Martinsville mayor calls city's contribution to Morgan County GOP a 'clerical error'

The Morgan County Republican Party has refunded money to the city of Martinsville after the Reporter-Times reported it received a city contribution.

The city of Martinsville was listed as giving the Morgan County GOP $500 in a financial report submitted to the county elections office in April. The document notes that the payment was received March 15.

Martinsville Mayor Kenny Costin referred to the contribution as a "clerical error."

"It was supposed to come from me, personally," Costin said Monday afternoon.

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Both Costin and Daniel Elliott, the chairman of the Morgan County Republican Party, noted that by Monday afternoon, the money had been returned to the city.

"This is just one of those things I said let's do, it got onto the city's docket and it should not have," Costin said.

According to Elliott, the money was for a table for city officials at the GOP's annual Lincoln Day dinner.

Tables for local government officials are often purchased by a political campaign or personal business, Elliott said — not the governmental entity an individual represents.

According to Elliott, once the county GOP received the contribution from the city, the funds were deposited and had to be declared in a financial report.

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Lincoln Day dinner request

In a letter dated July 27, 2021, the Morgan County Republican Central Committee sent out a request to GOP officeholders in Morgan County for various levels of sponsorships at the Lincoln Day dinner.

The three sponsorship levels include the $250 bronze, $500 silver and $1,000 gold level.

Each sponsorship level includes different benefits, including the number of tickets and location of seats for the dinner.

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An "MCGOP Lincoln Day Dinner Response Form" was filled out by Mack Porter, the executive assistant to the mayor, listing his city-issued email, the address for city hall and city hall phone number.

The form goes on to list the name on the table sign as the "City of Martinsville" and eight guests: Costin and his wife; Martinsville Planning and Engineering Director Gary Oakes and his wife; Martinsville First Deputy Clerk-Treasurer Ben Merida, his wife and son; and city attorney Dale Coffey.

The city issued payment to the county GOP for the $500 silver-level sponsorship.

What does the law say?

Indiana State Board of Accounts Chief of Staff Jennifer Gauger said in a Tuesday morning email that SBOA is "not aware of any specific authority which allows a city to make political contributions or donations with public funds."

"If, during an audit, we noted that a city made a contribution to a political party, we would examine the circumstances around the donation," Gauger added.

She went on to note that SBOA would look at two sections of Indiana Code, 36-10-2-4 and 36-10-2-5, to see what types of entities a city can provide financial assistance.

These two codes list entities such as libraries, museums, neighborhood centers, arenas and stadiums.

"The circumstances laid out within those sections is what we would look at during an audit," Gauger added in her email.

The Indiana Secretary of State's office is "not aware of a statute that specifically prohibits this" in Indiana code, spokesperson Allen Carter said in an email Monday afternoon.

Andy Downs, who heads the Mike Downs Center for Indiana Politics at Purdue University Fort Wayne, also said he could not find a state statute that specifically forbids a public entity from donating to a political party.

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Indiana Code 3-9-2 lists a number of regulations about contributions to campaigns and political parties. There is no mention of restrictions on governmental funds being used for political donations.

However, Downs said the optics of a municipal government donating money to a political party don't look good.

"Regardless of its legality, it will not pass a smell test with voters," Downs said.

Contact Reporter-Times editor Lance Gideon at lgideon@reporter-times.com or 765-342-1543. Follow him on Twitter: @LanceOGideon.

This article originally appeared on The Reporter Times: Mayor Kenny Costin says money Martinsville paid to GOP 'clerical error'