A state legislature files a bill to ensure that the passport fees you pay to the county don’t go into someone’s bank account.
State Senator Kay Kirkpatrick, whose district includes parts of Cherokee and Cobb counties, told WSB she was “in disbelief” when she found out it’s legal for some government employees to use that money to pay themselves.
“About half of Georgia’s counties apply for passports, and about 50 of them allow some of it to be taken home as income.
“I was just incredulous… It turned out to be a loophole in our law. I’m trying to close that.”
Kirkpatrick says that from what she’s learned, some county officials add hundreds of thousands of dollars to their personal income — including $200,000 to well over $300,000 a year for some populous counties in the greater Atlanta area.
Fees are handled differently by Superior Court officials in the two counties where their constituents reside.
“In Cobb, the number I read was $425,000 over two years. And that’s on top of the employee’s already nice salary, which is around $169,000. And then the clerk in that situation apparently also took home the expedited shipping fee, which was another $84,000 plus change, and that’s when the GBI looked into that because that part isn’t allowed by law.”
In Cherokee County, the clerk splits the $35 fee, remits $25 to the county general treasury, and keeps $10 in a fund to spend on office expenses or employee gifts.
In some counties, the clerk withholds 100% of any processing fee.
Kirkpatrick’s bill would require transparency about where fees go and require the money to be split between caseworkers’ offices and county general funds. It would end the ability for employees to have any of this as personal income.
“These are elected officials, but they’re using the district’s resources, the district’s staff, the district’s time, whatever it takes the district to do,” says Kirkpatrick.
She says she hasn’t spoken to any county officials yet, but expects to hear from them very soon and understands some might argue the fees are an incentive to take on the extra work of offering taxpayers the convenience of another location , to get a pass services.
Senator Kirkpatrick adds that the bill does not address the law allowing tax commissioners, for example, to take some money home as personal income. Her bill focuses solely on the court clerks, and she says it likely became more apparent as hordes of people rushed to get or renew their passports as COVID travel restrictions eased – which was “a godsend” for some clerks .
“Just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s right,” says Kirkpatrick.
©2023 Cox Media Group
