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Ohio
Governor John Kasich
Local
entities to receive $112.8
Million Workers’ Comp Rebates
Rebates total $429,100 for Darke
County: See below for breakdown
COLUMBUS
– The Ohio Bureau of
Workers’ Compensation (BWC) would return $112.8 million to nearly 3,800
local
governments and schools under the $1 billion rebate proposed by
Governor John
Kasich and BWC Administrator/CEO Steve Buehrer last week. The proposal
also
includes a tripling of safety grants and a 4 percent rate reduction for
public
employers. The
rebates and reforms are
made possible by larger-than-expected fund balances at BWC generated by
strong
investment management.
“Our
goal is to support the health
and safety of Ohio workers while maintaining stable workers’
compensation rates
for employers, including local governments,” said Buehrer. “This rebate
will
return nearly $113 million to local governments and schools who are
already
seeing the lowest rates in 30 years thanks to recent annual rate
reductions.”
Out
of the $112.8 million being
returned, schools will receive the largest portion of the rebate –
approximately $42.5 million – followed by cities receiving $37 million,
counties receiving $16.5 million and townships receiving $7.6 million. Some of Ohio’s local
governments and schools
are self-insured and do not pay into the BWC system and are therefore
not
impacted by the rebate plan.
The
amount each public employer
will receive equals approximately 56 percent of their annual workers’
compensation insurance premium. That premium is based on the size of
their
payroll and is modified by factors such as the type of work their
employees do
and claims experience. If
approved by
the BWC Board of Directors on May 30, checks could be mailed as early
as June
or July.
The
proposal will be funded from
BWC’s net assets, which have grown to $8.3 billion and are far in
excess of the
target funding ratio of assets to liabilities established by the BWC
board in
2008.
The
entire $1.9 billion proposal
includes:
•
Issuing $1 billion in rebates to
Ohio’s approximately 210,000 public and private employers that pay into
the
State Insurance Fund as early as this summer.
•
Tripling Ohio’s Safety and
Wellness Grant programs to $15 million for the July 1, 2013 policy year
to
further emphasize safety in the workplace and to better protect Ohio’s
workers.
The grant expansion would coincide with a public push by the Governor
and BWC
to encourage employers to invest in preventing accidents and protecting
Ohio’s
working men and women. 39 public employers received nearly $713,000 in
safety
grants in fiscal year 2012, helping to increase safety in their
workplaces.
•
Granting BWC authority to bill
employers prospectively – or in advance of the coverage period, which
would
result in a rate decrease of 4 percent for public employers and 2
percent for
private employers. Currently businesses are billed for the previous six
months
of workers’ compensation coverage, and moving to prospective billing
would
improve collection rates and allow for more flexible payment options.
If
approved by the legislature, BWC would credit employers an estimated
$900
million to avoid their having to “double pay” as the system moves from
paying in
arrears to paying in advance.
Greenville
City - $85,080
Contract
Entities - $3,880
Darke
County - $112,450
Schools
- $148,550
Special
Districts - $1,430
Townships
- $35,370
Villages
- $42,340
For
a pdf of individual entities,
click here
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