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001 A000000 THE EMPIRE BUILDER TAX FREE BOND FUND
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<PAGE> PAGE 2
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<PAGE> PAGE 3
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<PAGE> PAGE 4
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SIGNATURE SUZANNE RAPP
TITLE ANALYST
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<SERIES>
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<PER-SHARE-NII> .79<F1>
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<FN>
<F1>Builder Class
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<SERIES>
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<NAME> THE EMPIRE BUILDER TAX FREE BOND FUND
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</TABLE>
Report of Independent Accountants
To the Trustees
The Empire Builder Tax Free Bond Fund
In planning and performing our audit of the financial
statements of The Empire Builder Tax Free Bond
Fund for the year ended February 28, 1998, we
considered its internal control, including controls
over safeguarding securities, in order to
determine our auditing procedures for the purpose
of expressing our opinion on the financial
statements and to comply with the requirements
of Form N-SAR, not to provide assurance on internal
control.
The management of The Empire Builder Tax Free
Bond Fund is responsible for establishing and
maintaining internal control. In fulfilling this
responsibility, estimates and judgments by
management are required to assess the expected
benefits and related costs of controls. Generally,
controls that are relevant to an audit pertain to
the entity's objective of preparing financial
statements for external purposes that are fairly
presented in conformity with generally accepted
accounting principles. Those controls include
the safeguarding of assets against unauthorized
acquisition, use, or disposition.
Because of inherent limitations in internal
control, errors or irregularities may occur
and may not be detected. Also, projection
of any evaluation of internal control to
future periods is subject to the risk
that it may become inadequate because
of changes in conditions or that the
effectiveness of the design and operation
may deteriorate.
Our consideration of internal control would not
necessarily disclose all matters in internal
control that might be material
weaknesses under standards established
by the American Institute of Certified
Public Accountants. A material weakness
is a condition in which the design or
operation of any specific internal control
component does not reduce to a
relatively low level the risk that errors
or irregularities in amounts that would
be material in relation to the financial
statements being audited may occur and
not be detected within a timely period
by employees in the normal course of
performing their assigned functions.
However, we noted no matters involving
internal control, including controls over
safeguarding securities, that we
consider to be material weaknesses as
defined above as of February 28, 1998.
This report is intended solely for the
information and use of management
of The Empire Builder Tax Free Bond
Fund and the Securities and Exchange
Commission.
COOPERS & LYBRAND L.L.P.
Columbus, Ohio
April 24, 1998
