CLAYTON, La. &8212; The Town of Clayton will have to look at ways to pay for rising insurance costs for employees, Mayor Wilbert Washington said Tuesday.

Rates will increase in 2006 Clayton&8217;s Health and Accident insurance, which covers Town Clerk Sadie Jones and Assistant Clerk Sally Lewis.

Other employees have their insurance covered through other means, Jones said.

The Clayton Board of Alderman agreed Tuesday to postpone taking any action on the insurance question until its Jan. 3, 2006 meeting.

The town gets the insurance through Risk Management Inc., an insurance company headquartered in Baton Rouge.

The rates for employee insurance will increase to $471.90 per month from $392.50.

The carve out portion will increase to $320.88 per month from $264.04.

Washington said he had only received notice of the increase Tuesday afternoon in the form of a letter from the insurance company and wanted more time to review it and look at possible ways to pay for the increase before making a decision.

The town&8217;s insurance rate also increased in 2004, Jones said.

At the time, money that had been intended for a raise for the clerks went instead to help cover the increase.

The town pays most of the premium for the insurance, with some coming from the employees, Jones said.