First Day of Schol — Most public schools throughout Kingsville, Bishop and the Coastal Bend Area welcomed students back into the classroom for the start of another academic year. Here Harvey Elementary Pre-kindergarten 4 teacher Maria Benavides welcomes Ava Alarcon to her classroom and to the first day of school. The Kleberg County Commissioner’s Court set September 1 as the effective date of the seven percent hotel/motel occupancy tax which will affect the rural outlying areas of Kleberg County.

The court will collect revenues quarterly, every three months, and reports must be submitted to the county monthly as to how much tax was collected.

“To make it clear, September 1 is the date that the tax will go into effect, not the first date of collection,” County Judge Pete De La Garza said at the special meeting held Thursday. “There has been some confusion among some of the hotel/motel owners who were thinking money was due Sept. 1, and we need to make that clear that the first payment to the county will be due at the end of December/ early January.”

Pct. 1 County Commissioner David Rosse suggested that the hotel/ motel owners have a ten-day grace period after the quarter to turn in their revenues to the county treasurer and the suggestion was added to the motion.

The tax will be applied to all lodging establishments in the rural areas, including