The city's annual insurance renewal increased about 6% over last year, with the largest jump in property coverage, Alainco representatives told the City Council June 18.

David, an Alainco representative, told the council the City County Insurance Services (CIS) pool remains the city's primary insurer and said insurers are increasing property replacement costs. "We went back to City County Insurance. In fact, we were still talking to them about 2 hours ago about this. We couldn't get them to budge on that number," he said. Overall premium change across policies amounted to roughly a 6% increase compared with the prior year.

Alainco reviewed line-item changes: general liability premiums decreased slightly, auto premiums rose after five vehicles were added to the fleet, earthquake coverage stayed near prior levels and excess flood rose modestly. The broker reported aggregate claim payouts of about $1.4 million over the past six years, with roughly $37,000 in claims in 2022-23 and $51,800 in 2024-25.

On workers' compensation, the city's experience modification rate (EMR/AMR) improved to 0.95 from 1.16 the prior year, which Alainco said reduced work-comp premiums. The broker encouraged continuing loss-run analysis and return-to-work programs to sustain those gains. The cyber policy's premium was slightly lower than the prior year; Alainco said implementing multifactor authentication across city email could yield an additional 10% credit from the carrier.

Alainco presented a potential cost-saving option: raising the city's general and auto liability deductible from a zero deductible. The broker said moving to a $5,000 deductible could reduce annual premiums by up to $52,591, depending on the number and size of future claims. He warned the council that deductible savings vary with actual claims experience and a catastrophic claim could outweigh the premium savings.

No formal insurance-policy decision was made. Staff will follow up on requested analyses, including city loss runs and the feasibility of implementing multifactor authentication citywide, and will bring deductible options back for council consideration.