ORANGE —
Orange County residents will continue to pay a $10 Road and Bridge fee when they register a vehicle in the county or renew their license plates. But they will not be charged an additional $1.50 Child Safety fee.
Orange County commissioners voted Monday during their weekly meeting to continue the Road and Bridge fee, which the county currently collects, while turning down the option of adding a Child Safety fee following the recommendation of County Tax Assessor-Collector Linda Gunstream.
County Judge Carl Thibodeaux said all of the Road and Bridge fees stay in the county, rather than going to the state.
“It goes into a special fund in the Road and Bridge Department that is strictly limited to paying for road materials,” Thibodeaux said.
The commissioners tabled two agenda items – awarding a contract for the county's bulk fuel needs and the adoption of county employee health insurance coverage for Fiscal Year 2012-2013.
Two companies, including one local firm, submitted bids for the bulk fuel contract. The commissioners ordered assistant county attorney Douglas Manning to review the companies' past performances in work for the county, as well as other aspects of the contract.
That contract likely will be awarded at next Monday's meeting.
The commissioners have been talking about the county health insurance coverage for the past two weeks.
Thibodeaux said new federal laws, such as the Affordable Health Care Act, will affect how much the county will have to spend.
The county currently is self-insured, a point Thibodeaux said is an advantage for taxpayers and county employees.
“It looks like there will have to be an increase in deposit to cover our needs. But it's still way better than going back out for bids from private companies,” he said. “The claims would be the same amount of money for a private company. The difference is we're not making a profit from our hospitalization insurance. But a private company naturally would have to make a profit to satisfy stockholders.”
The county has not raised its insurance fund deposit for five years, and the fund balance has been decreasing, Thibodeaux said. “We're not out to make a profit, we're just out to break even. But we do have to cover our liabilities. We do not want to shortchange out employees. We want them to have the best possible coverage. But on the other hand, we also have to protect the county's financial integrity.”
Commissioners Court agendas and minutes are available on the county website at: www.co.orange.tx.us
Agendas must be posted 72 hours before each meeting.
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