Information You Need to Stay Stronger, Together. In this edition...
Cyber Corner: Phishing Campaigns on the Rise
Congratulations to Board of Trustees Member Rickey Childers: TCMA Lifetime Achievement Award
Legislative Update from the Texas Municipal League: Stay Informed During the Legislative Session
State of the Union: Takeaways for Local Leaders
Member Spotlight: Texarkana Water Utilities High Visibility Shirts
Service in Focus: 2023 Rerates/Contributions Process Update Your Information!
Risk Management Minute: Why was the TML Risk Pool Created?
T.I.P.S. Sheet: Chainsaw Safety
Read Our Latest Blogs: Bucket List -Top Historical Sites from the Republic of Texas and More!
Upcoming Loss Prevention Training: Civility in the Workplace and More!
Cyber Corner: Phishing Campaigns on the Rise
Phishing emails have increased dramatically in recent months. According to Today’s Risk Manager, researchers tracked 278.3 million unique phishing emails in the last three months of 2022.
Why the increase? One contributing factor is easily available software that allows hackers to automatically localize phishing pages based on a victim’s native language. Hackers can use it to target victims globally, without being multilingual.
To spot a fraudulent email, look for:
-Bad grammar and spelling mistakes.
-Unfamiliar greeting or salutation.
-Inconsistencies in email addresses, links, and domain names.
-Suspicious attachments.
-Request for login credentials, payment information, or sensitive data.
-Too good to be true offers.
-Anything else that appears “off.”
If you see one or more of the above, or anything else that makes you suspicious, DO NOT click on links, supply any type of personal or work information, send money, reply to the email, attempt to contact senders, or open attachments. Instead, follow your cybersecurity plan, which would typically include contacting the sender directly (outside of the email chain itself – referred to as “out-of-band”) to confirm legitimacy, reporting to IT, and/or deleting the email.
Congratulations to Board of Trustees Member Rickey Childers: TCMA Lifetime Achievement Award
The Texas City Management Association (TCMA) recognizes city management professionals who have made significant contributions to the field of local government management for more than 20 years. TCMA bestowed a 2023 lifetime achievement award to Risk Pool Board of Trustees Member Rickey Childers.
Rickey served as Longview city manager from 1999 to 2006. He also served as assistant city manager in the cities of Abilene and Carrollton, deputy city manager in Arlington, and city manager in Lancaster. Congratulations, Rickey!
Legislative Update from the Texas Municipal League: Stay Informed During the Legislative Session
The 88th regular session of the Texas Legislature is in full swing with over 2,800 bills filed. Historically, legislators file close to 7,000 bills each session. With a month left until the bill filing deadline of March 10, we anticipate another 4,000 bills to be filed. The League will review each bill and summarize all city-related bills filed each week in the Legislative Update.
The League will host a webinar on March 16 to update the membership on key legislation and any other pressing matters related to the legislature. We encourage city officials to attend the webinar to stay informed on all legislative matters. More information on the webinar can be found here.
In addition, TML will also host its first TML Midyear Conference on March 2-3 in San Antonio. Former Texas House Speaker and TML Legislative Hall of Honor Inductee Joe Straus will be giving the keynote session on Friday. TML staff will also provide a legislative update during the conference. More information on the conference can be found here.
We encourage city officials to stay engaged with their legislators on legislative issues that matter to your community.
State of the Union: Takeaways for Local Leaders
President Biden gave his State of the Union address and addressed a broad range of issues important to cities, towns and villages across the country. Here are three takeaways local leaders should know from the 2023 State of the Union: (1) infrastructure moves forward; (2) public safety remains a priority; and (3) invited guests indicate federal-local partnerships. (Read more.)
*Edited version reprinted with permission of the National League of Cities.
Member Spotlight: Texarkana Water Utilities High Visibility Shirts
The TML Risk Pool provides workers’ compensation coverage to more than 200,000 public servants, including almost 50,000 first responders. Sadly, the Pool averages at least one roadway-related fatality claim each year. In the last few months, we’ve – tragically – lost six dedicated public servants on Texas roads.
Rather than sit idle in the face of these tragedies and statistics, the Pool designed a program to raise local government employees’ awareness of the dangers of working in and around roadways and vehicles.
The R.O.A.D. Ready initiative is simple, but important. Working near or on roadways – while necessary – is extremely dangerous. Being R.O.A.D. Ready means a city or other local government is committed to continuously improving employee safety related to operations near or on roadways.
A perfect example came about when Texarkana Water Utilities leaders discovered that not all employees were wearing their high visibility vests in the field, and they acted quickly to address the problem. Rather than issue a vest that must be put on and taken off, they switched from dark-colored work shirts to high visibility shirts. Prior to the change, department leaders sought and received buy in from all employees. The TWU effort shows that even a simple change can make them R.O.A.D. Ready!
Service in Focus: 2023 Rerates/Contributions Process – Update Your Information!
The 2023 rerate season (when the Pool calculates Member contributions for the next fund year) is right around the corner. The Pool begins preparing for the next fiscal year, which begins October 1, by requesting updated information from Members. The process is as easy as one-two-three:
We ask you for updates: Over the next several weeks, Pool staff will contact Members by email seeking information they need to calculate contributions. The information may vary based on the type of local government, but the following are typical examples: (1) current line-item operating budget (if applicable); (2) projected number of law enforcement personnel (if applicable); (3) updated automobile schedules; (4) updated real and personal property schedules; and (5) any new or planned operations to ensure appropriate coverages.
You submit updates timely: The process begins early so underwriters have sufficient time to review and process changes prior to October 1. Members who submit updates promptly will have contribution amounts in time for budget preparation. Underwriters who receive updates prior to April 1, 2023, will include those in the 2023/24 contribution calculations. Updates received after that date may be handled via endorsement, which could result in additional contributions after the October 1 billing statement.
Through the Member Portal or what’s best for you: The most efficient way to update your schedules is to submit them through the Member Portal. The Portal is available to update as you have changes or all-at-once prior to renewal. Another way is to email spreadsheets with updated schedules.
Contact your Member Services Manager with questions about the Member Portal, the rerate process, or anything at all!
Risk Management Minute: Why was the TML Risk Pool Created?
In 1973, the Texas Legislature passed legislation mandating that Texas cities provide workers' compensation coverage to their employees. At that time, most traditional insurance companies refused to write the coverage or quoted exorbitant rates. For those reasons, the legislation also authorized the creation of the first government risk pool in the United States, which was the predecessor of the TML Intergovernmental Risk Pool as we know it today.
The Texas Municipal League and several cities used the 1973 legislation to “pool” their resources. Using contracts called “interlocal agreements,” they created the “Texas Municipal League Workers' Compensation Joint Insurance Fund.” The Fund began operating on July 1, 1974, with close to 100 members. (Liability and Property Funds were added to the Pool in 1981.)
Today, almost 50 years later, the Pool provides workers’ compensation coverage for almost 2,400 local governments, which employ 200,000 local government employees, including 34,000 first responders. An 18-member Board of Trustees – composed primarily of city officials – oversees 250 Pool employees who administer the coverages.
T.I.P.S. Sheet: Chainsaw Safety
One service provided by the Pool’s Loss Prevention Department are T.I.P.S. (Together Improving Processes and Safety) Sheets. Check out the latest sheet on safe chainsaw practices.
