MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Insurance rates to cover Monongalia County employees will go down despite an increase in total costs for the county.
The Monongalia County Commission approved to forward with an agreement to have the West Virginia Communities Risk Pool as county general liability and workers’ compensation insurance providers as part of a 2-0 vote during their regular meeting Wednesday. A change in rates for the county will result in just over a 2 percent total cost increase from FY 2024-25, which is due, in part, to a large influx of county employees that were hired ahead of the start of FY 2025-26, added to vehicle and equipment purchases for separate departments.
“The liability insurance was going up, but some of the workers comp is going down,” said Sikora on how the rates were adjusted for FY25-26. “So we’re expecting a small increase of about two percent, but the difference is the exposure.”
Commissioner Tom Bloom was unable to attend the meeting on Wednesday.
According to the commission, the rates issued by the West Virginia Communities Risk Pool reflected a slight total increase based on the increase in liability insurance rates and the decrease in rates for workers’ compensation. The most notable cause of the increase in costs for the county is several hires that have taken place within county departments. This includes the hiring of close to a dozen deputies to fully staff the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department. With other departments getting staffing improvements ahead of the start of the new fiscal year as well, the county is expecting to pay a little more for FY 2025-26.
“Overall, payroll went up about seven percent, but the rates went down, but that actual coverage, property went up, we had a lot more vehicles, I think there were 106 (last year) versus 116 (this year),” said Sikora.
The cost increase not only stemmed from an increase in hires for the county but also for vehicle and equipment purchases that were made and insured to start FY 2025-26. According to Sikora, the cost increases for the county account for a complete deputy staffing for the Monongalia County Sheriff’s Department, but also close to a dozen different vehicle purchases that supported MECCA 911, Monongalia County Parks and Recreation, among others. With county employee payroll increases totaling close to ten percent added to the over 100 county vehicles that need to be insured, the commission felt fortunate to have total costs for insurance coverage be no more than two percent.
“As always, we’re very satisfied with this product from the West Virginia Risk Pool, and it’s one of the best decisions that we’ve ever made, switching our insurance over to them,” said Sikora. “It’s really been, in terms of the actual product and the service we receive, there is no comparison.”
The commission also approved a request for proposal (RFP) by Enterprise Fleet Management Services to provide vehicles for the county as part of a fleet management agreement. The agreement was approved after several weeks of due diligence that was made due to the business being the only organization that responded to the RFP issued by the county in early 2025. With the inevitable costs of replacing and upkeeping vehicles expected to remain high as a result of inflation, the commission hopes that the contract will allow for the county to replace vehicles at a more reasonable price.
“We went through the cost evaluation, and their cost proposal was deemed to be reasonable, so we went ahead and went forward with what’s the next steps,” said Sikora.