County leaders will soon receive instructions on how to lower rural homeowner’s insurance rates.

Larry Carr, superintendent of the public protection department of the Mississippi State Ratings Bureau addressed the board of supervisors at Tuesday’s meeting.

In order to bring fire insurance rates down, the county must meet several requirements, Carr said. The goal is to lower an area’s rating on a scale of one to 10, one being the best and thus lowest insurance rates, and 10 indicating the least protected areas.

One of the options available is to create legal fire districts, he said. The county already has Kingston, Liberty Road and Lake Montrose Fire Districts.

The only area of the county rated below a 10, other than the city’s rating of four, is the Kingston Fire District, with a nine rating.

Foster Mound Road district isn’t rated at all.

In order to have the Foster Mound Road district rated, and thus lower the area’s insurance rates, Carr said he would send the county an application to fill out and start the rating process.

“We’re going to tell you what you need to do, but we’re not going to come back and hold your hand,” Carr said. “It’s up to you.”

The county also has to consider the interlocal agreement it has with the city. The county pays the city a certain amount each year, and the city’s fire department responds to some county fires.

Carr suggested the county think about creating a fire district around the city limits to take advantage of the agreement. If the county completes certain paperwork, and if the areas meet requirements, the areas within roughly two miles of the city limits might garner a lower rating because of the city’s response time.

Another idea the county might look at, Carr said, was to combine fire districts, if it was feasible. This would address the volunteer firefighter shortages many of the volunteer stations experience.

Fire ratings play a big part in homeowner’s insurance, Jack Stephens Jr. of Stephens and Hobdy Insurance, who attended the meeting.

In Adams County, fire insurance can comprise 60 to 70 percent of insurance bills, he said.

And while lowering the cost of insurance is important, both Carr and Stephens said it was most important to make sure houses were protected.

“We’re improving the protection of life and property,” Stephens said. “Anything (monetarily) that follows is just a reward for doing a good job.”

In other business:

The board said they would contact the school bus services and investigate how to safely get a school bus across the wooden bridge on Robbins Lake Road.

Representatives for Natchez Regional Medical Center presented their annual financial report. The hospital made roughly $325,000, CFO Mike Anderson said.

After expressing his disappointment with Civil Defense Director George Souderes regarding fire coordination and updating the county’s disaster response plan, Supervisor Henry Watts moved to relieve Souderes and search for a replacement. The motion failed for lack of a second. Other supervisors voiced concern about seconding the motion because Souderes was not present to defend himself.

County Attorney Bob Latham said he received suggested changes from Metro Ambulance Services for the proposed ambulance ordinance and would review them.