Warren County on Monday became the 25th county in the state to insure its property and other risk-carrying infrastructure with a multicounty benefit pool sponsored by the state’s supervisors’ association.

Supervisors chose the Mississippi Association of Supervisors Insurance Trust after its proposal to insure county buildings such as the courthouse, holdings such as the old U.S. 80 bridge and to handle various liability claims. The price of annual premiums drove a 4-1 vote on the issue, as a $237,144 quote from the insurance pool beat three competing proposals.

“After analyzing all this, based on price, my recommendation is to accept the pool,” county administrator John Smith said.

Additional proposals came from Zurich Insurance, which proposed a $253,508 premium; The Travelers Companies, which had been the county’s liability carrier on its structures for about 20 years, at $315,897; and Stone Oak Underwriters Inc., at $316,877. The pool, or MASIT, had valued the county’s property at $47 million, MAS executive director Derrick Surrette said during part of a presentation on the plan.

Apparent clarity in the quotes didn’t stop spirited debate, as 90 minutes of meetings on the topic turned into more of a town-hall meeting than a routine bid opening.

In a departure from similar meetings to pick a professional service for local government, competitors asked the questions. Surrette was asked about how the size of the insurance pool affected premiums long-term. Currently, there’s a $250 million limit on the pool.

“We are watching with our actuaries to see how much property we have insured, and we will raise that to $300 million or $350 million as more counties your size up,” Surrette said in response to questions from supervisors and Brian Johnson, an agent for Jackson-based Fisher Brown Bottrell Insurance Inc., who presented the Zurich proposal.

“Does the premium go up?” District 1 Supervisor John Arnold asked.

“Good question,” Surrette said. “I don’t know if I can answer that. It will be determined by the companies we buy re-insurance from. It will cost us more money as a pool to buy re-insurance. But, we can spread that cost out.”

Counties nearest Warren who’ve joined the MASIT property and casualty pool include Hinds, Madison, Copiah and Jefferson.

District 5 Supervisor Richard George suggested keeping Travelers around as the county’s liability insurer despite a higher premium, based on past performance. His motion died for lack of a second.

“Given the past service when called on for our protection, Travelers has never failed us,” George said. “They’ve been timely and dependable.”

District 3 Supervisor Charles Selmon, who was president of MAS in 2012, motioned for MASIT, which passed 4-1 with George dissenting.