(A) Created. The City Promotional Fund is established. The Common Council is authorized to budget and appropriate funds from the General Fund or from other funds to pay the expenses incurred in promoting the betterment of the municipality.
(Prior Code, § 43.220)
(B) Expenditures. Expenditures from this Fund may include, but are not necessarily limited to the following:
(1) Membership dues in local, regional, state, and national associations of a civic, educational, or governmental nature, which have as their purpose the betterment and improvement of municipal operations;
(2) Direct expenses for travel, meals, and lodging in conjunction with municipal business or meetings or organizations to which the municipality belongs;
(3) Expenses incurred in the promotion of economic, industrial, and civic development for the municipality, including meeting room rental, decorations, parades, floats, nominal gifts, meals, and travel;
(4) Commemorative plaques, certificates, or objects such as commemorative keys;
(5) Other purposes which are deemed by the Mayor and/or the Common Council to directly relate to promotion or betterment of the city; and
(6) Donations to not-for-profit organizations, church sponsored secular, civic, or social activity or other civic or fraternal organizations, where the donation is deemed to be of benefit to the citizens of the city.
(Prior Code, § 43.221)
(C) Expense authorization required. No expenses shall be allowed from this Fund without prior authorization and approval by the Common Council and/or the Council President. Claims for expenses under this section all will be allowed as prescribed by law.
(Prior Code, § 43.222)
(D) Purposes. From and after January 1, 2012, all monies in a promotional fund line item for any department, or for any elected official of the city, only be used for the following purposes:
(1) Those purposes as permitted by I.C. 36-10-2-1 et seq. and 36-7-2-7.
(a) The first such use is summarized as follows: to establish, aid, maintain, and operate libraries, museums, cultural, historical, and scientific facilities and programs, community service facilities and programs, neighborhood center, community centers, civic centers, convention centers, auditorium, arenas, and stadiums.
(b) The second list is for city expenses related to economic development and incidental expenses for related to the State of the City, Keys to the City, Inaugural Address, sponsoring city floats in parades, memorial gifts, and commemorative plaques shall be permitted as reasonable expenses for city activities.
(2) Additionally, promotional funds may be used to pay the expenses of, or to reimburse, city officials for expenses incurred in promoting the location and/or expansion of economic development within the city. Such expenses may include the rental of meeting places, meals, decorations, memorabilia, awards, and expenses directly incurred in the promoting of industrial, commercial, or residential development within the city. Such expenditures must be directly related to the elected officials efforts to encourage developers to locate and/or build within the city.
(E) Compliance. All departments and other elected officials of the city should not use any monies in a promotional line item under the old ordinance that has been repealed and that such funds shall only be used as outlined in this section. That the purpose of this section is to place the city into compliance with I.C. 36-10-2-1 et seq., I.C. 36-7-2-7, and the State Board of Account’s Manual on the use of promotional monies.
(Ord. 3509, passed - -; Ord. 0-99-0024, passed 12-3-1999; Ord. 12-0007, passed 3-1-2012)