A former Monroe County Clerk says it was never her practice to waive the local passport processing fee for certain individuals.
Patricia Lamb McCarthy was county clerk from 1985 to 1993, the last Democrat to hold the job before the current clerk, Adam Bello. McCarthy issued a statement today saying “waiving fees for certain individuals was not a practice we engaged in.”
Monroe County Executive and former County Clerk Cheryl Dinolfo says she allowed her staff to waive the $25 local processing fee on passport applications, mainly for local government and law enforcement officials. She repeated this week that it was a long-standing practice she inherited from previous clerks.
The Department of State notified the county this week that waiving the local fee was a violation of federal law. Clerk Adam Bello raised concerns about it last month. The State Department hasn’t decided if Monroe County will face any penalty.