By Cindi Andrews
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Like the kid who keeps his driving record clean, Great American Ball Park's trouble-free first months are about to pay off in the form of lower insurance costs for Hamilton County.

The county's rates for liability insurance - the coverage that pays when someone gets injured - for Great American and Paul Brown Stadium will drop a combined $674,000 in August, according to county Risk Manager Timothy Grabenstein.

Taxpayers are paying almost $1.8 million this year to insure the two county-owned stadiums, but will have to pony up just $1.1 million in the coming year.

That's for $100 million worth of coverage on each stadium.

The savings is partly a result of insurance rates for major public facilities dropping from post-9-11 highs to a more normal range, Assistant County Administrator Eric Stuckey said.

But it's also because Great American was an unknown when the county went shopping for a liability policy this year, Grabenstein said. Now that it's been open a few months, insurance companies are more comfortable covering it.

Coverage for Great American since it opened in March cost $1 million, whereas coverage for the next 12 months will total $557,110.

"They're loving what we're doing," Grabenstein said.

Hamilton County residents needn't watch their mailboxes for a tax rebate, however. The savings is going to be put toward other county riverfront projects, Stuckey said.

E-mail candrews@enquirer.com