To: Board of Supervisors
Department or Agency Name(s): Human Resources Department
Staff Name and Phone Number: Janell Crane, 707-565-2885
Vote Requirement: Majority
Supervisorial District(s): Countywide
Title:
Title
Amendment of Public Risk Innovation, Solutions, and Management (PRISM) Joint Powers Agreement
End
Recommended Action:
Recommended action
Adopt a Resolution approving amendments to the PRISM Joint Powers Agreement and authorize the County’s Risk Manager to execute the amended Joint Powers Agreement.
end
Executive Summary:
Public Risk Innovation, Solutions, and Management (PRISM), a Joint Powers Authority (JPA), was originally formed in 1979 by and for California Counties by the California State Association of Counties, to procure casualty coverage, pool risk, and provide risk management services.
The proposed amendment to the Joint Powers Agreement updates the PRISM’s governance structure to better reflect the long-standing participation and contributions of non-County public entity members. Key changes include increasing public entity representation on the Board of Directors from 7 to 17 voting seats (for a total of 71 members), expanding the Executive Committee from 11 to 13 members, and making additional updates to align the Agreement with current operations.
These amendments are intended to modernize governance, enhance representation, and clarify PRISM’s role as a risk-sharing pool rather than an insurance provider.
Discussion:
PRISM, a Joint Powers Authority, was formed by and for the California counties in 1979 by the California State Association of Counties (CSAC) under section 6500 et seq. of the California Government Code to procure casualty coverage, pool risk, and provide risk management services. The County of Sonoma formally became a member in September 1979 by Resolution 64492. Today, 54 out of the 58 California Counties participate in one or more of the PRISM programs. In 2001, PRISM expanded its offerings to other California public agencies. Currently, over 70% of California cities participate in one or more of the PRISM programs. In addition, a variety of special districts, school districts, and JPA’s also participate in PRISM Programs. PRISM is recognized as the largest public entity property and casualty pool in the United States.
After 25 years of having public entity members participate in PRISM, the members of PRISM have proposed to update the composition of the Board of Directors to recognize the partnership that the counties have with the public entity members. At present, the PRISM Board of Directors is composed of 54 county members (all county members have a voting position on the Board of Directors) and 7 public entity voting spots for a total of 61 voting members. There are also 3 alternates for the public entity votes, but they only stand in place of the 7 voting spots and not in addition to. The proposal is to add 10 additional voting public entity board seats so that the total number of public entity voting seats will be 17 (with 3 additional alternates) instead of 7 (with 3 additional alternates). This results in a total of 71 voting Board of Directors seats. Under this proposal, the counties will have a total of 76% of the total voting Board of Director seats.
In addition, the PRISM members have also proposed to update the composition of the Executive Committee which oversees the day-to-day activities of the organization. Currently, the executive Committee has 11 members, and the proposal is to increase the number to 13 with an additional 2 alternates. The Executive Committee members are elected by the Board of Directors. Other proposed changes are updates to the Agreement that reflect the current operations of the organization and the removal the word “insurance” from the document since the organization is a risk sharing pool, not insurance.
All members of the JPA must approve the amended JPA agreement, which will become effective upon PRISM obtaining signed copies of the amended agreement from two thirds of the voting board members - with the intent of achieving this by July 1, 2026.
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors authorize the County’s Risk Manager to execute the amended Joint Powers Agreement.
Strategic Plan:
N/A
Racial Equity:
Was this item identified as an opportunity to apply the Racial Equity Toolkit?
No
Prior Board Actions:
Various Board actions between 1979 and 2020 authorized joining the PRISM JPA, amended the JPA agreement and appointed County staff to the PRISM Board of Directors.
Fiscal Summary
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FY25-26 Adopted |
FY26-27 Projected |
FY27-28 Projected |
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Narrative Explanation of Fiscal Impacts:
None.
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Staffing Impacts: |
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Narrative Explanation of Staffing Impacts (If Required):
None.
Attachments:
Resolution
Related Items “On File” with the Clerk of the Board:
1. Summary of Proposed Changes to the Joint Powers Agreement
2. Redline Version of the Proposed Amended Joint Powers Agreement
3. Clean Version of the Amended Joint Powers Agreement