PROVO — The state Legislative Audit Subcommittee decided Tuesday to investigate the Mountainland Association of Governments' use of federal community development block grants.

The issue was brought to the committee by Sen. Curt Bramble, R-Provo, at the request of the Utah County Commission and Utah County Attorney General's Office.

Commissioners Jerry Grover and Steve White requested the review after discovering what they call "inappropriate expenditure of monies" by Mountainland to buy its Orem office building in 1998.

MAG executive director Darrell Cook says the building's use fits within federal guidelines. The Utah County Commission and Deputy Utah County Attorney Chris Yannelli disagree.

Bramble said he's not taking sides but thinks the commissioners' concern merits investigation.

"On one hand, you have Utah County saying there's a problem, and you have MAG, several mayors and the state agency saying 'no, we did everything properly,' " he said. "When you have conflicting perspectives, having an independent review of the financials here seemed to be appropriate."

The MAG office building was constructed in 1998 using $1.2 million in federal community development block grant (CDBG) funds. These grant funds were created by Congress to promote the development of urban communities.

With state oversight, MAG administers the CDBG program for Wasatch, Summit and Utah counties, except for Provo and Orem, which manage their own programs. The funds have been used in Utah County cities to bankroll projects such as senior centers, fire stations and water and sewer districts.

In March, the County Commission asked the Utah County Attorney's Office to review CDBG guidelines regarding the purchase of buildings, and Yannelli responded in a memo concluding that MAG's use of funds "currently violates the standards for the use of CDBG funds and did so in 1998/1999 when the violations occurred."

Yannelli stated that the MAG building is not used to provide public services like transportation planning and community development, as specified in federal guidelines but is instead used as an office for MAG employees.

Cook rejects that assessment.

"Service provision buildings like a fire station or senior citizens center, those kinds of things that provide direct service to citizens, are specifically included, and our building is one of those," he said. "We administer an economic development program from the building, transportation planning, all of those kind of services."

Cook sees the commissioners' audit request as part of continuing effort to take over MAG programs. The commission is expected to send a petition to the state to take over services for the elderly in the county today.