Loading...
(a) PAYMENT BY CONTROLLER. Upon certifying that a candidate is eligible to receive public financing under this Chapter, the Executive Director shall forward the certification to the Controller, and the Controller shall disburse payments to the candidate from the Election Campaign Fund in accordance with the certification and this Section.
(b) TIME OF PAYMENTS. The Controller shall not make any payments under this Chapter to any candidate more than 142 days before the date of the election. Payments from the Controller shall be disbursed to eligible candidates within two business days of the Controller receiving notification from the Ethics Commission regarding the amount of the disbursement, except that within fifteen calendar days before the election, such payments shall be made within one business day.
(c) PAYMENTS FOR ELECTION EXPENSES TO CANDIDATES FOR MAYOR. Candidates for Mayor certified as eligible to receive public financing for their election campaigns will have access to funds from the Election Campaign Fund on a first-come, first-served basis according to the following formula:
(1) Upon qualification the candidate shall receive a one-time payment of $300,000 from the Election Campaign Fund.
(2) After the initial payment under subsection (c)(1), for the first $150,000 in matching contributions raised by the candidate, the candidate shall receive six dollars from the Election Campaign Fund for each dollar raised. If the candidate is the incumbent Mayor, after the initial payment under subsection (c)(1), for the first $147,500 in matching contributions raised by the candidate, the candidate shall receive six dollars from the Election Campaign Fund for each dollar raised.
(3) The maximum amount of public funds a non-incumbent mayoral candidate may receive is $1,200,000. The maximum amount of public funds an incumbent mayoral candidate may receive is $1,185,000.
(d) PAYMENTS FOR ELECTION EXPENSES TO CANDIDATES FOR THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS. Candidates for the Board of Supervisors certified as eligible to receive public financing for their election campaigns will have access to funds from the Election Campaign Fund on a first-come, first-served basis according to the following formula:
(1) Upon qualification the candidate shall receive a one-time payment of $60,000 from the Election Campaign Fund.
(2) After the initial payment under subsection (d)(1), for the first $32,500 in matching contributions raised by the candidate, the candidate shall receive six dollars from the Election Campaign Fund for each dollar raised. If the candidate is an incumbent member of the Board of Supervisors after the initial payment under subsection (d)(1), for the first $32,000 in matching contributions raised by the candidate, the candidate shall receive six dollars from the Election Campaign Fund for each dollar raised.
(3) The maximum amount of public funds a non-incumbent candidate for the Board of Supervisors may receive is $255,000. The maximum amount of public funds an incumbent candidate for the Board of Supervisors may receive is $252,000.
(e) SUBMISSION OF CLAIMS FOR PUBLIC FUNDS. The Ethics Commission shall determine the information needed to submit a claim for payment of public funds. The Executive Director shall certify each request for payment of public funds within four business days of the request, except that within 14 calendar days before the election, when the certification of a request for public funds shall be made within two business days of the request. No candidate may submit a claim for public funds if the candidate has any such claims pending with the Ethics Commission. For candidates for Mayor, any submission of a claim for public funds must include a minimum of $5,000 of matching contributions; provided that in the 14 calendar days preceding an election, a claim must include a minimum of $1,000 of matching contributions. For candidates for the Board of Supervisors, any submission of a claim for public funds must include a minimum of $1,000 of matching contributions; provided that in the 14 calendar days preceding an election, a claim must include a minimum of $200 of matching contributions. All claims for public funds must be submitted no later than 5:00 p.m. on the 30th day following the date of the election.
(f) DEPOSIT IN CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION TRUST ACCOUNT. A candidate must deposit all payments received from the Election Campaign Fund in his or her candidate committee's Campaign Contribution Trust Account.
(Added by Proposition O, 11/7/2000; amended by Ord. 141-03, File No. 030034, App. 6/27/2003; Ord. 3-06, File No. 051439, App. 1/20/2006; Ord. 31-06, File No. 051773, App. 2/23/2006; Ord. 268-07, File No. 071003, App. 11/26/2007; Ord. 74-08, File No. 080278, 4/30/2008; Ord. 234-09, File. No. 090989, App. 11/20/2009; Ord. 64-12, File No. 111082, App. 4/20/2012, Eff. 5/20/2012; Ord. 218-19, File No. 190660, App. 10/4/2019, Eff. 11/4/2019, Oper. 1/1/2020)
The Controller shall terminate all payments to a candidate who is otherwise eligible to receive public financing if the candidate or the candidate's committee:
(a) Withdraws or fails to qualify to have his or her name printed on the ballot for the election for which the candidate applied for public financing;
(b) Fails to comply with the conditions specified in Section 1.140 of this Chapter; or
(c) Knowingly or willfully fails to comply with any of the reporting requirements imposed by this Chapter or the Political Reform Act, California Government Code Section 81000, et seq.
