City liability insurance jumps

The city of Tucumcari’s liability insurance rates jumped 20 percent this year, City Manager Britt Lusk told the Tucumcari City Commission on Oct. 30, and the budget-stressed city will cover the additional cost with contingency funds.

Lusk announced the rate increase at a special public work session of the commission, and commissioners went along with the rate increase with minimal discussion.

The increase amounts to about $60,000, he said, as the city’s liability insurance rate increased from about $110,000 to about $170,000.

Lusk said the main factor in the increase was a general increase in liability insurance rates, but there were minor factors.

Rising rates have been a trend in liability insurance, according to several insurance industry publications.

One of those factors was the city had to change the status of its senior citizen transportation vans to make them commercial vehicles, which raises the liability insurance cost and increases the paperwork burden for these vehicles, Lusk said.

The commission also held an executive session to discuss threatened litigation.