Idaho's treasurer spent at least $5 million too much borrowing money. Now he's refusing a review

A Statesman review of how Idaho borrows to cover periodic multimillion-dollar dips in cash flow shows that state Treasurer Ron Crane has routinely overpaid to finance those borrowings and could have saved the state millions through competitive bidding.

Idaho has borrowed billions of dollars over the last decade to cover those dips, paying millions in interest and fees to underwriters, a part-time financial adviser and outside agencies that grade the state’s debt for investors. The Statesman’s review, together with a state investment adviser’s analysis of the costs, shows that for many of the years in question, Idaho did not need to borrow as much, and possibly any, outside funds to cover short-term shortfalls.

Members of an advisory panel on the state’s creditworthiness, whose members include Lt. Gov. Brad Little and two legislators, state finance officials, and the heads of agencies such as the state building authority and the Idaho Housing and Finance Association, are now pushing for their own review of the half-billion-dollar yearly transactions. At least three members have refused to sign off on the committee’s annual report to the governor without such a review. The report goes to the governor each August.

The $5 billion worth of tax anticipation notes, or TANs, are routine debt-financing instruments issued by governments to shore up accounts pending receipt of tax revenues. The notes are repaid from tax collections, with interest, at the end of a year.

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/politics-government/state-politics/article163647333.html