Leelanau County has paid out so few workers compensation claims over the past three years that the county has received a $66,788 rebate check and a reduction in its annual insurance premium for coverage.

Acting as its executive committee Tuesday morning, the county board voted 7-0 to approve renewal of a workers compensation contract for 2008 with Peterson McGregor & Associates of Traverse City for a $69,362 premium. The 2007 premium was $74,666.

The board’s action followed a briefing from insurance company representative Dennis Muth, who told commissioners that the county’s “experience modification” multiplier was “about as low as you can get,” in terms of the company having to pay claims. During a three-year period, the company was required to pay out less than $11,000 to reimburse county employees who were injured on the job.

Recommendations made by the county board’s executive committee this week will be subject to final action by the board at its regular monthly meeting next Tuesday evening.

In other business at its meeting this week, the Leelanau County Board of Commissioners:

• Decided in a 7-0 vote to accept a $41,974 grant from the Michigan Department of Natural Resources to help fund the Leelanau County Sheriff Department’s Marine Patrol this year. Marine Patrol commander Charles Belanger told commissioners it cost about $72,000 to run the entire program last year.

• Decided to establish a $15 fee for fingerprinting services provided by the Sheriff’s Department for people seeking various licenses or employment in sensitive occupations. However, unpaid volunteer workers needing fingerprints would be exempt from paying the fee. The vote was 5-2 with District No. 2 commissioner Mark Walter and District No. 5 commissioner David “Chauncey” Shiflett opposed. The two indicated they preferred charging the fee to everyone consistently.

• Agreed to accept a $400 donation from organizers of the Suttons Bay Art Festival to help underwrite an “inmate art program” at the county jail. The vote to accept the unsolicited check was 6-1, with District No. 7 commissioner Melinda Lautner opposed. Lautner said she had no problem with inmates creating art, but felt the staff might be putting too much effort into the program. Jail commander Cheryl King responded that the jail staff was volunteering its time to manage the inmate art program.

• Agreed in a 7-0 vote to reimburse tuition for a corrections officer who is pursuing an associates degree in criminal justice at Northwestern Michigan College. The amount requested was $679 for the summer term. Tuition reimbursements were written into a new contract this year between the county and the union representing corrections officers.

• Authorized county clerk Michelle Crocker to expend up to $15,000 to microfilm historic county records so that paper copies of the records will not need to be transferred from the courthouse in Leland to the Governmental Center in Suttons Bay Township after construction is completed on the new facility. The vote was 7-0.

• Authorized county treasurer Vicki Kilway to purchase a scanner for $7,470 that will be used to store historic documents electronically, also in anticipation of the relocation of the county seat to Suttons Bay Township. The vote was 6-1, with Lautner opposed. Lautner questioned whether a scanner already in operation was being utilized fully, and Kilway assured her it was.

• Agreed to adopt a routine resolution calling on the county to collect 2007 summer taxes. Extra-voted millage are collected on winter tax bills, while the county’s “allocated” millage is now collected in the summer. The millage rate appearing on July 2007 tax bills will be 3.5985 mills.

• Approved a recommendation from Leelanau County Commission on Aging director Rosie Steffens to appoint two new members of the Commission on Aging Board. Dale Alberts of Cedar and Eugene Adams of Cedar will replace Charles Ryant, who died earlier this year, and Mary Aler, who recently resigned from the board.

• Decided to rescind a resolution the board adopted last year authorizing the purchase of two lots in the BayView development for an affordable housing program in Suttons Bay. The county was not able to close on the lots as planned “due to liens on the property and infrastructure delays,” according to a summary provided by county officials. “The recent liens placed on the property made the ‘deal’ completely unacceptable and unworkable for the county,” the summary stated.

• Voted 5-2 to purchase a lot in Lake Leelanau for an “affordable housing” program instead of the two lots in Suttons Bay as previously approved. The cost of the lot is $50,000, which would be paid through grant funding from the Michigan State Housing Development Authority. Opposed were Lautner and District No. 3 commissioner Will Bunek.

• Voted 5-2, with Lautner and Bunek opposed, to adopt a resolution facilitating establishment of a community septic system that would serve the new “affordable” housing development in Lake Leelanau, known as Provemont Pines. Units in the duplex development would sell for around $85,000 each to qualified applicants.