Cincinnati's Olympic bid committee has returned an additional $37,500 to the state of Ohio to settle a dispute over how public money was spent to land the 2012 Summer Olympics.

        A January state audit questioned $83,000 in spending by Cincinnati 2012.

        Olympic organizers returned $61,800 as unused grant money in October, after Cincinnati was eliminated from competition.

        A $250,000 Ohio Department of Development grant was meant to cover Cincinnati 2012 expenses from July to November 2001. State auditors found insufficient documentation to back up some of the spending. They also determined that some of the money was used to pay for purchases before the grant period started in July.

        Nick Vehr, former president of Cincinnati 2012, sent a check to the state on Friday. He said payment does not mean he agrees that the money should be repaid.

        “Sadly, it reflects our conclusion that continued efforts to achieve any semblance of the partnership that existed before our effort ended, before (Department of Development) experienced senior staff changes, before legislative cheap shots and aggressive media inquiries occurred, would be wasted,” Mr. Vehr said in a letter to audit chief Jeff Bankey.

        Mr. Vehr made a case that all but $13,000 of the questioned spending was appropriate. Auditors didn't agree. The money being repaid was spent before the grant period on things such as:

        • $17,000 for a University of Cincinnati economic impact study.

        • $7,150 for a UC study on the fiscal soundness of the organization's budget.

        • $4,375, a portion of $41,000 worth of consultant work.

        • $3,634 for rental of a copy machine.

        • $3,325 for salaries.

        There were six other expenses under $1,000 that were disallowed.

        Mr. Bankey said the payment will end the dispute.
       He also said he wasn't aware of the expense for the two studies being “pre-approved” by DOD staff. Mr. Bankey said the issue was discussed by the department's program office, where the decision was made not to allow grant money to be used against those expenses.

        The audit found no illegal spending and that there were no “material weaknesses” in the organization's internal accounting controls.

        All told, Cincinnati 2012 raised more than $5.5 million in private donations.

        The only other public money Cincinnati 2012 received was $250,000 from the state of Kentucky and a tourism fund from Northern Kentucky counties. There were no strings attached to that money and it will not be returned.

        Mr. Vehr said he was “surprised and disappointed” that the UC studies were not allowable expenses under the grant contract. He said DOD officials gave them pre-approval on those items, and that the studies are “precisely the kind of thing state grant money should be used for.”

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