Campaign finance issues with fines adding up to more than $26,000 have the Ohio Attorney General's Office determining how to resolve the case for a Youngstown Council member up for re-election.

In this 21 News Watchdog Report we investigate why the 7th Ward Councilwoman was being fined $25 a day.

Diane Raptis, who handles Campaign Finance for the Mahoning County Board of Elections, pulls out the file on Youngstown 7th Ward Councilwoman Basia Adamczak's campaign dating back to when she ran for office in 2015.

She shows 21 News a stack of letters, including certified mail that was sent to Councilwoman Adamczak and her former Treasurer.

"You can see that we have gone to extreme extents to contact her. Here is a copy of the certified mail," Raptis said.

Raptis says Adamczak and her Treasurer were repeatedly notified by telephone, certified mail and regular letters that the campaign failed to file two critical election documents related to campaign finance. The 2015 Post General Election Report, and the 2017 Annual Report.

Why is this so important we asked? "It's for transparency purposes. They want to see where you accept and spend money. They must keep track of everything that comes in, everything that goes out, be it in-kind, be it a debt, a loan, an expenditure, a contribution. They must keep track of all of this. The imperative thing is that you get that report in on the day it's due. If you need to amend them, then by all means go ahead. But get the report in on time," Raptis said.

When a source tipped off 21 News about Adamczak's campaign finance issues, we contacted the Ohio Elections Commission.

Phil Richter is the Staff Attorney and the Executive Director for the Ohio Elections Commission. He says he referred Adamczak's 2015 violation to the Attorney General's Office in December of 2018.

In that case, Adamczak accumulated $26,600 dollars in fines over three years for failing to file the Post General Election Report.

Attorney Richter says, "There is a concern about the fine amounts, but our concern is assuring that the reports are filed more than anything else. The Elections Commission has the ability to send matters to a Prosecutor for criminal proceedings. But in this case, in these two cases obviously we've used our own administrative authority and found a violation and imposed the fines."

It's important to note that when the 2015 violation was referred to the Ohio AG's Office -- Adamczak had still not filed the report. Because Richter says he double checked with the Mahoning County Board of Elections before turning the case over to the Attorney General.

But on February 4th of 2019, Adamczak filed the necessary paperwork, and came into compliance according to Mahoning County Elections officials.

"The Treasurer is responsible, and then it actually falls back to the candidate ultimately. But the Treasurer has a huge responsibility, and people need to realize when they sign on as Treasurer, there are actually responsibilities involved," Raptis tells 21 News.

Councilwoman Adamczak tells 21 News that issues with her former Treasurer needed to be resolved.  She has since appointed a new Treasurer and made herself Deputy Treasurer.

"Well first I want to thank you for taking the time to talk about this, because I think it's a great opportunity to show that there are checks and balances in government. Upon running my election the first time there was a bit of a misunderstanding, miscommunication between my Treasurer at the time and the Deputy Treasurer regarding filing those campaign finance reports. But as soon as the Board of Elections brought it to my attention personally -- that was rectified right away. It's no longer an issue. I was working with the state several months ago. For the last several months now everything has been rectified," Adamczak said.

In addition to the $26,600 that Adamczak owes, she was also fined $25 a day for failing to file a 2017 Annual Report.  But again we've learned Adamczak officially filed that report and it was time stamped February 4, 2019.

The Councilwoman claims the issue has been resolved, and that there are no longer any fines or penalties.

But 21 News immediately contacted the Ohio Elections Commission and the Attorney General's Office again, after Adamczak made that statement. They tell 21 News that while she is in compliance with her paperwork now, she could still face fines.

However, she can also file an affidavit with the Ohio Attorney General's Collections Division for reconsideration.

The Executive Director of the Ohio Elections Commission says with the paperwork filed the cost of the fines can also be negotiated, and they could impose a lesser fine than the amount accumulated.

Also, the Mahonoing County Board of Elections says they send out notifications more than 10 days before each campaign finance report is due, and they highlight the due date in yellow to try and keep candidates from falling behind on campaign filings.

Information on all Mahoning County candidates' campaign finance reports are posted on the Mahoning County Board of Elections official website.