Boon told a room full of county employees. "And this year looks pretty good, too."
Most of the refund will be put into a reserve fund for future years in case the county "has a bad year" and has to pay more in insurance premiums, county Administrative Officer Mike Pence said. A portion of the refund will reimburse the Sheriff's Office for money used to pay additional premiums during a past year.
"This program has higher premiums because we have the opportunity to get money back," Pence said, "but it definitely has worked to our favor."
Included in the $402,000 refund was a $45,000 credit for having a drug and alcohol testing program in place and a $66,000 credit from a payroll audit during the last fiscal year.
Quicker reporting of on-the-job injuries and the addition of an early return-to-work program helped turn the county's safety record around, said County Human Resource Officer Raeann Campbell, who has had a leadership role in moving forward with the risk management program.
Bob Luceno, a senior account executive with Liberty Northwest, said that of the 1,000 or so policy-holders in Montana, Flathead County is "one of the rare few able to take on this kind of risk.
"It was brave decisions and hard work, and every single employee had a role," he said. "This doesn't happen by luck; it's a team effort."
Flathead is one of about three counties in Montana who have broken away from the county insurance group to create its own risk management program. In 2007 the county received the Governor's Award for Safety and Health in the large public-sector employer category.
And Flathead County was the first to join with the state of Montana in 2005 when the Montana Safety Health And Recognition Program began.
Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com