VIRGINIA BRIEFING

-- Theresa Vargas

DULLES RAIL

Officials Avoid Financial Maneuver

State and airport officials have decided against asking the federal government for permission to spend money on the Metrorail extension to Dulles International Airport while awaiting U.S. approval of the project.

Last week, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority, looking to cover escalating construction costs, asked the Federal Transit Administration for clearance to spend certain state and local money on the $2.7 billion project.

But Virginia Transportation Secretary Pierce R. Homer said yesterday that the Airports Authority has rescinded the request because the state's energy was better spent working to win approval of a $900 million federal grant for the rail line. The grant is contingent on the state, the Airports Authority and Dulles Transit Partners, the private construction consortium selected to build the line, meeting cost-effectiveness guidelines.

-- Bill Turque

HOMEOWNER ASSOCIATIONS

Management Firm in Bankruptcy

Koger Management Group, the real estate management firm under investigation by state and local authorities on suspicion of stealing as much as $2 million from hundreds of homeowner associations in Northern Virginia, has filed for bankruptcy.

A petition filed July 26 in U.S. District Court in Alexandria lists more than $1 million in unsecured claims from creditors, most of them homeowner associations that hired Koger to collect assessments and manage their business. The company was placed under court supervision Feb. 26 by a Fairfax County Circuit Court judge.

A complaint filed by the Real Estate Board and the Department of Professional and Occupational Regulation alleges that large cash withdrawals had been made without proper documentation from homeowner association accounts.

A forensic accountant hired by the board is investigating the losses.

-- Bill Turque