Posted: Jan 29, 2021 6:00 AM AT | Last Updated: January 29 Halifax councillors will be able to examine the section of the municipal budget that deals with insurance costs on Feb. 3. (Robert Short/CBC) comments The cost of municipal insurance for the city of Halifax is going up, partly due to storms and partly due to COVID-19. City spokesperson Klara Needler wrote in an email that the cost had jumped 45 per cent between June 2019 and May 2020. "This increase was partly due to changes in rating and value, including weather related claims due to weather events, as well as COVID-19 impacts on the general insurance marketplace," she wrote.