Governor Doyle Signs Property Insurance Bill into Law at WCA Office
Door Now Open for Wisconsin Municipal Mutuals to Sell Property Insurance

Senate Bill 176, which opens the door for Wisconsin municipal mutuals to sell property insurance, was signed into law today by Governor Jim Doyle at the Wisconsin Counties Association (WCA) office in Madison.

"Wisconsin municipalities have had few options when purchasing property insurance on public buildings such as jails and courthouses in recent years due to poor market conditions," said Jon H. Hochkammer, WCA Director of Insurance Operations. "Today's signing of SB 176 into law by Governor Doyle will give municipal mutual insurance carriers such as our Wisconsin County Mutual Insurance Corporation (County Mutual) another tool to save precious taxpayer dollars."

Before today's bill signing, any number of municipalities or associations of municipalities could organize a municipal insurance mutual to provide workers' compensation insurance, liability insurance or risk management services to the members of the municipal insurance mutual. However, these same municipal mutuals were not allowed to offer property insurance and Wisconsin municipalities and school districts were restricted to purchasing this coverage at rates which have skyrocketed in recent years.

SB 176 was authored by Senator Dale Schultz (R-Richland Center) and co-authored by Representative Bonnie Ladwig (R-Racine) and allows the previously mentioned insurers to also write property insurance to the same members they currently are authorized to insure.

"Local governments own municipal mutuals and unfavorable market conditions have put them in the position of purchasing property insurance in an uncompetitive environment," said John A. Dirkse, Executive Vice President of Aegis Corporation, which is the general administrator of the County Mutual. 

"We are grateful to Senator Schultz and Representative Ladwig for recognizing that today's public entity property insurance buyers were in dire need of increased competition. Thanks to their efforts on behalf of the taxpayers, budget-conscious public officials will now have other options in controlling property insurance costs."

The Wisconsin Counties Association (WCA), along with county officials from around the state, responded to the insurance crisis of the mid-80's by creating the County Mutual in 1987 to provide quality liability insurance substantially at cost to its members. 

Since that time, additional insurance coverages were added by the County Mutual, including self-insured services, worker's compensation, nursing home liability and owner-controlled insurance purchase programs for public construction projects.

"Since 1987, the County Mutual has been a success story that remains dedicated to serving its constituents with quality and necessary insurance coverages," said Aegis Corporation President Robert D. Wurtz, CPCU. "Today's bill signing will have a monumental impact on our ability to meet the needs of our insureds and will be an invaluable tool."

Today, over 75 percent of the counties in the state belong to the County Mutual, which carries an A.M. Best Rating of A-. The County Mutual is a unique non-profit insurance company because it is member owned and is able to pay dividends to counties and municipalities in low loss years. In 2003, the County Mutual paid member counties $1.5 million in dividends.

"This new law will allow us to do our job even better and we are grateful to the Legislature and the Governor for all they did to ensure that municipal mutuals are on an even playing field with the insurance industry," said WCA Executive Director Mark D. O'Connell. "In the end, it will be the taxpayers who are the true winners."