Charter schools operated by Akron industrialist David L. Brennan paid board members multiple times for attending the same meeting -- as much as $2,125 per session, a state audit discovered.

That "abusive business practice" was among a number of findings by state Auditor Mary Taylor in a review of 19 for-profit charter schools operated by Brennan. They are all in Cuyahoga or Summit counties.

Taylor's audits, released yesterday, also found $2,005 in improper credit-card purchases, widespread bookkeeping errors and lack of documentation to support many expenditures.

"Repeated attempts had to be made to obtain certain supporting documentation," said Taylor spokesman Steve Faulkner.

"What this audit shows is there needs to be improvement in management of public funds across the board."

Brennan is a major contributor to Republican political candidates and causes. Taylor, a Republican, received $60,000 since 2005 from Brennan and his wife, Ann, including $20,000 this year.

Nevertheless, Faulkner said Taylor doesn't play favorites because of party or personal allegiances.

"Auditing is not a political job. Auditor Taylor is always going to look at how public entities of any kind spend tax dollars."

A review by The Dispatch showed Brennan's White Hat Management made $15.4 million in profit and fees from all 34 charter schools last year. The state provides some of the money for the schools.

The new audits disclosed that all 19 schools reviewed, operating under White Hat Management, have the same fiscal officer, Ohio Community School Consultants of Dublin, and the same board president, Robert Townsend.

The individual schools have separate boards, but some individuals sit on from two to 17 boards, Taylor found. One meeting may cover issues from several boards.

Thus, some board members were paid multiple times for attending a single meeting. The audit found that inappropriate, but Taylor is not requiring the money to be repaid. Board members are supposed to be paid $125 per meeting.

Seven of the boards had findings for recovery, all except two were cited for abuse by overcompensation of board members, and all 19 were cited for undocumented credit-card purchases and errors and adjustments in bookkeeping.

All financial findings for recovery were repaid earlier this year while the audit was ongoing.

Bob Tenenbaum, representing White Hat Management, said the problems pointed out in the audits are "not a White Hat issue."

"The boards set their own compensation," he said. "You'd have to contact the individual boards."

Tenenbaum noted that members of many of the charter school boards filed a lawsuit challenging a 2005 state law limiting the numbers of boards upon which a person can serve. The case is pending in Franklin County Common Pleas Court.

ajohnson@dispatch.com