The New Year started off with an extra piece of good news as the final figures for the county show its carryover into 2012 is almost a quarter-million dollars more than anticipated.

The final figures for the unencumbered carryover balance have come in at $1,313,236.05, according to County Auditor Jason Stephens. That compares to the carryover of $997,252.96 that went into the 2011 budget.

Last week the county commissioners approved the budget for 2012 at $13,181,135, which was less than the budget for 2011 of $14,163,572. That budget had been based on a carryover of $1.1 million.

“This is better than I expected,” Commission President Les Boggs said. “I am very happy with that figure. This commission has been very frugal with taxpayers’ money. This didn’t happen by accident. We had a plan and followed through with that plan and now we are seeing the results of it.”

The new carryover figure is an increase of $315,984 over last year or 31.7 percent. That compares to when Boggs took office in 2009 when there was a $150,000 carryover with almost a half-million dollars in unpaid bills.

“That (carryover) is about one month of expenses,” Stephens said. “It is an attribute to several things — one being fiscally conservative.”

But the auditor also cites the switch to a county-operated emergency medical service, instead of working in a partnership of the now defunct Southeast Ohio Emergency Medical Service.

“At the same time it shows the impact of the EMS and the taxpayers not having to supplement it like before,” Stephens said. “The EMS is performing better than we had anticipated financially. That is a big chunk of it. Little things start to add up.”

SEOEMS was a collaborative arrangement of Jackson, Lawrence and Athens counties.

“But 2012 will be tough even though we have a larger balance from the county with the decreasing revenue from the state from the Local Government Fund and an increase in local health insurance,” the auditor said.

In 2011 the LGF was $1,055,000 compared to this year where funding will come in at $806,000. Also insurance premiums for county employees are going up 9 percent adding an expense of $250,000 over 2011.

“All in all it is a good place to be, better than a few years ago,” he said.

The financial statements of the county are expected to be on the auditor’s website on Wednesday. That address is www.lawrencecountyauditor.org.