(Added by Ord. 31-06, File No. 051773, App. 2/23/2006; amended by Ord. 268-07, File No. 071003, App. 11/26/2007; Ord. 234-09, File. No. 090989, App. 11/20/2009)
(Former Sec. 1.146 added by Proposition O, 11/7/2000; repealed by Ord. 141-03, File No. 030034, App. 6/27/2003)
(a) USE FOR QUALIFIED CAMPAIGN EXPENDITURES ONLY. Candidates who receive public financing may use the public funds solely to pay for qualified campaign expenditures and to repay loans used to pay for qualified campaign expenditures except that public funds may be used to pay filing fees and costs incurred after the election that do not directly affect the outcome of the election, including but not limited to utility bills, expenses associated with an audit, and expenses related to preparing post-election campaign finance disclosure reports as required by the California Political Reform Act, Government Code Section 81000, et seq., and the provisions of this Chapter. Candidates may not use public funds to pay for expenses incurred in connection with an administrative or judicial proceeding. Candidates may not use public funds to pay administrative, civil or criminal fines, including late filing fines, or to pay for inaugural activities or officeholder expenses. Candidates may not use public funds to pay post-election bonuses to campaign employees or for election victory celebrations or similar post-election campaign events.
(b) WITHDRAWAL OR FAILURE TO QUALIFY. Any candidate who receives public financing but who withdraws or fails to qualify to have his or her name printed on the ballot in the election for which the public funds were provided shall repay the Election Campaign Fund the full sum received from the Fund.
(c) UNEXPENDED PUBLIC FUNDS. Any candidate who receives public financing and whose committee has unexpended public funds shall pay to the City and County of San Francisco and deliver to the Ethics Commission those funds for deposit in the Election Campaign Fund no later than 30 days after the Ethics Commission completes its audit of the candidate's committee. Unexpended funds may be used to pay for expenses associated with an audit such as bank fees, treasurer fees and storage fees until the Ethics Commission completes its audit of the candidate's committee.
(Added by Proposition O, 11/7/2000; amended by Ord. 141-03, File No. 030034, App. 6/27/2003; Ord. 31-06, File No. 051773, App. 2/23/2006; Ord. 228-06, File No. 060501, App. 9/14/2006; Ord. 268-07, File No. 071003, App. 11/26/2007; Ord. 234-09, File. No. 090989, App. 11/20/2009)
(a) AUDIT. The Ethics Commission shall audit all candidate committees whose candidates have received public financing under this Chapter. Audits of candidate committees conducted under this Subsection shall begin within 60 days after the date the candidate committees' first post-election campaign disclosure report is required to be filed pursuant to Section 1.106 of this Chapter. In his or her discretion, the Executive Director may initiate additional targeted or randomly selected audits of any committee, irrespective of whether the committee received any public funds. At the request of the Executive Director, the Controller shall assist in conducting these audits.
(b) REPAYMENT.
(1) If the Ethics Commission determines that any portion of the payments made to a candidate from the Election Campaign Fund exceeded the aggregate amount of payments to which the candidate was entitled under this Chapter, the Commission shall notify the Controller and the candidate. In addition to any other penalties, the candidate shall pay to the City and County of San Francisco, and deliver to the Ethics Commission an amount equal to the amount of the excess payments, and if the Commission determines that any amount of any payment made to a candidate from the Election Campaign Fund was used for something other than qualified campaign expenditures, the candidate shall pay to the Ethics Commission an amount equal to the improper expenditure.
(2) Any candidate who receives public funds under this Chapter and exceeds his or her Individual Expenditure Ceiling by ten percent or more shall, in addition to any other penalties, pay to the Ethics Commission an amount equal to the amount of public funds the candidate received under this Chapter.
(3) All payments delivered to the Ethics Commission under this Section shall be deposited in the Election Campaign Fund.
(Added by Proposition O, 11/7/2000; amended by Ord. 141-03, File No. 030034, App. 6/27/2003; Ord. 31-06, File No. 051773, App. 2/23/2006; Ord. 228-06, File No. 060501, App. 9/14/2006; Ord. 268-07, File No. 071003, App. 11/26/2007; Ord. 234-09, File. No. 090989, App. 11/20/2009)
Loading...