I'm packing my bags for the trek to Galveston and the Civil Law conference, so maybe someone out there can think over the following question: can a commissioners court request for bids on employee health and dental insurance on a multi-year basis? I've scanned the Constitution and Local Government Code and don't find such an exception to the "current revenues" retriction. Your input would be appreciated.

Having returned from the Galveston Civil Law seminar and visited with contracts guru Ray Rike from Tarrant County, the answer about multi-year contracts is this: It is not a "debt" for the purposes of Art. 11, Sec. 7, TX Const., if the multi-year contract reserves to the commissioners court the ability to unconditionally terminate the contract at the end of each budget period, thus keeping the obligation within the confines of "current revenues." See 813 S.W.2d 705 and 871 S.W.2d 765. Thanks, Ray.