School districts get partial refund on insurance obligations
LEXINGTON Five area school districts are in line to receive refunds ranging from $11,317 to $50,583 from the Kentucky School Boards Insurance Trust (KSBIT) Workers’ Compensation Fund.
The refunds softened the blow from a 2013 assessment from KSBIT that left districts saddled with the obligation to cover its deficits when the trust dissolved.
The refunds were worked out by the Kentucky Employers’ Mutual Insurance (KEMI), the Kentucky Department of Insurance, and Franklin Circuit Court, according to KEMI spokesman Ryan Worthen.
The plan returns $4.77 million to the fund and results from effective claims cost management by KEMI, Worthen said.
Local districts affected and amounts they will receive include:
— Greenup County, $50,583.62
— Lawrence County, $36,625.17
— Raceland-Worthington, $30,196.99
— Russell, $27,878.93
— Carter County, $26,691.41
— Boyd County, $14,962.37
— Ashland, $11,870.97
— Fairview, $11,317.55
The original assessment came when KSBIT collapsed and left millions in unpaid liabilities. Districts that had been insured by KSBIT were left holding the bag and each was assessed an amount based on its years of participation, amount paid in claims in the past, and a projection of the amount likely to be paid before all claims were resolved.
In most cases, the refund amounts to about 10 percent of the total assessment. Many districts chose a multi-year payment plan to cover the assessment.
Greenup County schools, for instance, chose a seven-year no interest repayment schedule to retire its $345,169 assessment, according to district business manager Rebecca Fyffe.
So far the district has paid back $258,876 and has two payments of $43,146 remaining.
Boyd County has paid back $99,193 of its $132,259 obligation and has two remaining payments, finance director Scott Burchett said.
Raceland-Worthington’s payments of about $30,000 per year on its $297,239 assessment will take until 2024 to complete, chief financial officer Dustin Stephenson said.
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