In spite of his ongoing concerns about recent changes to how Michigan handles its funding for veterans’ benefits, Cass County Veterans Affairs Director Tom Green is staying on top of the needs of local men and women who served their country in the Armed Forces.

Green shared the actions the department has made over the last 12 months to benefit local veterans during his annual presentation to the Cass County Board of Commissioners during its meeting Thursday in Cassopolis.

During the 2016 fiscal year, the Cass County VA issued around $5,800 worth of monetary assistance to veterans or their surviving spouses. The department drew around $2,300 from the pool of $4,000 budgeted to it by the county, and drew another $3,500 from the Michigan Veterans Trust Fund, a program set up by the state to provide financial assistant to veterans.

In spite of paying slightly more for assistance compared to the previous fiscal year, the number of requests declined. Green filed 43 requests for healthcare assistance and more than 300 claims for other benefits, including physical and mental disability, burial benefits or access to military records from surviving family members.

“Contributing to a relatively low request for assistance this past year was the mild winter we just had,” Green said. “Plus, the economy is better, in terms of jobs, so more veterans can be self-sufficient.”

On top of the benefits from the local VA office, county veterans received more than $10 million in benefits from the federal government this past fiscal year, Green said.

One of Green’s other annual duties is visiting the county’s veterans service organizations — the four VFW and two American Legion branches — in order to update their members on the activities of the VA office, he said.

“Veterans seem to get information on VA benefits from other veterans — and it is not always the correct information,” Green said. “It’s ‘my buddy said I need to come in and file for this,’ or ‘my buddy said this.’ I think if I can get out to these organizations and keep them up to date on changes on rules and regulations and changes to Michigan laws, things like that, at least the information that gets shared will likely be the correct information.”

In spite the support the VA provides, the local population of veterans continued to decline over the past year.

When Green took over as director in 2009, around 5,000 veterans lived in Cass County; that number has fallen to around 4,200 today. The director said this drop is part of a national trend, caused by the continuing losses of World War II and Korean War veterans as well as the declining number of men and women who have served in the armed forces over the last several decades.

In spite of the concerns he shared with the board last year about the changes to the Michigan Veterans Trust Fund, in which the state would eliminate local distribution boards in favor of regional ones, the new laws have not greatly impacted Cass County. The county has been able to retain its local authority, although Green said the state reserves the right to switch the county over to the regional system.

In addition, in October, the state will no longer directly provide funding to the county for veterans’ benefits, Green said. Instead, the state will directly pay vendors, such as electric or propane companies, for their services to veterans.