Craig Tassainer, who describes himself as a politically active retiree, said that while researching the contributions of Utah's most powerful PACs in the Utah Elections Office he discovered that the Utah Association of Realtors failed to meet the 2004 election deadline for reporting its $24,500 in political contributions.

"It's important that the electorate be able to find out who is funding candidates - who's putting up the money," says Tassainer, who filed a complaint to the State Elections Office. "Obviously, the Legislature thinks so too - they passed a law about it."

The law, however, is ambiguous and has never been enforced. Though Tassainer did not uncover any other cases of late filing, he said dozens of PACs appear not to have legal addresses under the law.

Association of Realtors Chief Executive Chris Kyler says the group filed its April disclosure late because of the law's ambiguous requirements as to whether candidates had actually accepted a contribution.

The September filing was late because their financial officer was gravely ill.

"We sent the Elections Office a letter requesting authorization to file our disclosures late," Kyler said. "We assumed the issue had been taken care of."

The second late filing made it a "flagrant violation," Tassain- er's attorney, Thomas Thompson, says in the complaint.

Moreover, the lieutenant governor, as the state's chief elections officer, has no discretion under the law; he must refer late filings to the Attorney General's Office for prosecution, Thompson says.

"The failure to make timely disclosures deprives the electorate of any ability to determine which candidates were being financially supported by the PAC and frustrates the clear intent of the law," he says.

Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert, who was elected in 2004 as Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr.'s running mate, not only received the Realtors association's largest contribution - $5,000 - but he is a former president of the real estate group.

Assistant Attorney General Thom Roberts said he is working on a final response to the complaint and hopes to reply by the end of the month.

Joe Demma, Herbert's chief of staff, who acknowledges the law probably has never been enforced, says the lieutenant governor is bending over backwards to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest.

"We are above board on this and doing everything we can to let the public know we are not treating the Realtors any differently than any other group," Demma said. "We have turned it over to the attorney general for his interpretation."

Tassainer and Thompson have been linked to another PAC, Truth in Politics, that Roberts investigated following the 2004 election for possible violations of the disclosure law. The PAC targeted Republican candidates for defeat.

Though Tassainer says he is a "supporter" of Truth in Politics aims, he maintains he is not one of the group's organizers.

Roberts found that Truth in Politics complied with PAC broad registration and reporting requirements.

"It would be very difficult to delineate a disclosure requirement that is useful, capable of being reported and is not over-inclusive and burdensome," he said in his report.

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Some information in this story came from records obtained by University of Utah student Francisca Blanc under Utah's Government Records Access and Management Act.

The money trail

Some of the recipients of Realtors' contributions:

* Lt. Gov. Gary Herbert: $5,000

* Sen. Carlene Walker, R-Cottwonwood Heights: $2,000

* Rep. Lorie Fowlke, R-Orem: $2,000

* Sen. Mark Madsen, R-Lehi: $1,500

* Sen. Chris Buttars, R-West Jordan: $1,000

* Rep. Patrick Painter, R-Nephi: $1,000

* Rep. Steven Mascaro, R-West Jordan: $1,000

* Rep. Aaron Tilton, R-Springville: $1,000

* Rep. Ross Romero, D-Salt Lake City: $1,000