Crystal River's insurance bill is shrinking

Crystal River on Monday unanimously approved a two-year extension to its contract with insurer Public Risk Management, saving $28,000 in annual premiums.

In April, the carrier cut a check for $950,000, effectively closing the books on damages from Hurricane Idalia. Another $385,000 claim from Hurricane Helene is expected to be settled soon and will raise the reimbursement thus far to a total of $4 million.

Jonathan Rivera with World Risk Management, which is the vendor for PRM, shared the cost savings with the council.

"The good news is after this upcoming fiscal year, we were able to secure this city an overall 7 percent cost reduction from last fiscal year on its property and casualty insurances," Rivera said. "Included within that 7 percent is a 20 percent rate reduction on the property insurance."

Rivera said that despite the settlement claims and the increase in value of the insurable property, the company was able to reduce its premiums.

PRM also writes for Inverness, but not the county.

"So Mayor (Joe Meek), you mentioned that the city has, I believe, the lowest millage in the county," Rivera said. "Another benefit is you're outpacing the county with your property rate. The value of what the city pays per $100 of insurable values is substantially less than what the county's paying."

Rivera showed a slide comparing the two. He pointed out some glaring differences. The city's deductible is $1,000 and the county's is $25,000. The city, which has a quarter of the insurable property of the county, has a rate of 46 cents for every $100 of value compared to 61 cents for the county. Crystal River also has $100 million in flood coverage compared to $2.5 million for the county.

The flood coverage under PRM is $100 million and $2.5 million for the county.

Vice Mayor Chris Ensing asked Rivera if the deductible was raised to $25,000, would the city save on its premium. Rivera said he would check and give an update before the contract was finalized.

Council unanimously approved proceeding with the 2-year contract.

In other business, the council appointed Meek to head the three-member committee to select the city's auditing firm. The RFPs will be returned on Sept. 25, and the committee will review and rate them and interview with the firms that are selected. Two business owners, Charlie Kish, a civil engineer, and Sheri Turner, the CFO of Sweet Citrus Acres, were selected previously by staff to be on the committee.

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