Section 2 AAC 50.865 - Mitigating factors; aggravating factors(a) A civil penalty determined under 2 AAC 50.855 may be reduced by up to 50 percent if (1) a person required to file a statement or other filing(A) has a good filing history; in this subparagraph, "good filing history" means (i) no late filings in the immediately preceding five years; and(ii) for groups, no more than $500 in non-administrative activity shown on the group's overdue report; or(B) is an inexperienced filer; in this subparagraph, "inexperienced filer" means a person required to file reports under this chapter if that person has been subject to a registration or reporting requirement for less than 365 days, or a person engaged in the person's first election cycle;(2) a technical error at the commission, including a communication, facsimile machine, computer program, electronic filing system, or other equipment problem may have contributed to the late or incomplete filing;(3) any unreported or mistakenly reported information had a value of $100 or less; or(4) any unreported or mistakenly reported information had a value higher than $100 but no more than $1,000, and a factor listed in (b) of this section also applies.(b) A civil penalty determined under set out in 2 AAC 50.855 may be reduced by a percentage greater than 50 percent, or waived entirely based on the following factors: (1) the person required to file, or a family member of the person required to file, experienced a personal emergency, including a call for military service, a natural disaster, a civil disturbance, or an incapacitating illness that prevented the person from filing on or before the due date; this mitigating factor is only available to a natural person;(2) a significant cause of the late filing is commission staff error, including (A) furnishing reporting materials too late for filing on or before the due date;(B) giving incorrect oral or written information to a person required to submit a statement or other filing; or(C) failing to deliver required notices when due;(3) a late or erroneous report included only administrative costs;(4) a late or incomplete report did not cause significant harm to the public, and aggravating factors under (d) of this section do not exist; for purposes of this paragraph, a late or incomplete report did not cause significant harm to the public if (A) the dollar amount missing from a form or disclosure is $100 or less;(B) the dollar amount for the information missing from a form or disclosure is more than $100 but no more than $1,000, and the person required to file self-reported the error; for purposes of this subparagraph, the error is self-reported if the person notified the staff of the error, but filing the late or missing information without notifying the staff does not constitute self-reporting; or(C) the missing or incomplete information is readily available to the public through another forum;(5) the civil penalty assessment is significantly out of proportion to the degree of harm to the public for not having the information; for purposes of this paragraph, absent the presence of aggravating factors in (d) of this section, an assessed penalty is significantly out of proportion if it exceeds the value of the transactions that were not reported or were reported late, or, in the case of seven-day or 24-hour reports, exceeds twice the value of the transactions that were not reported or were reported late; or(6) a unique circumstance justifies reducing or waiving the penalty.(c) The commission will not accept any of the following as mitigating factors to reduce the amount of a penalty: (1) relying on another person or mailroom to mail, postmark, or submit the statement on or before a due date;(4) having no change in reportable information from previous filed statements;(5) relying on the responsible person's staff to remind the person of the filing deadline or to complete or file the report;(6) being too busy to file;(7) absence caused by travel, unless the travel was unplanned or unavoidable, including travel for a personal emergency, or weather-related travel problems.(d) A civil penalty determined under 2 AAC 50.855 may be increased to the maximum amount allowed under the applicable statute if a person required to file a statement or other filing has (1) failed to substantially comply with financial disclosure requirements by omitting a significant source of income, interest in real property, business interest, loan, trust, or other substantial financial interest; in this paragraph, "substantial financial interest" means an interest with a value greater than $1,000; or(2) a poor reporting history; indicators of a poor reporting history include any of the following: (A) more than one late filing in the immediately preceding five years;(B) evidence suggesting deliberate non-reporting;(C) failure to cooperate with the staff;(D) a violation of any provision of AS 15.13, AS 24.45, AS 24.60.200 - 24.60.260, AS 39.50, or this chapter in the preceding five years.Eff. 12/22/2011, Register 200; am 12/21/2016, Register 220, January 2017Authority:AS 15.13.030
AS 15.13.390
AS 24.45.021
AS 24.45.141
AS 24.60.220
AS 24.60.240
AS 39.50.050
AS 39.50.135