Monroe County Clerk Adam Bello is calling for an investigation into how fees were waived for some transactions in the clerk's office over the last several years.
Bello says more than 600 transactions involving a county fee for pistol permit conversion cars, local passport fees and other fees were intentionally waived, costing taxpayers over $35,000
"Over the past 8 years or so, at least, that's as far back as our system goes, we've identified 612 individuals who had their passport execution fee waived, and 55 individuals who had their plastic pistol permit conversion card fee waived."
As far as how the waivers were determined, Bello maintains that they weren't just random mistakes.
"I don't want to characterize the reasons why they were done because I don't want to get into any further characterization of the list, but what I will tell you is that these fee waivers were done intentionally.”
Bello has asked the county attorney and law enforcement to look into the fee waivers. He was appointed to the post earlier this year and will be up for election this fall.
He is talking about transactions dating back to 2008. County Executive Cheryl Dinolfo was clerk during that time.
Brett Walsh, the Monroe County Communications Director released this statement:
Under Cheryl Dinolfo, the Monroe County Clerk’s office returned over $30 million to Monroe County taxpayers. In an era of increasing state and federal collection of fees, the County Clerk’s Office was focused on customer service and increasing the number of people completing transactions locally. In addition to the Renew Monroe program which encouraged Monroe County residents to file paperwork through local Clerk’s and DMV Offices, some employees were given the discretion to waive local fees for customers in order to help provide a high level of customer service while pushing back against initiatives which strive to take local fees into state and federal coffers.
In addition to previous customer service initiatives, there are several categories of persons who are exempt from paying fees by law (law enforcement, people acting in official capacities, certain military personnel, etc). By making veiled accusations and implications without the benefit of public scrutiny, the public is left with neither the ability to question the timing and motivations of this information release, nor the ability to understand the context under which waivers were granted.
Bello says that many concerned citizens have contacted the clerk's office about fees they believe may have been inappropriately waived for them. He says his office is establishing a process for people who want to reach out to make restitution. Bello says many of the people contacting his office did not even know they had received a waiver.
