(1) Candidate Political Committee Account. A campaign shall use no more than one political committee and one checking account for the City office being sought, into which all contributions shall be made, and out of which all expenditures for that office shall be made, including expenditures for retiring debt incurred to influence the outcome of a covered election. If a campaign has or controls other political or non-political accounts, such accounts shall not be used for the purpose of influencing the outcome of a covered election, or to retire debt that was incurred to influence the outcome of a covered election. Unless specifically permitted by this Chapter, a campaign shall not make any expenditures related to a covered election through any other person or vendor. The restrictions of the subsection shall not apply to a Litigation Fund Committee established pursuant to Section 20-1009 or a Transition and Inauguration Committee established pursuant to Section 20-1011. A candidate shall be liable for any violations by the campaign of Section 20-1003. 78
(2) It shall not be a violation of this Section for a candidate for City elective office who is a ward leader to make expenditures through his or her ward's political committee for the printing or distribution of sample ballots where such sample ballots list the candidate as one of the endorsed candidates either of the candidate's party or of the candidate's ward.
(3) Upon formation of a candidate political committee, the candidate immediately shall file with the Board of Ethics a statement identifying:
(a) the name and address of the committee;
(b) the checking account information of the committee;
(c) the identity of the treasurer of the committee;
(d) such other information as the Board of Ethics may require by regulation.
(4) A candidate or an employee or agent of a candidate's campaign may use personal funds to make purchases for the benefit of the campaign so long as:
(a) it is reasonably necessary that such purchases are not made from the candidate committee's checking account;
(b) the campaign reimburses the candidate or employee or agent within 45 days of the purchase;
(c) the reimbursement is disclosed and accurately described in the required campaign finance report; and
(5) A campaign may make expenditures for advertising through a vendor if that vendor directly pays the media outlet in or on which such advertising shall appear. For such expenditures, a campaign shall obtain and maintain receipts and documentation of where and when the relevant advertising ran, which shall be made available to the Board upon request. 79
(6) If, in the course of providing services to a campaign, a vendor incurs costs incidental to the provision of those services, an expenditure by the campaign to reimburse the vendor for those costs shall not count towards the contribution limits and shall be permissible under Section 20-1003 so long as the costs are promptly invoiced and the reimbursement is promptly made. For such reimbursements, a campaign shall obtain and maintain appropriate receipts and documentation, which shall be made available to the Board upon request. 80
Notes
| 77 | Amended, Bill No. 050301-A (approved June 9, 2005). See note 67 for effective date provisions. Caption and Section amended, Bill No. 060629 (approved November 16, 2006); amended, Bill No. 100122 (approved June 16, 2010); amended, Bill No. 100126 (became law June 17, 2010); amended, Bill No. 190083-A (approved May 1, 2019). |
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