The limit is $500 per candidate per group. The total amount involved in the charges is $15,000.
In metro Orlando, the political action committee of the 49-year-old Home Builders Association of Mid-Florida Inc., based in suburban Maitland, FL, is accused of eight election law violations. The trade group denies the charges and has 20 days to respond.
Mike Bass, former head of HBA's PAC, was named in the charges. Bass couldn't be reached at GlobeSt.com's publication deadline. Neither could HBA president Thomas S. Lagomarsino, a 30-year retired Navy professional who became HBA's executive director in 1997. Lagomarsino is not accused.
The contributions were allegedly made to county commissioners and school-board candidates who vote on new subdivisions and schools. In Orlando, multiple contributions were allegedly made to Orange County school board candidate Alzo Reddick.
Reddick is not accused. He couldn't be reached for comment. Associates tell GlobeSt.com this is the first he has heard of the charges.
In St. Lucie County, county commission candidate George Kavanagh is being investigated by the Florida Elections Commission on charges of illegally accepting multiple contributions from the same political action committee. Kavanagh couldn't be reached at GlobeSt.com's publication deadline.
The Homebuilders Association of Lake County, 30 miles northwest of Downtown Orlando, and the Hillsborough County (Tampa) Homebuilders Association are being investigated but so far haven't been charged, according to a published report.
The state agency's accusations were triggered by a complaint from Tom Garner who heads a Pensacola, FL elections watchdog group. Garner couldn't be reached at GlobeSt.com's publication deadline.
He filed similar complaints in the 1998 election for the Orange County chairmanship which was won by Rich Crotty. The complaints were never acted on by the Florida Elections Commission because the two-year statute of limitations ran out in 2000.
Chartered in 1953 by the Naitonal Association of Home Builders, the Home Builders Association of Mid-Florida Inc. is one of the oldest trade organizations in Florida.
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