Despite being delayed for several months, the audit of Cass County’s 2013 finances painted stable picture amidst a year of upheaval within the county government.

Alan Panter, a representative with East Lansing based accounting firm Abraham and Gaffney, presented the findings of the company’s recent audit to the board of commissioners during its meeting on Thursday night. The investigation uncovered that the county had experienced fairly minimal changes between 2012 and 2013.

Last year, the county’s general fund balance, the accumulation of local revenues minus expenditures, increased about $77,000 compared to the previous year, Panter said.

“That’s a fairly minimal addition to the fund balance,” Panter said.

Helping contribute to his increase was a greater amount of income generated by the county last year, totaling $14.5 million dollars, an 8 percent increase over the previous year. The year before, the county brought in around $13.5 million, Panter said.

“Property taxes went up this year,” he said. “There were also some new grants for the district and circuit courts. Also, the county took over the Department of Human Services childcare fund in January 2013, so there were some additional revenues and expenditures associated with that.”

However, expenses also increased slightly last year compared to 2012, from $13.4 to $14.4 million, Panter said.

“More money in, more money out, especially when it’s grants,” he said.

The representative also presented a longer-term snapshot of the county’s finances over the past five years. According to their findings, the county fund balance has increased four of the five years, with last year’s revenue and expenses at the highest point during the period.

Normally, state law mandates that counties’ have their annual audit completed by March 31. This year, though, Cass received permission to have theirs completed later in the year, due to setbacks caused by the resignation of former administrator Louis Csokasy last July.

Other business conducted by the board Thursday included:

• Reappointments of Tommy Harman, Eric Shaffer, Mike Laufer, Richard Accoe, Carl Higley and James Dood to the county solid waste planning committee for terms ending June 1, 2016.

• Approval of a budget amendment to transfer $8,313 from the traffic enforcement fund for purchase of an in-car camera for the Cass County Sheriff’s Office.

• Approval of a mutual release and settlement agreement between the county and Diamond eVentures, LLC.