Lower insurance rating could mean higher costs

Jackson residents are in jeopardy of having to pay more for their home insurance. At Monday night's board of aldermen study session, fire chief Brad Golden outlined some options to prevent that from happening.

In April, Jackson's fire department got back the results from the Insurance Service Office's detailed survey of the department.

The results weren't good. Jackson was in danger of falling from a five rating to a six in most of the city; and from a five to a nine on the edge of town -- near Klaus Park and the far reaches of Bent Creek, where it is more than five road miles from the fire station.

Jackson has until January to come up with solutions to the ISO's concerns.

The study showed Jackson hadn't increased its fire services at the same curve as the city's overwhelming population and land area increase during the 1990s.

During those 10 years, the city grew from 9,000 to 12,000 residents.

Now, the city faces some decisions.

One item that will help is the addition of a ladder truck.

The fire department currently has a 50-foot ladder truck. The ISO knocked the city for not having a recommended 70- to 100-foot truck, based on the size of the buildings in the county.

Ladder truck considered

Golden said he has found a "certified" used truck for approximately $75,000, when the original asking price was $89,000. A new ladder truck could cost anywhere from $800,000 to $1 million, Golden said.

He said the city doesn't often need ladder trucks and he thinks the city could do with a used one, even with the extra maintenance costs. He said the city should be able to get at least 10 years out of the used truck.

The ISO also recommended that an extra fireman be added to each shift, meaning the city would need to hire three new firefighters.

"This doesn't fix everything," he said. "It's just a Band-Aid."

A dip in the ISO rating would come at a cost to homeowners.

Doris Breymeyer, an insurance agent with the W. Walker Lakenan Insurance agency, said a typical homeowner could see an increase from $50 to $100 per year with the drop of one rating.

"In Fruitland, the rating is a nine and in Cape it's a four," she said. "A lot of people in the Fruitland district pay a lot more, the premium practically doubles when you go from a four to a nine."

Golden said he talked to various insurance agents who said homeowners on the outskirts, if their house was about $200,000, could pay $400 to $600 more for insurance if the rating dropped to a nine.

The insurance premium difference from one rating to the next depends on the market, Breymeyer said. Some markets lump a few ratings together, like 1 to 4. Others set a different price for each rating.

The chief has already addressed several issues the ISO found, including the department's policy to send only one engine to a first-alarm call. In other words, when a call would come in that a fire alarm was going off, the city would send one truck because a large percentage of the calls are false alarms.

Now, the city is sending the ISO's recommended two engines and a ladder truck to every first-alarm call.

In the long term, the city will eventually need to build a satellite fire station if it plans to maintain its ISO rating. That would require a multi-million bond issue or a sales tax increase. It would also require an additional $500,000 to staff it.

The board will likely vote on the ladder truck expenditure at next Monday's formal meeting.

None of the aldermen voiced opposition to Golden's request for a ladder truck.

bmiller@semissourian.com

243-6635