Riverside County Supervisor Jeff Stone, of Temecula, was recently charged $16,000 for failing to report a substantial contribution total of $84,000 but it was his accountant who had to pay the piper.
“Jeff was right, the accountant was wrong,” said Stone's Chief of Staff, Verne Lauritzen.
The chief of staff said that when it got to be three months before the end of Stone's failed campaign for state Senate, the supervisor, who covers the Third District which includes Murrieta and Temecula, asked his accountant about reporting the contributions.
"Anytime you get more than $1,000 in contributions, you have to electronically file those," Lauritzen told Patch.
However, the accountant told Stone he could wait to report the contributions to the Fair Political Practices Commission until a month remained to the campaign.
The accountant was wrong; The time period is three months prior to the election, Lauritzen said.
"As a result, the FPPC fined the campaign $16,000," Lauritzen said.
"And the accountant paid the fine.
"It's an expensive mistake to make," Lauritzen quipped.
