ATLANTA - Fines owed to the state by Georgia politicians and officeholders for missing campaign report deadlines have been sharply reduced because of the expense of sending out notices and problems at the agency charged with enforcement, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
The newspaper said Tuesday late fines for reporting campaign spending that apparently should have tallied between $5 million and $7 million wound up being reduced to less than $1 million.
Changes in state law this year increased the penalties for filing late disclosures.
Holly LaBerge, executive director of the state's Ethics Commission, which enforces the rules, said she couldn't justify spending $30,000 for late notices, which must be sent by certified mail. She said with no letters sent, the fines had to be reduced.
The reduction happened when the commission dropped all of its outstanding 2011 fines, including thousands at the $1,375 maximum, down to the $125 minimum.
The commission's budget has been cut by 42 percent since 2008.
Some officials said the system to report spending is confusing and the fines are inaccurate.
Cobb County Commission Chairman Tim Lee paid a $125 fine after looking his name up on a website. He said he's sure he filed his financial disclosure on time but can't prove it.
"You're in a position where if you don't do it," he said, "you become rhetoric for everyone else."
Legislators on both sides of the aisle are vowing to help the commission in the next legislative session, which begins in January. The commission gets $25 of every late fee collected.
"If we could invest a larger portion of funds into the ethics commission, it would pay for itself," said Senate Minority Leader Steve Henson, D-Tucker, who's formulating legislation to increase the ethics budget next year.
Monday
July 14th, 2025
2:14PM
