The purpose of this article is to require, with certain defenses, that campaign finance reports and supplemental reports required to be filed with the city secretary by a city officeholder, a candidate for city elective office, or a political committee (whether general purpose or specific purpose) be filed in an electronic format, and to require that filers indicate the amount of officeholder contributions used for campaign expenditures, distinguish between campaign and officeholder contributions, and distinguish between campaign and officeholder expenditures. It is the intent of this article that the requirement of filing campaign finance reports and supplemental reports in an electronic format will not inconvenience those required to file such reports and will afford persons interested in the information contained in the reports easier access and an efficient means by which such information may be examined or extracted. (Ord. Nos. 27146; 29663)
(a) In this article:
(1) ELECTRONIC FORMAT means:
(A) for a filer other than a general purpose political committee, a format approved by the Texas Ethics Commission for use in the city of Dallas through which a report is entered, sent, and received through an electronic filing system provided by the city; or
(B) for a general purpose political committee, the electronic medium in which the committee filed its report with the Texas Ethics Commission under Section 254.036 of the Texas Election Code, as amended.
(2) FILER means the holder of a city elective office, any candidate for a city elective office, a political committee (whether general purpose or specific purpose) acting through a duly authorized representative, or any individual required to file a report under this chapter or Chapter 254 of the Texas Election Code, as amended.
(3) REPORT means a campaign finance report required to be filed with the city secretary under this chapter or Chapter 254 of the Texas Election Code, as amended, and includes any updates, corrections, or amendments to a campaign finance report.
(4) SUPPLEMENTAL REPORT means a document that:
(A) states the total dollar amount of any officeholder contributions that were used for campaign expenditures during the reporting period;
(B) indicates, for each political contribution listed in a report as received on or after March 1, 2015, whether that contribution is a campaign contribution or an officeholder contribution; and
(C) indicates, for each political expenditure listed in a report as spent on or after March 1, 2015, whether that expenditure is a campaign expenditure or an officeholder expenditure.
(b) Terms not defined in this article but defined in Title 15 of the Texas Election Code, as amended, have the meanings ascribed to them in Title 15 of the Texas Election Code. (Ord. Nos. 27146; 29663)
(a) When this chapter or Chapter 254 of the Texas Election Code, as amended, requires that a filer file a report, the filer must also file a supplemental report in the form and manner directed by the city secretary.
(b) An offense under this section is punishable by a fine not to exceed $500. (Ord. 29663)
(a) A filer commits an offense if the filer fails to timely file a report or a supplemental report with the city secretary in an electronic format. To be timely, an electronic report must be time and date stamped as having been received on the city’s server by 5 p.m. on the last day permitted for filing the particular report under Chapter 254 of the Texas Election Code, as amended.
(b) It is a defense to prosecution under Subsection (a) of this section that:
(1) the filer:
(A) (or an agent of the filer or a person with whom the filer contracts) does not use computer equipment to keep the current records of political contributions, political expenditures, or persons making political contributions to the filer; and
(B) does not, in a calendar year, accept political contributions that in the aggregate exceed $1,000 or make political expenditures that in the aggregate exceed $1,000; or
(2) the filer is an individual not acting in concert with another person who makes one or more direct campaign expenditures in an election from the individual’s own property that exceed $100 on any one or more candidates or measures if the individual complies with Chapter 254 of the Texas Election Code, as amended, as if the individual were a campaign treasurer of a political committee and the individual receives no reimbursement for the expenditures.
(c) A filer wishing to assert a defense described in Subsection (b) of this section shall file with the city secretary an affidavit, sworn under penalty of perjury, identifying the asserted defense and stating that the filer qualifies for the defense. A separate affidavit must be filed with each report that is not filed in an electronic format as required by this article.
(d) A filer who files an affidavit under Subsection (c) of this section asserting a defense for a particular report shall file that report with the city secretary in a non-electronic form prescribed by the Texas Ethics Commission pursuant to Section 254.036 of the Texas Election Code, as amended.
(e) An offense under this section is punishable by a fine not to exceed $500. (Ord. Nos. 27146; 29663)
(a) The city will provide publicly accessible computer terminals for filers to file reports and supplemental reports in an electronic format.
(b) The city will post the electronic reports on the city’s website.
(c) The city will make available, upon request, a paper copy of a report that conforms to the same format and paper size as the form prescribed by the Texas Ethics Commission pursuant to Section 254.036 of the Texas Election Code, as amended. (Ord. Nos. 27146; 29663)
SECS. 15A-12. THRU 15A-13. RESERVED.
(Ord. 27146)