Safety-conscious city employees benefit taxpayers

I want to tell you about some outstanding people. These people are the men and women who work for the city of Whitefish. If you live in Whitefish, these people are the ones who keep you supplied with water at your homes and businesses, keep the sewers flowing, repair and rebuild community streets, keep your parks and public facilities looking good, assure that community zoning and safe building standards are implemented, protect you from criminals, rescue you from fires and other perils, and speed you to the hospital when you have a medical emergency.

I was reminded last week how fortunate we are, as a community, to have our city staff working on our behalf. While attending the Montana League of Cities and Towns Annual Conference in Bozeman, I had the honor of accepting an award on behalf of our staff. The award was from the Montana Municipal Insurance Authority. The award is for having the lowest workers compensation claims experience among Montana's second-class cities during fiscal year 2006-2007.

So what's the big deal about a safety award? Let me tell you, it means more than it might seem on the surface. This award underscores the fact that our city employees are well-trained and experienced professionals, and that their performance exceeds their peers in similar cities.

Whitefish managers and workers are mindful of safety issues and are diligent to maintain a work environment that is orderly and that follows professional protocols. The result of these efforts is the basis for the city's award — the lowest claims experience among second-class cities (those with populations between 5,000 and 10,000).

I am also proud to report that this is not the first such award in recent years. The city has actually received the same workers compensation award for five of the past six years. The city has also been the recipient of three additional MMIA awards for outstanding performance in their general liability program.

This ongoing string of awards points to the fact that the city's most recent award is not simply a one-time honor but part of an ongoing and sustained track-record of sound management and professionalism by our city staff.

But, there is more good news related to the city's awards. As a high performance city, MMIA has rewarded the city of Whitefish with insurance rates that are lower than those paid by other cities. For example, over the past four years, the city has benefited from workers compensation premium discounts totaling $56,703.

Additionally, the city has secured discounts for general liability coverage over the same period totaling $31,724. Combined, these discounts mean that Whitefish taxpayers and utility ratepayers have benefited from the experience and professionalism of the city's staff to a total of $88,427.

While we're on the topic of insurance savings, let me tell you about one other staff accomplishment. In 2003, I joined with a handful of other municipal leaders throughout the state to find a solution to escalating health insurance premiums for cities. The result was the creation of a new self-insurance pool for cities that is administered by MMIA.

The effort to control health insurance costs required the cooperation and collaboration of the city's managers, unions, associations and staff. These individuals came together on a new city insurance committee to implement the new insurance pool program at the city level. Their work has been crucial to the success of the new program. Once again, the efforts of the city's employees have proven instrumental in controlling insurance costs.

Since being created in late 2004, the MMIA's new insurance pool has seen premium increases that have been consistently below the national trend. As a result, the city of Whitefish has realized savings of more than $265,000 as compared to the national trend. These savings have played an important part in the city's overall efforts to contain spending and freeze property tax rates over the past five years.

I have often said that I am privileged to serve the Whitefish community alongside the many fine men and women in the city's employ. Our latest award and the associated track record of solid financial stewardship in the insurance realm only reinforce my feeling that our staff is second to none among our Montana peers.

Next time you meet a city employee, thank them for their service to our community. They deserve it.

Gary Marks is the Whitefish city manager.