City Councilor King agrees to pay $390 to resolve late campaign finance reporting

WORCESTER — City Council Vice-Chairman Khrystian E. King recently agreed to pay $390 to the state to resolve issues with late campaign finance reporting.

An audit of his campaign account from June 2023 through March 2025 found noncompliance with “multiple provisions” of campaign finance law, according to a Public Resolution Letter the Office of Campaign and Political Finance posted online in mid-May.

Such letters do “not necessarily imply wrongdoing on the part of a subject,” the agency writes on its website, and are issued in several circumstances, including when, in the agency’s view, noncompliance can be resolved informally.

“The most significant issue found was the failure to file deposit reports within the required time periods,” William C. Campbell, the agency’s director, wrote in the letter to King.

Campbell said that during the time period audited, about $38,100 was deposited into King’s campaign account, with approximately $37,900 of contributor information “not filed in a timely manner.”

Campbell said the late filings appeared to have “exacerbated” the issue of the campaign receiving $390 more than it should have over the nearly two-year period.

“Had reports been prepared and filed in a timely manner, the aggregate limits would have been clearer to (your) Committee and the excess contributions could have been avoided,” he wrote.

Campbell noted that King agreed to “purge” the $390 in excess contributions to the state to “conclude this issue.”

Campbell further wrote that his office had been in touch with King’s committee during the audit period to clarify about $32,000 in expenditures, noting that while the clarifications were provided, that took place after required deadlines.

“The delay in filing required reports frustrates the public’s interest in accurate and timely disclosure of campaign finance activity during the relevant periods,” he wrote.

Campbell added he anticipated guidance his office provided would “result in future compliance” with campaign finance law, and noted the failure to file timely reports “could result in OCPF initiating legal proceedings to prevent your name from appearing on a state or local ballot in Massachusetts and referral to the Attorney General.”

King told the Telegram & Gazette June 10 that the language in the letter was standard for this type of message, and noted the overage of $390 spanned nearly two years.

“We’ve worked closely with OCPF on this, and we’ve rectified the $390 adjustment,” he said. “Everything has been resolved.”

The Public Resolution Letter to King’s campaign is one of 10 the agency has issued thus far this year to campaigns in Massachusetts; other letters include similar warnings about potential consequences.

No other current sitting Worcester city councilors are listed online by the agency as having received public resolution letters. The agency’s digital archives of such letters goes back to 2009.

Other prior councilors to receive such letters include Michael Gaffney in 2015 and Konstantina Lukes in 2009.