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Monticello sees insurance hike

By Matt Shortall
Posted 8/1/22

MONTICELLO — Trustees in the village of Monticello approved a new municipal insurance policy during an emergency meeting on Friday morning. The village’s previous policy was not renewed …

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Monticello sees insurance hike

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MONTICELLO — Trustees in the village of Monticello approved a new municipal insurance policy during an emergency meeting on Friday morning. The village’s previous policy was not renewed by NYMIR and, according to Trustee Carmen Rue, they had to approve a new policy before Sunday to keep village facilities open. 

The village had been paying $369,000 for their policy through New York Municipal Insurance Reciprocal (NYMIR). The new insurance policy is $831,865 annually.

Owen McKane from the Reis Group walked the board through their efforts to secure another insurance policy for the village at the lowest price they could. More than a dozen other carriers declined to insure the village, many citing past loss experience. 

“It’s not just one thing that got you here. It’s a lot of things,” McKane told board members. 

Among the reasons NYMIR chose not to renew the village’s municipal insurance policy were the number and nature of past lawsuits as well as recommendations about building safety and repairs. 

“Once they [NYMIR] nonrenew, that’s a strike against the village. That makes it a lot harder to get coverage,” McKane explained.

Trustee Carmen Rue said that, although the price of the new policy is more than double what the village had been paying before, they had no choice but to keep the village insured. 

“Now we have a situation where we have to approve it,” Rue said. “My responsibility is to cover [the village] for now and see if we can do something later on to lower [costs].”

Trustee Gordon Jenkins was critical of Mayor George Nikolados for not being present at the emergency meeting to vote on the new policy. 

“Why isn’t the mayor here? This board should write a letter to say for George to resign,” Trustee Jenkins said. 

Jenkins called the $831,000 insurance policy “a damn shame ... We need help in this village.”

In regards to not being present, Nikolados said the board should poll all the trustees before scheduling a meeting to see who is available. 

“I do work and have a fulltime job. My employees and my customers depend on me, and I can’t just walk out anytime I want to,” Nikolados said.

Speaking about the insurance policy, Nikolados said “It’s very disappointing. We’re a cash-strapped village to begin with ... We were expecting an increase just because everything increases, but not [expecting] as large as we got,” said Mayor Nikolados.

Trustees Rue, Gordon Jenkins and Rochelle Massey voted to approve the policy. Mayor George Nikolados and Trustee Michael Banks were not present. 

Nikolados said they board will have to see where they can make cuts to accommodate the increased cost of insurance. 

Going forward, McKane suggested that the village bring in an HR consultant to work on conflict resolution.

“You have to start getting along … divisiveness is not helping anybody,” he said. 

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