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Late Fees Piling Up for State Employees who Failed to File Financial Disclosures

Two days after the second deadline, more than 500 government employees still had not filed the required financial disclosure forms with the state.

Late fees are adding up, but the state doesn’t have the power to collect them.

A law is being proposed to change that.

More than 37,000 state employees and leaders fall under a statute that requires them to file information about their personal financial interests.

Those who didn’t file by the July 1st deadline were notified by the state and given a two month grace period. The second deadline was Tuesday.

Hundreds of employees are now accruing late fees that already total more than $26,000.

Matt Carlucci, on the Florida Ethics Commission, says, “The Legislature says you will be fined $25 a day up to $1500. But the Legislature failed to give enforcement powers for that type of fine.”

Carlucci now expects legislation to be filed next year that would let the ethics commission put a lien on a late filer’s property.

Until that happens, legislators and other leaders can choose whether they want to abide by the statute.

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