Auditor calls for proper purchasing procedure

At the beginning of the May 9 session of the Van Zandt County Commissioners Court, VZC Judge Don Kirkpatrick addressed rumors about the county being bankrupt.

“The rumor started in Smith County that our county is bankrupt,” said Kirkpatrick. “Let me assure you that the county is not bankrupt. The county did not have much money before the recent tornadoes. Anytime you have a disaster, the cost of the cleanup and the appraisal costs are high. The appraisal district will be coming to a commissioners’ court meeting soon and request that we allow them to go out and re-appraise all of the homes that were damaged or destroyed. I can assure you that we are all still working together.”

In other business, the commissioners approved a recommendation from Kirkpatrick to extend the county’s disaster declaration for an additional 20 days to expire May 26.

Kirkpatrick originally signed a seven-day disaster declaration immediately after the tornadoes hit the county but the extension of the order required approval from the commissioners.

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