By Alex Malm
During the Sept. 26 Town Council meeting, one of the agenda items was in regards to a proposal from Primax to cap the increases for property and liability insurance for the next three years at five percent per year.
The town’s Finance Director, Justin Campo, explained that essentially no matter how many additional claims they have from year to year or how much more it costs, they would be capped at how much more they have to pay as a Town.
“They will not increase it above five percent,” said Campo.
Town Council Chairman, John Farrell, said based on the economic factors happening right now he thought it would be a good deal for the Town.
“In today’s world, that actually sounds like a deal,” said Farrell.
It was explained by Campo that they are in the last year of the deal right now and if they were to extend it by three years it would be how they can lock in the prices. He noted they wouldn’t know what this year’s numbers are until around December.
Campo stated from 2021 to 2023, which is the current agreement that they are in, the increase has been about 1.93 percent.
Campo then added that if they don’t end up having that much of an increase from year to year based on their amount of claims and other factors then it wouldn’t automatically increase by five percent each year.
“It’s not a guaranteed five,” said Campo.
It was pointed out by Campo that if they do end up having a lot of claims, then they may not keep them for next year or could potentially increase the prices.
“They will reevaluate it once again,” said Campo.
Farrell explained he felt the agreement was something that protects the Town.
“It’s a nice safety net,” said Farrell.
Also during the October meeting, Town Manager, Mike Malaguti, gave the Town Council an update regarding the increase the town will be paying for Waste Management after they made a request due to the rising costs associated with trash removal.
The total increase they settled on was $513,000 for over the remainder of the contract.
Malaguti said the contract was heavily vetted.
“It has been carefully scrutinized by staff,” said Malaguti.
Malaguti added that he was looking to move forward with official authorization from the Town Council.
The Town Council ultimately approved his request.
Town Councilor, Deb Paul, who is the ex officio member of the Solid Waste Committee, said that the group is supportive of their proposal.
“The Solid Waste Committee was in total support and thought it was the best move for the town,” said Paul.