Topeka ? Taxpayers were on the hook for more than a year for food and wine from a reception with abortion provider Dr. George Tiller at Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ official residence.

A top Sebelius aide acknowledged Monday the state wasn’t reimbursed for $848 in costs by the Greater Kansas City Women’s Political Caucus until May 23. The event at Cedar Crest was April 9, 2007.

The governor’s office has said Tiller won the right to have the reception by being the highest bidder at a fundraising auction for the caucus. Sebelius donated her time and the use of the residence, which she sometimes does for groups she supports.

The reimbursement came almost a month after the anti-abortion group Operation Rescue filed an open records request for documents relating to events in March and April 2007 at Cedar Crest. Troy Newman, its president, continued to question the explanations offered by the governor’s office.

“She’s a liar, and she’s being found out,” Newman said. “She’s having to manufacture evidence to get her story straight.”

Sebelius spokeswoman Nicole Corcoran said the delay in the reimbursement occurred because of a turnover of staff in the governor’s office. Also, she said, Tiller purchased the right to have the reception in September 2005, a year and seven months before the event.

The caucus has an annual fundraising dinner and auction each fall, and a campaign finance report it filed with the state shows a $2,500 donation at the 2005 dinner from ProKanDo, a political action committee Tiller formed. Photos on the women’s caucus Web site show that both Sebelius and Tiller attended the dinner.

Corcoran said Sebelius has a policy of having political groups like the caucus reimburse the state for its costs, but that policy was not followed with the Tiller reception.

Corcoran said Sebelius’ staff is reviewing all past political events to make sure the policy was followed. It also will have a staff person review future billings to make sure such mistakes do not occur again, she said.

“All we can do in this instance is correct the problem, make sure other political events were properly reimbursed and implement steps to prevent this from occurring in the future,” she said.

Operation Rescue has described the event as a “lavish secret party” for Tiller, the staff of his Wichita clinic and other abortion providers. Tiller is among a few U.S. physicians who perform late-term abortions.