ERIC STIRGUS
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Some Atlanta business owners and wealthy homeowners will pay higher insurance premiums starting in February, state Insurance and Fire Safety Commissioner John Oxendine said Monday.

The higher rates are a result of a recent review by the New Jersey-based Insurance Services Office, which grades local governments on their fire safety efforts for the state.

Oxendine added the increase would have a "minor" impact on some homeowners, but said he did not know how much more they or business owners could pay for insurance.

Atlanta's grade fell from a 2 to a 3 on a scale of a 1 to 10, with 1 being the best.

In June, the ISO gave Atlanta a 4 rating, but Oxendine said the city raised its grade by making efforts to improve training, the condition of its fire hydrants and water supply and in other areas.

Mayor Shirley Franklin accused Oxendine, a Republican gubernatorial candidate, of playing politics with the review process.

The city said in a statement that Oxendine disregarded ISO policy by not giving them six months to present the office a complete plan.

The ISO Web site says a community that gets a lower rating has six months after upon notification to make improvements.

"I take seriously my responsibility to work every day to make city government better, and I refuse to play politics about city business," said Franklin, a Democrat, who's in the last months of her term.

"I will call out others when they put the interests of city homeowners and business owners at risk simply to play on the 6 o'clock news. The city expects to be treated fairly by its political leaders, whether local or state officials."

Oxendine said earlier that the city wanted more time to raise its rating back to a 2, but he refused the request.

"We've given them more time," he said. "There is a point where you've got to say 'no.' "

The commissioner denied there was any political motivation to his actions.

"The grade is the grade," he said.

Oxendine asked for the inspection last year after the city cut its Fire Department budget to balance its books to help Atlanta manage through what Franklin often calls "the Great Recession."

Oxendine said the city should have made cuts in other areas.

"It is a message to other local governments that if you cut life and property funding, there might be consequences," he said.

Atlanta hadn't been inspected since 1974. Oxendine could not say when the city will next be inspected.

"It will not be another 30 years," he said.

Related
Atlanta Fire Department ISO Rating Drops


Copyright 2009 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
September 15, 2009