Town Proceeds with Annual Insurance Review Process

The Yorktown Town Board met in executive session on September 7 to review the credentials of insurance brokers competing for the opportunity to submit quotes for the town's insurance business. Following standard industry practice, the town will assign markets to the selected brokers.

Seven brokers, out of the ten invited to participate, submitted proposals for consideration, and the board selected three to proceed with comprehensive quotes from a wide range of insurance companies.

The three brokers are Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services, Fairfield County Bank Insurance Services, and the Spain Agency.

"This selection was the first of a two-step process designed to provide the town board with qualified, 'apples-to-apples' quotes for comparison," Supervisor Susan Siegel said.

The town's insurance business had been a closed decision process. Siegel said last year for the first time, the process was opened up to allow multiple brokers to compete for the business. 

"Having competitive quotes from competing brokers to choose from ensures the town gets the right coverage at the best price," she said.

The board's discussions had to be conducted in executive session because the applicants had to provide proprietary business information, which could not be discussed in a public forum, Siefel explained. 

"Essentially, it's the same as conducting a job interview," she said. 

The Board will go into executive session again to reviews written proposals during phase two of the process in order to protect the ongoing negotiations. Once the negotiations are complete and the contract is finalized, the board will disclose the details to the public. 

"I am committed to providing as much transparency as possible during these proceedings," Siegel said. "But active contract negotiations are protected under New York State open meetings law, and the process improves our ability to secure the best deal for the people of Yorktown."

Siegel said she expects the board to make a final decision in mid November and will include the insurance costs in discussions of the 2011 Town budget.