County Commission switch to “pool” insurance

For countless years, the Perkins County Commission has kept their property, liability and auto insurance local, most recently with Anthony Fike, Dacotah Insurance. That changed during a special meeting of the commission last Tuesday morning.

Jerry Krambeck, South Dakota Public Assurance Alliance, Spearfish, spent more than an hour going over the reasons why 59 of South Dakota’s 66 counties are self-insured through his company, which also insures other governmental entities. 

“We are not just selling insurance,” he told the county board. “We’re selling a program. He had studied the 

“nuts and bolts” of the county’s current policy and mirrored it as much as possible. A nearly $26,000 annual premium difference swayed the commission away from the local agent.

Krambeck was to have appeared before the board at their regular January 2nd meeting but wasn’t prepared at that time. Tuesday’s special meeting was at his request.

Lemmon-area commissioner Mike Schweitzer was not happy that he was late with his proposal, causing the special meeting, but mostly found it “unfair” that Fike did present his package on time and that Krambeck then knew what Fike’s proposal was. Even he couldn’t disagree with the differences in the bottom line, however.

Fike’s proposal last month was for an annual premium of $86,428; Krambeck’s was $59,581.22 for basically the same coverage. Doing their jobs, representing the county’s taxpayers, left commissioners  little choice but to join the member-owned SDPAA, also known as “the pool.”

Fike was present to listen to Krambeck’s presentation and offered comments.

Also on last week’s short agenda, Todd Luttters was appointed as the Interim Director of Equalization at $19.41/hour, effective January 2. Lutters was hired last summer as second chair under Director Corina Kocer, who resigned her position at the end of last year. Lutters is not yet certified but is working towards that goal.

Highway Superintendent Cody Green also had a few items on the agenda. He was authorized to order a 2024 Ford F-250 pick-up, using the state bid of $59,824. Commissioners also agreed to purchase a 2024 Kubota Skidsteer from Lindskov Implement for $54,319.87. Discussion continued regarding the financing of the Foster Bridge Project.