About $20,000 would be saved from federal and state insurance programs if all 82 Mississippi counties enact the International Building Code, state Commissioner of Insurance Mike Chaney said Thursday.

Addressing the Port City Kiwanis, the first-year insurance commissioner showed updated figures by the Mississippi Insurance Department for enacting the guidelines statewide.

Thus far, 27 percent of the state’s counties have adopted the international standard for residential and commercial structures, up from just 5 percent in the year leading up to Hurricane Katrina.

“I’m a big believer in building codes,” Chaney said. “It needs support from supervisors to adopt statewide.”

The Mississippi wind pool was established in 1987 for provide wind and hail insurance policies for high risk properties in the six Mississippi coastal counties not covered by private insurance. It is covered by customer premiums. Lawmakers authorized $25 million to defray costs in fiscal 2008 and another $20 million for fiscal 2009.

Chaney has said any reconstruction of 50 percent or more or any new construction must adhere by either the residential or commercial codes to qualify for wind pool coverage. Among six bills passed by state lawmakers during the 2008 regular session was a bill laden with incentives for local governments to enact building code standards, using premium tax deposit increases as the instrument.

New construction and improvements to existing buildings in Vicksburg are governed by zoning laws, based mainly on the international standards. In non-municipal Warren County, no such regulations or zoning laws exist.

Enrollment at school systems in Harrison, Hancock, Jackson, Pearl River, Stone and George counties has either returned to pre-Katrina levels or increased, particularly in non-municipal schools, Chaney said.

Seemingly successful rebuilding of school systems on the coast has occurred at reduced costs due to codes, Chaney said.

“When you rebuild to code, you save a lot of money,” Chaney said.

Chaney, 64, won election last year to the office occupied by George Dale for 32 years. A Republican and Tupelo native, Chaney was a businessman in Vicksburg for many years before entering elective office in 1993. He served six years in the state House and eight years in the Senate before an 11th-hour decision to run for commissioner of insurance.

The position also functions as the state fire marshal, which oversees programs to defray costs of fire trucks to rural volunteer fire departments in the state. This year, $239,204 was available to Warren County, above the statewide average.

Six bills supported by Chaney’s office were passed by lawmakers and signed into law. They included bills requiring hospitals’ participation in the trauma care program and insurance mandates and inspection fees in the manufactured home industry.