State Sen. Chris Widener, R-Springfield, stuck an amendment into a state budget bill that eventually allowed the Clark County Convention Facilities Authority to levy a bed tax and then give $412,890 of the money generated to a struggling non-profit that Widener helped found, public records show.

Widener was among several community leaders who founded the Ohio Equine and Agricultural Association in 2002 to build and run the Champions Center at the Clark County Fairgrounds. Widener also stood as a guarantor to a bank loan made to the association, essentially saying he would make the loan payments if the association failed to do so.

Widener, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee who was tapped to be the second-highest Republican leader in the Senate next year, said he did nothing wrong or unethical.

In April 2009, the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce asked Widener and state Rep. Ross McGregor, R-Springfield, for legislation that would allow the county to create a convention facilities authority, which could levy a hotel bed tax to finance a number of tourism-related organizations. Widener said he recognized a potential conflict so he resigned from the Ohio Equine and Agricultural Association’s board of directors on May 1, 2009 — before any legislative action on the matter.

The Senate Finance Committee approved the bill June 2, 2009 and the full Senate voted on the bill the next day.

“There is no direct or definite benefit to me and there never has been in this situation,” Widener said.

Widener said he was unaware of any financial difficulties the association was having.

After the budget bill — including Widener’s amendment — took effect, Clark County formed the Convention Facilities Authority, which in turn decided in fall 2009 to begin levying a 3 percent bed tax. The Champions Center has received more than one-third of the organization’s funding.

State and federal tax documents show the association fell into financial trouble in 2007.

The association started 2004, its first year filing with the IRS, in the red $83,366. However, it reported nearly $1.4 million in revenues in 2005 — half from programs and half from public funds and government grants.

IRS documents show the association made between $600,000 and $900,000 each year in program revenue from renters and vendors between 2005 and 2010 and spent on average between $800,000 and $1.8 million each year.

But the association reported only $671,009 in net assets in 2010, the biggest asset being the Champions Center built at a cost of $5.5 million in 2005. Widener’s firm, Widener Design and Construction, served as the architect and construction manager for the facility.

The association built the Champions Center in 2005, at a cost of $5.5 million, according to IRS documents. The association made between $600,000 and $900,000 each year in program revenue from renters and vendors between 2005 and 2010 and averaged between $800,000 and $1.8 million in expenditures.

In 2007, the association reported nearly $2.3 million in revenue, $1.5 million in grants and $1.8 million in expenditures including $215,000 for employee wages.

The association reported profits until 2008, when public dollars stopped flowing to the association. Losses in 2008, 2009 and 2010 totaled $511,835, according to IRS fillings.

Widener was listed as one of 17 board members on all IRS filings since 2004 and including 2010. State lawmakers must disclose each trust, partnership or association in which they hold an office or have a fiduciary relationship, including offices in nonprofits.

Widener disclosed as many as 17 such relationships in his financial disclosure filings dating back to 1998. He never disclosed his membership on the OEAA board. He also did not disclose the loan guarantee. Widener said Tuesday he did not think the loan guarantee had to be disclosed nor did he seek guidance on the matter from the Joint Legislative Ethics Commission.

In 2003, the OEAA signed a 99-year lease with the Clark County Commission for 17.3 acres on which to build the 146,000-square-foot Champions Center. In the agreement, OEAA pledged to fully fund the center through a loan.

Documents show Widener was one of seven board members who signed onto a $4 million mortgage with the Security National Bank and Trust in Springfield. As a guarantor on the association’s loan, Widener agreed to make payments if the association could not pay back the loan.

“It was never a project where the guarantors would ever get any proceeds or money out of this,” Widener said.

Widener spokesman Mark Weaver, a Republican political consultant, said the senator wrote to the bank and when he received no response, he assumed all was well and he was released from the guarantee.

The association also ran into tax problems, owing more than $789,000 in 2010 for eight years of unpaid property taxes. Association officials applied for tax-exempt status in 2005 but were turned down due to a paperwork error. Officials said they were not aware they had been denied until 2009 and appealed the denial.

The state Board of Tax Appeals rejected the appeal because the original decision was sent via certified mail and an employee signed in receipt.

The Ohio Department of Taxation granted tax exempt status to the property in June 2011 and relieved the association of tax burden for 2007, 2008 and 2009. The association agreed to pay $375,880 in back taxes, penalties and interest for 2004, 2005 and 2006 and has made at least one installment to the Clark County Treasurer, according to a taxation department spokesman.

Association president Fred Maine said finances improved after the convention facilities authority formed and distributed money to the group. Maine said the Champions Center has benefited the Clark County fairgrounds and noted that revenue realized will go to improvements or operations of the fairgrounds.

“It has created a lot of economic impact for the entire community with all the different shows and venues that we’ve been able to create out there. It’s been very, very good from those two aspects,” Maine said.