Auditors recently learned that trustees donated a three-quarter-acre piece of park land to a road project and contracted to build a parking lot for a bank on tax-paid green space.

"The levy language directs what the funds should be used for, and if you go back and look at the levy language, that's not what it should be used for," auditor's spokeswoman Courtney Whetstone said. "Our office will be looking into this issue at the next audit of the township."

The regular audit is scheduled to begin in March, she said.

The current 1.85-mill park levy was passed in 1999. Voters will decide on Tuesday whether to pass a 1.2-mill replacement levy that would raise about $631,553 annually for five years.

Township officials announced this week that they won't reimburse the park fund for the three-quarter acre they bought with levy money and are now donating to the Montgomery Road widening project.

Instead, township officials said they will apply credit for the land - at least $634,800 suggested by the Ohio Department of Transportation - against Hamilton County's portion of funding for the road project.

Trustees defended their actions this week at a public meeting, but refused to explain them in detail, saying it was against legal advice. A group of residents has threatened to sue the township over park spending.

Trustees said their decision to donate the land to the state Ohio Department of Transportation was based on a legal opinion from law director Robert Malloy. They have denied requests for a copy of the opinion. Administrator Jerry Beckman said Malloy advised that all communications between township officials and the law director are privileged and exempt from state public records law.

E-mail smclaughlin@enquirer.com