Council Members Aim To Change Bond Rules

A bipartisan group of Metro Council members plans to introduce legislation tonight that would limit the use of leftover bond funds.The legislation would require the mayor to seek council approval before spending unused money from completed or abandoned projects that were financed with city bonds.The proposal comes after Mayor Abramson agreed to use more than 900 thousand dollars from an abandoned Cordish project for another Cordish project.Legislation co-sponsor Hal Heiner says council approval should be required for the use of leftover funds."This one, narrow area of what happens with leftover bond funds from prior years is not spelled out in the law and that loophole I hope will be closed over the next 30 days," he says.Abramson says the money for the project was first approved in 2002 to be used for downtown development, and not necessarily a specific project.The legislation will be sent to committee. Heiner hopes it will pass the full council in the next 30 days.