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<PAGE> PAGE 2
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<PAGE> PAGE 3
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<PAGE> PAGE 7
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<PAGE> PAGE 10
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<PAGE> PAGE 11
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<PAGE> PAGE 13
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<PAGE> PAGE 16
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<PAGE> PAGE 17
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<PAGE> PAGE 19
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<PAGE> PAGE 20
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<PAGE> PAGE 21
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SIGNATURE DAVID F HILL
TITLE PRESIDENT
To the Board of Trustees and Shareholders
of SAFECO Tax-Exempt Bond Trust
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements
of the SAFECO Tax-Exempt Bond Trust (comprising, respectively,
the SAFECO Intermediate-Term Municipal Bond Fund, SAFECO Insured
Municipal Bond Fund, SAFECO Municipal Bond Fund, SAFECO
California Tax-Free Income Fund, and SAFECO Washington State
Municipal Bond Fund) for the nine-month period ended December 31,
1996, we considered its internal control structure, including
procedures for 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 and not to provide assurance on the internal control
structure.
The management of the SAFECO Tax-Exempt Bond Trust is responsible
for establishing and maintaining an internal control structure.
In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and judgments by
management are required to assess the expected benefits and
related costs of internal control policies and procedures. Two
of the objectives of an internal control structure are to provide
management with reasonable, but not absolute, assurance that
assets are safeguarded against loss from unauthorized use or
disposition and that transactions are executed in accordance with
managements authorization and recorded properly to permit
preparation of financial statements in conformity with generally
accepted accounting principles.
Because of inherent limitations in any internal control
structure, errors or irregularities may occur and may not be
detected. Also, projection of any evaluation of the structure 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 the internal control structure would not
necessarily disclose all matters in the internal control
structure 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 the specific internal control structure
elements 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 the internal control structure, including
procedures for safeguarding securities, that we consider to be
material weaknesses as defined above as of December 31, 1996.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of
management and the Securities and Exchange Commission.
January 31, 1997
WARNING: THE EDGAR SYSTEM ENCOUNTERED ERROR(S) WHILE PROCESSING THIS SCHEDULE.
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WARNING: THE EDGAR SYSTEM ENCOUNTERED ERROR(S) WHILE PROCESSING THIS SCHEDULE.
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WARNING: THE EDGAR SYSTEM ENCOUNTERED ERROR(S) WHILE PROCESSING THIS SCHEDULE.
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WARNING: THE EDGAR SYSTEM ENCOUNTERED ERROR(S) WHILE PROCESSING THIS SCHEDULE.
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WARNING: THE EDGAR SYSTEM ENCOUNTERED ERROR(S) WHILE PROCESSING THIS SCHEDULE.
<TABLE> <S> <C>
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WARNING: THE EDGAR SYSTEM ENCOUNTERED ERROR(S) WHILE PROCESSING THIS SCHEDULE.
<TABLE> <S> <C>
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<NAME> SAFECO TAX EXEMPT BOND TRUST
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WARNING: THE EDGAR SYSTEM ENCOUNTERED ERROR(S) WHILE PROCESSING THIS SCHEDULE.
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WARNING: THE EDGAR SYSTEM ENCOUNTERED ERROR(S) WHILE PROCESSING THIS SCHEDULE.
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WARNING: THE EDGAR SYSTEM ENCOUNTERED ERROR(S) WHILE PROCESSING THIS SCHEDULE.
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