Claims large and small put taxpayers on hook for $4.4M since 2015

Nov. 29--Careless driving, sewer backups and excessive force are among the more than 800 claims filed against Montgomery County since 2015 by people seeking monetary payouts.

Though many claims are denied or mitigated by insurance, more than $4.4 million in losses between 2015 and Oct. 30 of this year have come straight from taxpayers' pockets to pay for 431 of the claims, a Dayton Daily News investigation found.

Loss and damage claims, which also include cases filed by the county, run from replacing dozens of traffic signs downed by private vehicles, to sewer backups in homes and businesses served by the county's system, to large settlements paid to inmates alleging abuse in the county's jail.

Nearly $2.8 million paid out over the past six years originate from the sheriff's office -- about 61% of that attributed to the county jail. Eight of the county's top 16 claims during the period were settlements to inmates for alleged incidents of excessive force or assault, of which the first $500,000 of a settlement comes out of county funds before insurance kicks in, according to the county.

The claims are logged by the county's Safety and Risk Management division that coordinates the support of safety, loss prevention and claims administration in the county. The division also administers workers' compensation, property and casualty claims for departments and offices as well as the purchase of property and liability insurance.

Claims are investigated by the Risk Management staff in conjunction with the county department or agency. The county also contracts with a third-party administrator, Hylant Administrative Services, which is assigned to claims made against the county involving injuries to citizens, according to Pamela Gilbert, the county's risk and insurance manager.

Claims are either approved, denied or are pending, Gilbert said. The office can close cases when a statute of limitations has passed. Depending on the claim, the payments represent the cost to repair county property, payments to citizens, payments to the County's third-party administrator if assigned to a claim, and outside legal expenses the county incurs when arguing a claim brought to court. Pending claims may result in settlements paid out in future years.

For most county departments, the vast majority of claims stem from motor vehicle accidents, which often involve county vehicles colliding with others or personal vehicles striking county vehicles or property.

In sheer numbers, the county engineer's office had the most claims of any county department. Of its 145 claims, 129 involved vehicle damage, either to other vehicles or property. A large majority -- 101 accounting for $162,257 in losses -- involved citizens damaging county bridges, guardrails and traffic signs and signals.

"We have narrow roads, and we have a fair amount of traffic and a lot of them," said Paul Gruner, Montgomery County engineer. "So this is problem."

The Engineer's Office's largest claim was for $97,751 in 2017 to repair a bridge on Fishburg Road following a single car accident. The driver wrecked into railing anchors that pulled out of a beam, and the county had to replace the beam and railing, Gruner said.

During winter months it's not uncommon for county snowplows to damage utilities infrastructure or citizens' mailboxes, which accounted for a handful of claims.

"We keep a supply of standard mailboxes and we go out and replace those when that happens," Gruner said. "Because it's pretty common."

While jail lawsuits get the most exposure and have cost taxpayers more, a vast majority of claims linked to the sheriff's office are incidents involving vehicles. In the six-year span examined by the Dayton Daily News, 44 incidents involved citizens' vehicles damaging those of the sheriff's office while sheriff's office vehicles damaged private vehicles or property 33 times. Sheriff's office vehicles were also damaged at least seven times during pursuits, another seven in deer strikes and three were damaged by Memorial Day tornadoes in 2019.

No corner of county government is immune to claims.

Every claim for the board of Elections involved vehicles or movers damaging equipment during transport. The Montgomery County Fairgrounds and Event Center claimed a loss of $231,102 for wind damage to new buildings in 2019. A March 2018 water leak in Memorial Hall from the second floor to the basement cost $133,279. The county took a $35,405 loss after a citizen's vehicle caught fire in the County Administration Building's parking garage in 2019.

The county's Water and Sewer Services logged 141 claims -- the second highest among county departments. Of those, 62 involved incidents with vehicles. But a costly portion of the total included 27 sewer backups. The county eventually paid out $62,505 on 15 of those claims from private citizens and business, including one for $25,256 to Ed Wendling, who found himself in October 2016 donning hip waders in four feet of raw sewage in the basement of his business, Dayton Quality Starter.

Wendling said an older sewer line ruptured under Salem Avenue in front of the electrical supply business, covering up to $40,000 in inventory -- and some of his wife's family photographs stored there temporarily.

"Things happen," he said. "It was kind of bad timing because we were in the process of moving."

Wendling said the county fixed the break quickly and he paid a $1,000 deductible on what he estimated was $56,000 in damages. The county's loss run report indicates it settled with Wendling's insurance company.

Among the hundreds of claims are serious allegations involving workplace discrimination and employment disputes, including one with Mark Kumpf, the former director of the Animal Resource Center who was fired in 2018, costing the county $27,332 to broker a settlement. Alongside those are complaints from citizens claiming they were scratched or bitten by cats and dogs at the facility.

The list also turns up more peculiar claims.

One person claiming to have taken bed bugs home from the Reibold Building was denied damages in 2015. A couple's invisible pet fence was damaged during an excavation but received compensation of $159 in 2015. A county communications worker filed a claim, which is pending, after a personal vehicle was damaged by a podium. The county has also settled with inmates claiming missing property, paying for a lost wedding ring for one inmate, earrings for another and a necklace for a third.

___

(c)2020 the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio)

Visit the Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) at www.daytondailynews.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.