By Cathy Passmore

Residents voiced complaints about the condition of their roads during the Commissioners Court meeting on July 31.

The recent rainy season has played havoc with county roads, particularly County Road 224.

County officials were presented with a report on the conditions by residents who have homes along the road. After hearing the report about the dangers and the possible inability of important traffic to get through, County Commissioner Darrel Blaschke assured residents that the county would give its best effort to repair and resurface the road "as soon as I can."

Later discussion revealed that it would take time and money to get all of the county repairs done since the continual rain has affected many of the outlying areas.

A new dental insurance carrier for county employees will be offered at the August enrollment time.

Ann Franke, tax assessor-collector, was given the approval to calculate the effective rollback tax rates for the 2007-2008 tax year, followed by approval to accept split-payments for taxes for the 2008 tax year with two payments allowed (in November and June) for regular taxpayers and four quarterly payments for senior citizens.

The court voted to approve for Karnes County the ability to tax tangible property in transit, according to a new section in the Texas Tax Code.

After discussion in closed session, officials postponed making a decision concerning approval or disapproval of the extension of the present contract with Waste Management through August 31, 2009.

Review of next year’s budget followed in a workshop session. After this preliminary review of the budget, the meeting adjourned.