The Cass County Board of Supervisors met in a brief session Wednesday morning. On their light agenda for the day, was a 1^st Quarter report for Fiscal Year 2013-2014 from Veterans Affairs Director Mitch Holmes.

Holmes said his office has assisted 288 individual veterans during the Quarter. Claims for assistance in the Quarter amounted to slightly more than $2,100, with 16 having been filed. Holmes says that’s slightly higher than the same time frame last year, and is likely the result of an increase in the cost of living. Holmes said there were 25 applications for Federal VA Compensation and Pension benefits, which he said was spurred by the recently approved driver’s license benefit.

Claims covered reimbursement for transportation costs, rent, utilities and groceries. Holmes said Veterans who desire to have a “Veteran” designation on their license, need to come to his courthouse office. He said you’ll need to bring your DD-214 form as proof of Honorable Discharge in order to qualify.

Total contacts with Veterans for the quarter, including office and home visits, e-mail and other forms of correspondence, amounted to 1,717. Holmes said his office was not affected by the partial government shutdown, since he is a County employee. The only hitch was that he was unable to get into the Federal VA office, but he was still able to get paperwork accomplished on his end. Holmes said also, there should be no issues with Veterans receiving their disability benefits, due to the partial government shutdown.