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larger deductible. He does not think it would be prudent at this point to take on a larger <br />deductible. <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvig noted raising the deductible does not save a lot of dollars across the board. <br />He inquired if there is a history of what the City has paid in deductibles over the last ten years. <br />He suggested there could be savings by lowering the deductible and monitoring it closely. He <br />inquired if the City's deductible is fairly common. <br /> <br />Mr. Lenz replied he encourages communities to manage risk by setting money aside. Some <br />communities set aside up to $100,000 and some millions of dollars. If the Council is able they <br />could set aside funds into a separate fund so it does not affect their operating budgets. <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvig noted the number one thing the City is getting hit with is the workers <br />compensation. He inquired if there is a way to pool some of these deductibles on the City's own <br />behalf and handle this internally through good health insurance or the City's own cash reserve. <br /> <br />Mr. Lenz replied there are deductible options for the workers compensation. There are also <br />retrospective rating options, which are very much like gambling. <br /> <br />Mayor Gamec expressed concern with the City taking on workers compensation due to the <br />amount of younger employees. He noted if something major were to happen the City would be <br />paying out for a long time. Any savings would be used up very quickly and they would never be <br />able to get the employee onto workers compensation because the City would have taken it on <br />itself. <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvig explained he was not suggesting gambling on the workers compensation, <br />however, there are different structured rates and options in premiums that could be looked at. <br /> <br />Councilmember Kurak inquired about the sinking fund. <br /> <br />Assistant City Administrator Nelson explained when dividends are received back from the <br />League of Minnesota Cities they are added into the sinking fund to pay the City's deductibles and <br />keep their premiums down. <br /> <br />Councilmember Cook commented the deductible would have to be moved up quite a bit to make <br />a substantial savings. <br /> <br />Councilmember Elvig stated the Council needs to realize the town is growing and so is their <br />exposure. The more people that are involved the exposure will increase. <br /> <br />Assistant City Administrator Nelson indicated she will obtain information about the City's <br />deductible costs over the last ten years and costs associated with decreasing the deductible. The <br />information will be provided in the weekly update. The Council should inform staff if they <br />would like this brought back for discussion. <br /> <br />City Council Work Session/February 10, 2004 <br /> Page 2 of 5 <br /> <br /> <br />