By Amy Batista, Special Writer
FLORENCE — At the Aug. 8 Township Council meeting, Deputy Executive Director Paul Forlenza delivered a presentation on the town’s Joint Insurance Fund.
”Paul is our primary contact for (our) Joint Insurance Fund,” said Richard Brook, township administrator, as he introduced Mr. Forlenza at the meeting.
A few months ago, on June 20, the Township Council passed a resolution renewing Florence Township’s membership within the Burlington County Municipal Joint Insurance Fund.
It has been renewed for the next three years, from 2013 through 2015. The insurance fund has a three-year renewal requirement for all its members.
”I believe we have been a member since 1991,” Mr. Brook said at last Wednesday’s Township Council meeting. “We all know about the insurance fund. We are familiar with our safety programs.”
Mr. Brook said, “Whether it be sidewalk claims, trips and falls, wellness programs and the benefits of having a wellness program, we are constantly pushing training, education, working together as a group (of JIF municipality members) and the benefits of that, and we have seen that in Florence Township over the years.”
Mr. Forlenza took the opportunity to provide the council an overview of the highlights of the plan for and discussing what a Joint Insurance Fund is for those who may not be very familiar with it.
JIP has been around for 21 years and is a non-for-profit company, according to Mr. Forlenza.
”We wanted to make a commitment about two years ago to come out and talk to the elected officials,” said Paul Forlenza, noting a lot of people have been retiring, and people might not know how the JIF program works.
What makes it different from insurance companies is Florence Township owns a portion of the JIF, according to Mr. Forlenza.
”Over the years, we have been able to turn a great deal of money back to the members,” Mr. Forlenza said.
Mr. Forlenza said it had saved the taxpayers in New Jersey more than $8 million since the mid-1980s.
The members are local professionals, which drive the decisions and meet the third Tuesday of the month except in August.
”We look at the claims that are occurring, the trends we are seeing, the losses that we are seeing,” Mr. Forlenza said in reference to what is discussed during the meetings.
The peer meetings are a collaboration of local municipalities, which gives them an opportunity to network with each other.
”We also recognize that you folks are trying to do a lot with limited resources, and it’s getting tougher and tougher every day,” Mr. Forlenza said. “We tried to put together a lot of good training programs that help you make your job easier.”
According to Mr. Forlenza, the JIF helps to keep its members in compliance with forever-changing statue and regulations by sending them bulletins, using surveys, training sessions, videos and webinars.
There are 19 JIF policies for more than 400 municipalities and 85 utility authorities. The MEL (Municipal Excess Liability) Safety Institute system provides safety training to local government employees and offers more than 1,600 courses in 64 disciplines across the state of New Jersey. Last year, it trained an excess of 36,000 municipal employees, according to Mr. Forlenza.
”You can track the training they need,” Mr. Forlenza said, adding the system tracks the attendance of the trainings, which is a benefit of the membership.
There is a safety incentive program, which results in a cash bonus at the end of the year for the township if it complies with a list of things, which include, but are not limited to, keeping current with safety training, reviews of sidewalks and municipal playgrounds and holding periodic meetings.
Mr. Forlenza reviewed the JIF budget history and said the rate is increasing by 0.23 percent this year. Last year, there was no increase.
”A great deal of it is made up of loss funding, which is used to pay for workers compensation costs,” Mr. Forlenza said. “Workers compensation costs are driven mainly by health-care costs and medical costs.”
”I think it says a lot that you get it, and that you are really doing a good job,” Mr. Forlenza said in reference to the budget. “I will be the first to tell you that JIF is not always going to be the least expensive; they’re not always going to be the cheapest. The goal of the JIF is coverage stability, presence stability over the long haul. You don’t want to be caught in the cycle of hard and soft markets in the insurance market.”
He added, “I can’t emphasize it enough; this is a result of the members doing a job.”
Florence has since its inception a total of $4.85 million in dividends. In 2011, $450,000 was returned in dividends and around the same amount is expected for 2012. Florence has a total cash on hand of $10.9 million and a $4.7 million surplus as of March, according to Mr. Forlenza.
”I’m happy to say you folks are doing a great job,” Mr. Forlenza said.
”I think that is reflected on your 2012 Member Update page,” he added as he pointed out that page in the presentation booklet.
”It’s really good to come out to a municipality and deliver good news,” Mr. Forlenza said as he deciphered the report to the council.
”That’s what I want to hear,” said Mayor Craig Wilkie.
Mayor Wilkie recalled how hard it was for Florence before it had JIF.
”We couldn’t even be issued a certificate of insurance before we went with JIF,” Mayor Wilkie said.
Council President Jerry Sandusky noted how Florence was one of the first municipalities to join JIF.
”We were one of the first 10, and it worked out extremely well for the township,” Mr. Sandusky said. “It’s a great program.”
In other news, at the beginning of the meeting, the council stood for a moment of silence to recognize the life of George Murphy, former superintendent of the Florence Township School District. He died on Aug. 4, according to his obituary.
The next meeting will be Sept. 5 at the Florence Township Municipal Complex.
