WASHINGTON — Sen. Bob Corker’s average net worth plummeted from $78.1 million in 2005 to a negative $1.8 million in 2006, according to a report compiled by the nonpartisan Sunshine Foundation, a government transparency watchdog.

But the Tennessee Republican senator’s staff says the foundation’s methodology in analyzing House and Senate members’ net worth using annual personal finance disclosures is flawed and did not take into account his 2006 sale of several Chattanooga properties to businessman Henry Luken.

“At the beginning of 2006, there was debt associated with (Sen. Corker’s properties) reflected on the disclosure,” said Todd Womack, the senator’s chief of staff. “Once the company was sold, that debt was erased. My assumption would be that (the Sunshine Foundation) didn’t take into account the sale of the company, which was widely reported.”

The Sunshine Foundation, in a report posted on its Web site, analyzed how the 535 members of the House and Senate saw their personal fortunes change since 1995 or when they were first elected for lawmakers who joined Congress after 1995.

The organization used the annual personal finance disclosures filed with the Clerk of the House or the Secretary of the Senate, which only require the lawmakers to report their assets in wide ranges. For instance, the top two ranges for reporting of assets and liabilities are “$25,000,001 to $50 million” and “more than $50 million.”

Lawmakers also aren’t required to list the value of their homes and the mortgages they have on them.

The wide ranges make the disclosure forms almost useless to the public when trying to discern a politician’s true worth and whether he or she might have conflicts of interest, which was the point of the Sunshine Foundation’s report, said Gabriella Schneider, communications director for the organization.

The study took the average of the low and high ranges for lawmakers’ disclosed assets and liabilities.

“The way the disclosure system now works, someone can be extremely wealthy or in bankruptcy or somewhere in between, and you can’t really tell because of the broad ranges,” Ms. Schneider said. “If a lawmaker is in debt, would they be more susceptible to outside interests? That’s the kind of thing the public ought to be aware of.”

The foundation has proposed a comprehensive government transparency bill, posted at www.publicmarkup.org, and is soliciting public input before launching a congressional lobbying effort, Ms. Schneider said.

According to the Sunshine Foundation’s report, Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., had a net worth of $27.8 million, up from $6.2 million when he was elected in 2002.

Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., was worth $8,001 in 2006; Rep. Lincoln Davis, D-Tenn., was worth $1.1 million; and Rep. John Duncan, R-Tenn., was worth $592,000.

Sen. Johnny Isakson, R-Ga., was worth $13.2 million in 2006, up from $8.0 million in 1998, while Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., was worth $284,000, up from $89,000 in 1995, when he was serving in the House.

Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., was worth $4.9 million, while Rep. Phil Gingrey, R-Ga., was worth $6.7 million.

Sen. Corker’s sale of 36 office and retail buildings, the largest land transaction in Chattanooga history, netted him $11.2 million and $55.5 million, according to his 2006 personal finance disclosure.

The disclosure also lists between $24 million and $120 million in debt, mostly from mortgages associated with the properties.

“That would be the reason for the strange assertion that (the Sunshine Foundation) made concerning Sen. Corker’s financial situation, which is inaccurate,” Mr. Womack said. “We certainly would have explained that had we been asked.”

Personal finance disclosures for 2007 are due today.

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