Supervisors Vote “No Confidence” in Ontario County Clerk

The Ontario County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution (see below) Thursday night voting “no confidence” in County Clerk Matthew Hoose.

The county claims it was notified last June the County Clerk was significantly behind in remitting required reports and payments to various state entities. In a news release, County Administrator Chris Debolt stated that despite county officials working with Hoose to ensure all payments and reports are current, the Clerk continues to fail to remit payments on-time and has consistently refused to report to the relevant oversight committees of the Board of Supervisors.

The Board of Supervisors has hired a forensic audit firm to begin a thorough audit of all banking transactions to and from five accounts that were discovered to be controlled solely by the County Clerk and outside the oversight of the County’s Finance Department as required by law. Debolt said the results of this audit, which is being conducted to ensure the integrity of the office and the operations thereof, will be made available to the public for full transparency upon completion.

The county has also reached out to the New York State Comptroller’s Office to help in the audit of banking and internal practices within the office.

Debolt added county leadership wants to recognize and appreciate the ability and efforts of the staff “working tirelessly to provide quality service in the Ontario County Clerk’s Office and at the Department of Motor Vehicles.” The County reiterates there are no transactional concerns that would jeopardize any transactions at either office at this time.

We have reached out to Clerk Hoose for comment and have yet to hear back.