CCAP's Tax Collector Bond Program is a good example of the reasons our member service programs are started. The PCoRP Board was discussing various county risk management issues in the mid-90's, and the subject of bonds for tax collectors came up. Because tax collectors are not county employees, they were not really on our radar for insurance issues. But the board pointed out the Local Tax Collection Law provides that counties can conduct a group bond purchase for all the tax collectors, saving the county, school districts and municipalities money. The board members (and I seem to recall Gail Kipp being the lead on this) noted that one of the most time consuming parts of the task was apportioning the costs of the bonds to all the governmental entities involved.

So we set up a group program to provide the surety bond coverage as required by state law. The program started in 1998 after a competitive bidding process resulted in the selection of Travelers Casualty and Surety Company, and they have been insuring the program for the past 15 years. We started with 37 counties participating and saved counties and other public entities thousands of dollars. At our last renewal we had 48 counties participating in the program. The program currently provides bonding coverage for over 1,600 tax collectors in the state.

The program is offered to counties through local insurance producers (you choose who you want to work with). We also provide the local producer with a breakdown of costs for each tax collector and public entity, making the billing much easier for the county.

The Tax Collectors Bond program renews January 1, 2014 for a four year term. This July we will be sending all counties information about the program and an application.

If you would like more information about the Tax Collector Bond Program, please contact Tona Faust at CCAP.

Make sure you contact us when you need help with something,

                             John Sallade 

You may have seen this article recently; it was released by the Associated Press on March 28:

The state Insurance Department says a workers' compensation insurance rate reduction will go into effect next week for employers. The department said that the overall 4 percent decrease that takes effect Monday could mean as much as $110 million in savings for Pennsylvania employers. It says the estimate may vary according to claims experience, payroll and other factors, and not all employers will see a decrease.

The department says employers should contact their insurance agent before their next renewal date to find out how their premium will change.

This is a very simplified version of a complicated matter, and every administration announces these rate changes in the same manner. But the reality is this is not a rate change. The process starts with the Pennsylvania Compensation Rating Bureau (PCBR) issuing what are called Loss Costs. Loss Costs are the claims cost portion of cost of workers' compensation insurance. Each insurance company approved to write workers' compensation insurance in Pennsylvania (and there are 393 of them), then adds its administrative costs to the Loss Costs and comes up with their own Lost Cost Multiplier.

So the four percent reduction mentioned in the article is really not a rate change, it is a change in the Loss Costs, only a portion of what makes up workers' compensation premium.

Since the workers' compensation law was amended by Act 44 of 1993, there is less state regulation of rates. Insurance companies can also use something called Schedule Rating which can substantially alter their rates.

PComp, which is a self-insured pool for counties and county related entities, does not use the process noted above for rate calculations. PComp develops its rates based on the actual claims experience of the PComp membership (we now have 20 years of data from counties and county related entities). We add our expenses to the projected claims costs for each payroll code to calculate our rates, which are then reviewed and approved annually by the Department of Labor and Industry.

So watch for those simple headlines - they may not explain the matter correctly!

Candidates with property and casualty insurance underwriting experience involving workers' compensation are encouraged to apply.

Commonwealth employees enjoy a comprehensive benefits package, including:

• Exceptional medical benefits
• Generous paid time off
• Outstanding retirement benefits

Visit www.scsc.state.pa.us for details on the nature of the work, job requirements and information on how to apply.

• If your county or entity is close to 50 full time employees/equivalents, strategize on future hiring plans.
• Clearly define/manage employees close to the 30 hour weekly threshold to make sure you don't have hour-creep. One extra average hour can result in additional health insurance premium of $5,000-$8,000 (per single employee).
• If your threshold for measuring full-time/benefit eligible employees is currently more than 30 hours, calculate the number of new eligible employees and the impact on your budget.
• Strategize on ways to offset any increased costs caused by newly eligible employees.

The Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts (AOPC) would like to invite county elected officials and staff to attend the 2013 Local Court Security Committee Workshops.

While topics and speakers have not been finalized, the AOPC has provided the dates and locations of the 2013 LCSC Workshops for your convenience for scheduling purposes. More detailed information will be provided in the future.

Please direct questions about the workshops to Mary Beth Marschik, Judicial Security Administrator, Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, MaryBeth.Marschik@pacourts.us