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extend the coverage of its self insurance to afford protection in excess of any limitations on liability established to law. Unless expressly provided in the ordinance or resolution extending the coverage, the statutory limitation on liability shall not be deemed to have been waived. The Minnesota Federal District Court has held even if Learn More cities do not enact an ordinance or resolution indicating that they are self-insured or members of a self-insurance See Reimer v. City of Crookston pool,if the evidence establishes membership in LMCIT or and Crookston Public School other self-insurance pool, then the statutory tort caps are District #593, 2003 WL applicable unless expressly waived by the city. 22703218 (D. Minn. 2003) for more information. The LMCIT policy documents specifically state that although the city may have elected to purchase coverage in excess of the statutory limits [to cover non-tort or federal claims], the city has opted to not waive the tort cap limits. Thus, unless city expressly waives tort cap liability limits, purchase of excess or additional coverage will not affect the statutory tort cap limit. Please refer to the attachment entitled “LMCIT Liability Coverage Options, Liability Limits, Coverage Limits and Waiver” for complete discussion on these issues. Multiple Claimants and the Municipal Tort Caps 35 W Bridge Collapse Learn More On August 1, 2007, the I35W Bridgespanning the See McCarty, et. al. v. City of Mississippi River near downtown Minneapolis collapsed, Minneapolis, et. al., 654 N.W.2d resulting in the death of 13 people and injuring over 100 353 (Minn. App. 2002) for more others. information. The Minnesota Legislature deemed,“the collapse was a catastrophe of historic proportions…No other structure owned by the state has ever fallenwith such devastating physical and psychological impact on so many.” Since the state owned and maintained the I35W Bridge, it was the primary target defendant. However, the state wasprotected by an individual tort cap of $300,000 per individual claimant as well as a $1 million per occurrence cap. There was simply no way to adequately compensate the 179 claimants from that tort cap pool. Learn More To avoid a potential constitutional challengeto the tort cap limits and to attempt to provide compensation for the See Minn. Stat. 3.7391-7394 victims of the I35W Bridge collapse, the Minnesota signed by Governor Pawlenty on Legislature enacted special legislation to deal with this May 8, 2008. tragedy. The essential terms of the bridge fund are as follows: Non-liability based fund determined claimantsdidn’t need to establish fault. State individual tort cap retroactively adjusted to $400,000 effective August 1, 2007. 7