A New Jersey insurance agency is defending its “impeccable reputation” after losing a $194,000 contract with the City of Trenton over contributions to mayoral and city council candidates.

Borden Perlman Insurance, located in Lawrenceville, N.J., denied any wrongdoing in a statement, saying that according to its lawyer, the firm did nothing wrong, according to The Trentonian.

Borden Perlman’s donations of $560 to candidates for mayor and city council in Trenton triggered the city’s pay-to-play law, passed in 2006, for the first time, hence violating the contract, according to the report. As a result of the violations, media reports indicate, the council awarded the $182,459 insurance contract to Atlantic Associates, of Atlantic City, N.J., instead of Borden Perlman.

A spokesman for Borden Perlman said it “has an impeccable reputation that stands 95 years” in Trenton and that the firm has made “minor contributions” to both Democrats and Republicans “for more than three generations.”

“In fact, Borden Perlman has serviced successfully this particular contract for more than 30 years,” the statement said, according to the report.

The 2006 ordinance prohibits any professional business entity holding a contract with the city or in pursuance of a contract with the city to make any contribution to any candidate or political action committee.

The city council’s attorney said the agency violated the city ordinance when it contributed $100 to city council candidate Zachary Chester in October 2009. Further violations occurred, the official told The Trentonian, with $460 in contributions to another councilman’s campaign for mayor, Manny Segura.