FERRIDAY — A paperwork oversight could cost Ferriday residents and business owners hundreds of extra dollars in fire insurance premiums that started June 1.

Ferriday Mayor Gene Allen said Acting Fire Chief Snetville Polk, who took over after Herman Smith retired, didn’t fill out state insurance paperwork properly.

As a result the state downgraded the town’s insurance protection rating from class 6 to 10, which is the equivalent of not having any fire protection.

Ferriday insurance agent Ronnie Bradford, of Ronnie Bradford Insurance, said the owner of a $100,000 home in Ferriday with a class 6 rating is paying approximately $1,200 per year for fire insurance. Under a protection class 10 rating, that homeowner would pay approximately $1,500 each year, Bradford said.

“It’s a substantial rate increase,” he said. “You are looking at a 25-percent increase between a class 6 and a class 10.”

Bradford said homeowners living outside the Ferriday limits under the protection of the Concordia Parish Fire District would continue to get class 6 rates.

Lacking only the paperwork, though, Bradford said this is something that can be fixed.

“You’ve got the equipment and the hydrants,” Bradford said. “It’s just a paperwork thing.”

Mayor-elect Sherrie Jacobs said she was aware of the issue and had started working to correct the paperwork mistake.

She said, once finished the proper forms would be sent to the Louisiana Office of State Fire Marshal.

“We are already working on getting this corrected,” she said.

Jacobs will be sworn in on July 1. Jacobs has said she intends to hire former Ferriday Fire Chief Joe Sontoyo to this post.

Polk could not be reached for comment.