Documents obtained by the Progressive Conservatives show that an expert panel investigating how to keep the horse racing industry alive has charged taxpayers more than $500,000 in one year.

In the 2012 spring budget, the government announced the cancellation of a slots revenue-sharing program that generated about $300 million a year for tracks.

The industry was given $50 million in transition funding, and in the face of protests and job losses, the Liberals appointed a three-member expert panel – named the Horse Racing Industry Transition Panel -- to find a way to keep the industry alive.

Now documents obtained by the Tories under Freedom of Information (FOI) requests show the panel billed taxpayers $526,649 in compensation and expenses between June 2012 and March 2013.

Expenses charged to the taxpayers include items such as Highway 407 bills, hotels, air fare and even dry cleaning. The panel's report is expected to be released in October.

"It's just another example of the government creating a mess and it's costing the taxpayers a lot of money to help clean this up," Conservative MPP Randy Pettapiece told CTV Toronto.

Pettapiece says the panel already charges a fee of $750 a day, so billing the taxpayers for laundry is a bit much.

"The bill was paid back, but it wasn't until we did the FOI that they paid it back. It was only $10, which isn't a lot of money, but still they attempted to do that," he said.

While the charges aren't huge sums of money, the Conservatives says it's another example of the Liberals not consulting before making critical decisions that affect jobs and lives.

Questions about the documents had Premier Kathleen Wynne on the defensive at the legislature. She said the laundry charge was a mistake.

"I'd like you to hear this: There was an administrative error made in terms of the billing of a dry cleaning bill," Wynne said.

But NDP Leader Andrea Horwath said the documents point to a bigger problem.

"Again, it's the Liberal government that's put this industry in a mess and it still hasn't been able to figure out how to fix it," she said.

The horse racing industry claims that 60,000 jobs are at risk because of changes in Liberal policies.