(A) Except as permitted by this subchapter, no officer or official of the township shall intentionally solicit or accept any gift from any prohibited source or which is otherwise prohibited by law or ordinance.
(B) (1) Division (A) is not applicable to the following:
(a) Opportunities, benefits and services that are available on the same conditions as for the general public;
(b) Anything for which the officer or official pays the fair market value;
(c) Any contribution that is lawfully made under the campaign finance laws of the state;
(d) A gift from a relative, meaning those people related to the individual as father, mother, son, daughter, brother, sister, uncle, aunt, great aunt, great uncle, first cousin, nephew, niece, husband, wife, grandfather, grandmother, grandson, granddaughter, father-in-law, mother-in-law, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, stepfather, stepmother, stepson, stepdaughter, stepbrother, stepsister, half-brother, half-sister and including the father, mother, grandfather or grandmother of an individual’s spouse and the individual’s fiancé or fiancee;
(e) Anything provided by an individual on the basis of a personal friendship unless the recipient has reason to believe that, under the circumstances, the gift was provided because of the official position or employment of the recipient and not because of the personal friendship. In determining whether a gift is provided on the basis of personal friendship, the recipient shall consider the circumstances under which the gift was offered, such as:
1. The history of the relationship between the individual giving the gift and the recipient of the gift, including any previous exchange of gifts between those individuals;
2. Whether, to the actual knowledge of the recipient, the individual who gave the gift personally paid for the gift or sought a tax deduction or business reimbursement for the gift; and
3. Whether, to the actual knowledge of the recipient, the individual who gave the gift also at the same time gave the same or similar gifts to other officers or employees.
(f) 1. Food or refreshments not exceeding $50 per person in value on a single calendar day, provided that the food or refreshments are:
a. Consumed on the premises from which they were purchased or prepared; or
b. Catered.
2. For purposes of this division (B)(6)(f), CATERED means food or refreshments that are purchased ready to consume which are delivered by any means.
(g) Food, refreshments, lodging, transportation and other benefits resulting from outside business or employment activities (or outside activities that are not connected to the official duties of an officer or employee) if the benefits have not been offered or enhanced because of the official position or employment of the officer or official and are customarily provided to others in similar circumstances;
(h) Intra-governmental and inter-governmental gifts. For the purpose of this subchapter, INTRA-GOVERNMENTAL GIFT means any gift given to an officer or official from another officer, official or employee of the township, and INTERGOVERNMENTAL GIFT means any gift given to an officer or official by an officer, official or employee of another governmental entity.
(i) Bequests, inheritances and other transfers at death; and
(j) Any item or items from any one prohibited source during any calendar year having a cumulative total value of less than $50.
(2) Each of the exceptions listed in this division (B) is mutually exclusive and independent of every other.
(C) An officer or official does not violate this subchapter if he or she promptly takes reasonable action to return a gift from a prohibited source.
(D) An officer or official shall not divulge to an unauthorized person confidential information acquired in the course of service as the officer or official in advance of the time prescribed by the township for its authorized release to the public. Suppression of or refusal to provide public records of the township is governed by the FOIA, the records retention schedule of the township as approved by the State Archivist and M.C.L.A. § 750.491 (Public records; removal, mutilation or destruction; penalty).
(Ord. 1016, Amendment 19, passed 2-28-2017)