The Tennessean
May 10, 2009 Sunday
LENGTH: 203 words
By BRAD SCHRADE
THE TENNESSEAN
The Clarksville and Montgomery County public building authorities issue bonds for the
$3 billion in loans the Tennessee Municipal Bond Fund has doled out to local governments across the state.
They have a special place among public building authorities in Tennessee: They are among the only ones the state comptroller's office ignores and never requires to be audited.
The authority members interviewed seem to know little about the loan program and don't see their role as an oversight body. They see themselves simply as a conduit to get the hundreds of millions generated by bonds they issue to the bond fund, which serves as administrator for the building authorities.
The members contacted from both authorities deferred most matters about the program to bond fund President/CEO Charles "Bones" Seivers.
"I'm sure Bones is keeping us in line with whatever the state thought we ought to be doing to do it right," said Chairman and longtime member of the Montgomery authority Brown Harvey Jr., a retiree from the insurance business. "He tells us when we make meetings just how wonderful it has been."
The comptroller's office says there is nothing to audit because the funds are administered by the bond fund.
