(a) There is hereby created and established within the Treasury of the City of Los Angeles a special trust fund to be known as the “Neighborhood Empowerment Trust Fund”, referred to in this chapter as the “Trust Fund”.
(b) The purpose of the Trust Fund is to augment the established programs and activities of the Department of Neighborhood Empowerment (Department) or to achieve or assist in achieving the purposes and goals of the Neighborhood Councils under the Citywide System of Neighborhood Councils as stated in the City Charter, the Plan for a Citywide System of Neighborhood Councils (Plan) and the Regulations Implementing the Plan (Regulations).
(c) All monetary gifts, contributions, or bequests accepted by the City Council, the Department, or the Neighborhood Councils for the purposes stated in Subsection (b) above, shall be placed into an appropriate account within the Trust Fund, excluding those monies accepted by the Neighborhood Councils that have been deposited into a checking account under Section 22.815 of this Code. If City Council or the Department accepts a monetary gift on behalf of a Neighborhood Council, then the General Manager of the Department or the General Manager’s designee shall inform the Controller so that any accepted monetary gift is deposited into an appropriate account within the Trust Fund. Within the Trust Fund, the accounts for each of the Neighborhood Councils shall be segregated from one another; the Department’s account shall be segregated from the Neighborhood Councils’ accounts, and any monetary donation with a special term, restriction, or condition, shall be placed into its own account and segregated from all other accounts. If the restricted gift pertains to a specific Neighborhood Council, then the Controller may establish a sub-account for that restricted gift under the specific Neighborhood Council’s account instead of a wholly separate and segregated account. All interest or earnings accruing on money in an account within the Trust Fund shall become and remain a part of that account. Money in any account of the Trust Fund shall not revert to the Reserve Fund of the City at the end of a fiscal year.
(d) The Trust Fund shall be administered by the Department. Monies from the Trust Fund may be deposited or expended by the Department. The Neighborhood Councils may also deposit or expend monies from their account within the Trust Fund by making a request of the Controller through the General Manager of the Department, or the General Manager’s designee. A special account shall be established within the Trust Fund under Subsection (c), above, for purposes of depositing 10% of all unconditional monetary gifts to Neighborhood Councils into a general fund that shall be used to disburse funds into the accounts of Neighborhood Councils that are located in economically disadvantaged areas. The determination and disbursement of funds to Neighborhood Councils that are in economically disadvantaged areas shall be determined by the Department. The Department shall report to City Council within one year of the effective date of this ordinance regarding its recommendations on improving the program designed to distribute monies to Neighborhood Councils in economically disadvantaged areas.
(e) The General Manager of the Department, or the General Manager’s designee, shall inform the Controller if any monetary gift contains special terms, restrictions, or conditions on its use or under which the money was accepted. No money shall be expended from an account with a special term, restriction, or condition, unless there is compliance with those special terms, restrictions, or conditions under which that money was accepted. Any request by the Department for an expenditure of any money from any account with a special term, restriction, or condition, shall be accompanied by information to the Controller that the expenditure does not breach or violate the special terms, restrictions or conditions under which that money was accepted and placed into the special account involved. The Controller or the Department may request any further information or documents regarding any deposit or expenditure.
(f) Monies may be expended from the Trust Fund to purchase equipment, services or furnishings in support of the programs and activities of the Department or the Neighborhood Councils, or in furtherance of the purposes or goals in the City Charter, Plan, or Regulations, subject to any special terms, restrictions or conditions attached to the individual gifts, contributions, or bequests to the City. In addition, monies from the Trust Fund may be used and expended on neighborhood improvement projects that have been approved under the administrative processes established by the Department.
(g) In the event that any Neighborhood Council is decertified, abandoned, or otherwise ceases to exist, any and all accounts or funds that relate to that Neighborhood Council shall be turned over or distributed to the Department, which shall have the authority to deposit and expend the funds as stated in this section.
(h) The provisions of this section shall expire, and be deemed to have been repealed, three years after its effective date, unless earlier amended and extended by the City Council by ordinance.
SECTION HISTORY
Chapter and Section Added by Ord No. 179,545, Eff. 3-16-08.