The Butler County commissioners on Wednesday wrote off $3,991 from the sheriff’s office, ending a more than decade-long record-keeping issue.

The money was a shortage remaining from an original $3.7 million in unreconciled balances from 2003 through 2009.

Sheriff Mike Slupe, whose tenure began in 2010, said in an interview that the commissioners’ action closes the book on the matter.

“Today’s decision by the board is the last step in this process and now we can move forward,” Slupe said.

Although Maher Duessel, the Butler firm that annually audits county offices and departments, confirmed a $3,991 shortage early last year, nothing was done about it until now.

County Controller Ben Holland, who took office in January, said in an interview the amount either had to be invoiced or written off.

“Coming into office, I was made aware of this receivable,” Holland said. “From a financial standpoint, I wanted this addressed.”

For years, former Controller Jack McMillin criticized former Sheriff Dennis Rickard for not keeping his records in auditable form.

No one accused Rickard of any wrongdoing, but Mcmillin cited such problems as missing back reconciliations as indications of sloppy record-keeping.

Rickard maintained the records were auditable, just not accountant-friendly.

Commissioner Jim Eckstein opposed writing off the shortage, instead wanting to charge Rickard for the amount.

“I’m not affixing blame,” Eckstein said. “(But) we should at least bill him.”

He said not invoicing Rickard amounted to sweeping the issue under the rug. His fellow commissioners disagreed.

Commissioners Bill McCarrier and Dale Pinkerton both said after the meeting they had no intention of billing Rickard.

Pinkerton said the final shortage was minor in comparison to what was the original unreconciled balance.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” he said about trying to collect $3,991 from the former sheriff.

McCarrier pointed out the county writes off larger amounts in such instances as uncollected residents’ housing fees at the Sunnyview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center.

Eckstein acknowledged tension between Rickard and McMillin did not help resolve the issue sooner.

“I know Jack and him (Rickard) didn’t get along,” Eckstein said.

He said the infighting should not have happened.

During the retired officials’ tenures, both men accused the other of being uncooperative in resolving the problems.

The county in 2011 hired Butler CPA Lynn Beck to sift through Rickard’s records to identify where $1.7 million was owed.

Slupe’s office worked with the controller’s office and Maher Duessel to establish if there was a shortage, deriving the $3,991 number early last year.