All five are being tried together before a jury, at 8:30 a.m. July 14 in Xenia Municipal Court.
All charges filed are connected with a state auditor’s citation on alleged misuse of public school district funds during a May 2019 Bellbrook school tax levy campaign. Ohio law prohibits “political subdivisions” such as school districts and cities, from using taxpayer money in any way that “supports or opposes … the passage of a levy or bond issue.”
Cozad is accused of authorizing the mailing of pro-school levy newsletters to the public, paid for with district funds around March or April 2019.
An affidavit from Auditor of State fraud investigator John Uhl says in one example, the district used $5,214 in public money to send messages saying “Continue the excellence with the passage of Issue 4.”
Newsletters paid for by school districts have long walked a thin line between sharing positive school information with voters, which is allowed, and openly campaigning for passage of a tax levy, which is not. Separate political action committees that do not use taxpayer money, often with names like, “Friends of Bellbrook Schools,” are allowed to run “vote yes” or “vote no” campaigns.
After the defeat of the May 2019 levy, Cozad is accused of authorizing and approving the expenditure of public funds of $37,000 to hire Allerton Hill Consulting and $15,000 for a telephone survey conducted by Fallon Research and Communication Inc.
The consultant was hired to assist the district in public communication and messaging. Both firms were hired “for the purpose of reviving and passing another proposed operating levy,” the court documents stated.
The final pre-trial hearing for all five is scheduled for July 8. Retired judge Robert David Picken is presiding over the case.
Lawyers for Cozad and Carpenter did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday.
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