Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 27, 1994 TAG: 9409270132
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: By BRIAN KELLEY STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHRISTIANSBURG LENGTH: Medium
Montgomery County voters approved the bonds last year, but the Board of Supervisors delayed their sale until October to save on first-year debt service costs.
This latest delay is not expected to affect construction, which is to begin in the spring.
But news of another holdup - for how long remained up in the air Monday - angered Supervisor Joe Gorman, who said he had assured the state Library Board that the bonds would be sold in October.
The state recently awarded Montgomery County a $109,000 grant to aid the library project.
``I feel like I've been discredited,'' Gorman said.
The problem is the county doesn't want to go forward with the bond sale until it is able to provide investors with financial information for the fiscal year that ended June 30.
While an independent auditor has gathered such information for all other parts of county government, the Public Service Authority is holding up the works.
That's because the PSA is having problems generating audit figures from the computer software that controls its water and sewer billing.
The Peachtree accounting system is 4 years old, out of warranty and has no service agreement, PSA director Gary Gibson said. It hasn't had problems in the past.
Peachtree has been contacted, and a local company representative is working on the problem, but nothing has been resolved - including a completion date, Gibson said.
``I didn't realize it would affect the county's bonding capacity until tonight,'' he said.
Several supervisors suggested demanding that the company speed up the software repairs, which should cost less than $400. But they acknowledged having little leverage, especially if going ahead with the bond sale with outdated financial information will hurt the county financially.
``The only thing we can threaten them with is bad publicity,'' supervisors' Chairman Larry Linkous said.
County Administrator Betty Thomas said a short-term delay actually may help save money, because interest rates are expected to drop slightly this fall.
by CNB