Transylvania County Manager Jaime Laughter joined fellow members of the North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) Joint Risk Management Agency Board of Trustees for its winter meeting. Among other agenda items, NCACC administered the oath of office to new members of the Board of Trustees, appointed by NCACC President Austin, and existing trustees, who are beginning new three-year terms. The Board also approved a new vehicle safety program to lower vehicle collision costs.

“I am honored to be joining county elected leaders and managers from across North Carolina to create best practices in loss prevention, address policy issues around county liability and to ultimately help all counties better manage the risk to the tax payer through administering the Risk Management Pool,” County Manager Jaime Laughter said.

NCACC President Kevin Austin appointed Mike Caskey, Jr., Rowan County Commissioner to fill the remaining one-year unexpired term of the seat vacated by Iredell County Commissioner, Jeff McNeely, who is now serving in the North Carolina General Assembly. Austin also appointed Jaime Laughter, Transylvania County Manager, to fill the two-year unexpired term of the seat vacated by retiring Hertford County Manager Loria Williams. Seven trustees are beginning a new three-year term, which will expire December 2020. They include:

• Tommy Everett, Tyrrell County Commissioner
• Deron Geouque, Watauga County Manager
• Viola Harris, Edgecombe County Commissioner
• Bennie Heath, Greene County Commissioner
• Kevin King, Swain County Manager
• Zee Lamb, Nash County Manager
• Will Massie, Randolph County Assistant Manager

The Board approved a new program to help counties reduce repair costs related to vehicle collisions. The program would offer incentives for risk pool members to purchase “push bumpers,” which can reduce repair costs by over $500 for frontal collision damage.

“Our county is fortunate to be a part of a county specific risk pool with NCACC. The liability issues that exist for county government cover a wide range of diverse services from parks and recreation to emergency services to solid waste. These require specialty approaches to risk management and liability protection that you just don’t find easily in the general market. The Board has the ability to help develop and fund programs that aid counties in implementing proactive programs and practices. Those investments in prevention of claims can mean collective savings for counties in the big picture,” Laughter said.

The Board received financial reports on both the Liability and Property, and Workers Compensation Risk Pools, which showed favorable results driven by positive investment gains. NCACC staff provided a legislative report on the 2019 Long Session of the General Assembly and an operational report, which
highlighted four educational meetings hosted by NCACC Risk Management. The meetings drew nearly 100 attendees representing 56 of NCACC Pool Members, and covered cyber security issues and resources, updates to the online training platform County College, and lessons learned from the claims
process following Hurricanes Florence and Michael. The Board also discussed upcoming events including plans for NCACC to host the County Reinsurance Ltd. spring board meeting in 2020 in Buncombe County, and the Association of Governmental Risk Pools (AGRiP) spring Conference – the premier
training opportunity for pool governing board members.

Editors: Print quality photos may be downloaded for use at: https://ncacc.smugmug.com/Risk-
Management-Board-of-Trustees-Meeting-December-2019/
Photo should be credited as follows: Photo courtesy Chris Baucom/NCACC.
(Photos of Transylvania County Manager Jaime Laughter: #15, #54, #55)
About the NCACC: The North Carolina Association of County Commissioners (NCACC) is the official
voice of all 100 counties on issues being considered by the General Assembly, Congress and federal and
state agencies. The Association provides expertise to counties in the areas of advocacy, research, risk
management and education and leadership training.
About the NCACC Joint Risk Management Agency: The NCACC Joint Risk Management Agency
provides risk management services to North Carolina Counties. Managed and operated by the North
Carolina Association of County Commissioners, it is the largest provider of risk management services to
county governments in North Carolina. It is governed by an appointed board of trustees made up of
elected county commissioners and senior management staff.