DENVER—Gov. Bill Ritter said Tuesday his campaign violated campaign finance laws and improperly paid about $217,000 to 28 vendors in expenses last year.
He said his campaign and inaugural committee chairman, Greg Kolomitz, also overpaid himself and his company $83,250 out of Ritter’s inaugural account.
Ritter said he reported the violations to Secretary of State Mike Coffman, Attorney General John Suthers and Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey.
The governor said his campaign committee has taken out a $200,000 loan to repay the expenses, which were incorrectly paid out of his inaugural committee’s bank account. He said Kolomitz repaid the money he was overpaid.
Ritter said he asked an accounting firm to conduct a final review when the problems were discovered. He and his wife personally secured the $200,000 loan with a deed of trust on their private home and plan to solicit campaign donations to pay off the loan.
“This is an extremely disappointing and unfortunate set of circumstances. These are the facts and I have taken personal responsibility for remedying the situation,” Ritter said.
Barry A. Schwartz, an attorney for Kolomitz, did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment.
Ritter said the irregularities occurred after the election and would not have impacted the outcome of his race against Republican congressman Bob Beauprez, who lost in the general election.
Ritter said Beauprez or any other citizen has the option to file a formal complaint that could result in a hearing before an administrative law judge.
“What I can tell you is to have spent that money that are campaign expenses out of an inaugural account is a campaign finance law violation. I think there is no question on our part that the way these moneys were expended by Greg Kolomitz was in fact a campaign law violation,” Ritter said.
Beauprez did not immediately return an e-mail seeking comment. His former campaign manager, Allen Fuller, said the campaign would have no immediate reaction.
Ritter said he has known Kolomitz for years but that Kolomitz will have no future role in his campaigns.
Ritter said he raised about $1.1 million for his inauguration, which included two sold-out inaugural dinners, a concert featuring country singer Jessie Colter, a train tour from Greeley to Pueblo, and a flying tour of the Western Slope. He said the expenses weren’t extravagant.
Elena Nunez, program director for Colorado Common Cause, a public policy lobbying group, said the violations show the need to tighten oversight of inaugural committees, which can raise unlimited amounts of cash without having to report donations for a year. She said campaign committees have regular reporting requirements throughout the campaign.
“We don’t have any problem with inaugural celebrations, but we have a problem with unlimited funds being raised, spending $1 million on an inauguration with limited oversight,” she said.
According to a financial audit conducted after irregularities were discovered, the inaugural committee raised $1.2 million from private donations and the sale of tickets and there was only $69.06 left in the account. The report was completed on Monday.
Ritter said the problems were discovered in February when the inaugural committee’s accountant tried to fill out federal tax forms and found the information was not available.
“As soon as we discovered these problems, we asked an outside accounting firm to conduct a financial review. We have taken numerous steps to correct these problems, and we are providing the appropriate authorities with all of this information for their review as well,” Ritter said.
