New auditing firm approved by VZC commissioners
Photos by David Barber
VZC Chief Appraiser Scott Hyde speaks to the VZC Commissioners Court Nov. 22 about a proposed tax collection agreement between the county appraisal district and the county. Following Hyde’s presentation, the court voted unanimously to accept the agreement.
After reviewing proposals from three different firms, the Van Zandt County Commissioners Court voted unanimously to hire Patillo, Brown & Hill of Waco as the new auditing firm for the county for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30, 2016.
During their Nov. 22 regular meeting, the commissioners heard proposals from County Auditor Freddy Thomas concerning the proposals from the three auditing firms including the current firm for the county, Gollob Morgan Peddy of Tyler.
“I believe that the fees we are currently paying are out of line with what other counties, larger than our county, are paying for auditing fees right now,” pointed out Thomas. “The past two years, we have paid $95,000 and $90,000 respectively. I feel right now that we are paying too much money for an outside audit and we need to reconsider and re-evaluate this. The cost is getting out of control. I think we need to make a change.”
Proposals submitted for consideration by the three auditing firms were as follows: Patillo, Brown & Hill, $37,000; Henry & Peters of Tyler, $50,000-$55,000; and Gollob Morgan Peddy, $85,000. The figures submitted were maximum amounts by each firm. Commissioners accepted the lowest bid that was submitted.
In other business, the commissioners officially canvassed the votes from the Nov. 8 General Election after hearing a presentation from County Chief Election Deputy Elsa Smith.
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