Workers' comp premiums squeeze Scott County budget

BENTON, Mo. -- With the rapid rise of workers' compensation insurance premiums since 2001, the Scott County government is looking for ways to cut those costs in the face of a coming budget crunch.

Meanwhile, the county has been put on a "watch list" by its insurer, the Missouri Association of Counties, though MAC executive director Dick Burke said the county isn't in danger of losing its coverage any time soon.

Addressing insurance costs has become a high-priority item in recent weeks, as a MAC specialist in reducing claims has been in frequent contact with the county, advising the government how to cut down on claims.

The county's annual workers' compensation premium has shot up from $53,000 in 2001 to $98,000 this year.

Burke said Scott County isn't alone: 18 of the 95 counties insured by MAC are on the same watch list. Burke said the goal now is to work with the county to lower its premiums, which will benefit both the county and the larger insurance pool. The primary way of doing that is by lowering the number of workers' compensation claims.

Many of the county's claims come from the manual labor-intensive jobs in the county highway department or the sometimes dangerous sheriff's department jobs. County highway department supervisor Norman Brant and Sheriff Rick Walter both said the types of injuries are varied and sometimes unpreventable, but they've initiated steps to try to reduce accidents, primarily through reinforcing a safety-first message.

Brant said his message to his workers is "Don't do something if it doesn't feel safe. I'll support any man wholeheartedly to take the safe way instead of the unsafe way."

Walter can't tell his deputies not to do something that might cause danger, like wrestling with a resisting suspect. But he said his department is conducting regular safety meetings and documenting those meetings to turn in to the county's insurer.

Lowering or stabilizing its workers' compensation costs is one of many ways the county needs to keep its spending down, said Commissioner Dennis Ziegenhorn. Next year, Scott County will face the expiration of a sales tax that has brought in about $1.6 million per year, half paying for bond payments on the jail and the other half going to law enforcement operations.

Commissioners will tackle that budget issue starting in January, when they formulate a budget for 2008.

"We're going to be looking at a lot of ways to cut the budget," Ziegenhorn said. "Workers' comp is another example of a way to save some money for the county."

One way of measuring the magnitude of workers' compensation claims is the cost of those claims in relation to the annual premium the county pays. Commissioners are optimistic about this year because the cost of claims is now running at about 39 percent of the premium.

That rate peaked at 282 percent in 2005.

The Sikeston Standard-Democrat contributed to this report.

msanders@semissourian.com

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