Ohio GOP settles tax bill after getting hit with lien

COLUMBUS — The Ohio Republican Party settled a $3,500 tax bill on Thursday after being notified it had been assessed with a property tax lien, according to a party spokeswoman.

Franklin County property records show the Ohio Republican Party paid a delinquent $48,938 tax bill in August for its headquarters in downtown Columbus, covering back taxes and penalties from the prior year.

At the time of the August payment, ORP hadn’t paid its property taxes, which are due twice a year, since January 2020, according to Franklin County Treasurer’s Office records.

But more than $3,500 remained in unpaid fees for a local special improvement district, a special taxing district within which the ORP headquarters is located, according to the Franklin County Auditor’s Office. That led to the Franklin County Treasurer’s Office temporarily listing the property in a tax lien sale that will be taking place Nov. 1.

ORP paid those delinquent fees Thursday, shortly after they were reported by the Statehouse News Bureau, a state public radio news agency. Franklin County has released the lien.

Tricia McLaughlin, a party spokeswoman, said the Ohio Republican Party now has paid its taxes in full. Her statement did not address why the property taxes were unpaid for over a year.

“The ORP was not made aware of any outstanding Franklin County property taxes, but when made aware of the $3,501.92 in special fees, which was not included on any invoice, the ORP paid in full that day,” McLaughlin said in a statement. The statement did not address why the property taxes went unpaid in the first place.

The unpaid taxes coincide with a change in party leadership. Jane Timken ran the party until early February, when she resigned to run for the U.S. Senate. Bob Paduchik took over later that month.

The party has faced other internal financial issues. Paduchik announced in September an auditing firm the party had hired terminated its review of the party’s financial books, which included a roughly $640,000 accounting error involving misreported political contributions. A party committeeman had been pushing for the audit to be expanded to 2019 and 2020, during Timken’s tenure.

“The ORP continues to make concerted efforts to increase transparency and streamline its accounting and finance practices. This includes by hiring a Certified Public Accountant compliance contractor, and hiring a SHRM certified human resources professional,” McLaughlin said Thursday.

Matt Keyes, a spokesman for the Ohio Democratic Party, made hay out of the tax lien in a statement.

“It’s clear there are some serious questions Jane Timken needs to answer about her time as Chair and how she handled the party’s finances,” Keyes said in a statement. “If Jane can’t effectively manage the budget of the Ohio Republican Party, how can she be trusted with the hard-earned dollars of U.S. taxpayers?”