Judge uses political funds to pay property taxes on home used for campaign headquarters

A candidate for presiding judge of the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals spent political funds to pay property taxes on his Austin home, which he uses for his campaign headquarters. Reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission show that CCA Judge Lawrence Meyers, who is challenging CCA Presiding Judge Sharon Keller in the April Republican primary, used political funds to pay $3,285.68 in property taxes on his Austin home in January 2011 and $2,929 in property taxes in January 2009. On the reports, filed in July 2011 and July 2009, Meyers listed the property tax expenditures for “office overhead.” Meyers, who has served on the CCA since 1993, says he designates one-fourth of the Austin home for campaign headquarters during election years. The tax payments represented the 25 percent of the expenses he incurred for taxes, mortgage, utilities and insurance on the home during years when he uses it for campaign headquarters, Meyers says. Randall Buck Wood, a partner in Austin’s Ray Wood & Bonilla, says he does not believe state law allows Meyers to pay the property taxes on his Austin home, even if he uses it for a campaign headquarters. Texas Election Code §253.035 prohibits a person who accepts a political contribution as a candidate or officeholder from converting the contribution to personal use. Wood, who represents clients in cases involving campaign finance laws, says it would be “extremely difficult” for Meyers to show he is not converting political contributions to personal use if the funds are used to pay any of the expenses on the home. “Not only do I think it doesn’t meet the smell test, it doesn’t meet the legal test, too,” Wood says. According to Ethics Advisory Opinion No. 430, which the ethics commission issued in August 2000, a person can use a good-faith estimate for apportioning expenses for the personal and political use of an asset (in this case a car). Once an accurate ratio is available, however, the candidate or officeholder would have to make up any excess payments made out of political contributions, the commission noted in the opinion. Natalia Ashley, the ethics commission’s general counsel, says the commission has not issued an opinion regarding the specific facts in Meyers’ reports. Meyers says he was under the impression that he could designate a portion of the property he owns as a campaign headquarters and pay for the expenses on that portion from campaign funds. He did that and duly reported the expenditures, Meyers says. “Since it’s unclear if that’s correct, to make the question moot, I anticipate that I’m going to go ahead and pay back those two amounts to my campaign account,” he says.