(a) Notwithstanding Subdivision (b) of § 12.4305, an officeholder may accept contributions after the date of the election for the purpose of paying expenses associated with holding the office provided that the contributions are not expended for any contribution to any state or local committee. Contributions received pursuant to this Subdivision shall be deposited into a bank account established solely for the purposes specified in this section.
(b) Officeholder Account Contribution Limits.
(1) No person shall make, and no officeholder shall receive from a person, a contribution pursuant to this subdivision totaling more than the amount set forth in Government Code § 85316(b)(1)(A), as adjusted by the Fair Political Practices Commission pursuant to Government Code § 85316(b)(4), per calendar year.
(2) No officeholder shall receive contributions pursuant to Paragraph (1) that, in the aggregate, total more than the amount set forth in Government Code § 85316(b)(2)(A), as adjusted by the Fair Political Practices Commission pursuant to Government Code § 85316(b)(4), per calendar year.
(3) Any contribution received pursuant to this Section shall be deemed to be a contribution to that candidate for election to any County office that he or she may seek during the term of office to which he or she is currently elected, including, but not limited to, reelection to the office he or she currently holds, and shall be subject to any applicable contribution limit provided in this Chapter.
(c) If an officeholder account is established pursuant to this Section, the officeholder shall maintain officeholder funds in a single bank account separate from any other bank account held by the officeholder.
(d) Establishing the Officeholder Controlled Committee, Reporting, and Recordkeeping.
(1) Formation. The officeholder shall establish a controlled committee by filing a statement of organization pursuant to Government Code § 84101 if the officeholder receives $2,000 or more in officeholder contributions in a calendar year. An officeholder account and an officeholder controlled committee may only be established after the officeholder closes his or her campaign account and any campaign committee.
(2) Committee Name. The controlled committee name shall include the officeholder’s last name, the office held, the year the officeholder was elected to the current term of office, and the words “Officeholder Account.” The statement of organization shall include the name, account number, and address of the financial institution where the committee established the officeholder account.
(3) Filing Requirements. The controlled committee shall file campaign statements and reports at the same times and in the same places as it otherwise would be required to do for any other controlled committee formed by the officeholder for election to County office.
(4) Required Recordkeeping and Audits. The officeholder and treasurer shall be subject to recordkeeping requirements under § 12.4313. The officeholder account and officeholder controlled committee shall be subject to audits under the regulations promulgated pursuant to Government Code § 90001(i)(1), § 12.4313, and the terms of any written agreement between the County and the Fair Political Practices Commission.
(e) Prohibitions.
(1) Officeholder funds may not be contributed or transferred to another state or local committee, including any other controlled committee of the officeholder, except as permitted in Subdivisions (h) (2) and (h)(3).
(2) Officeholders may not use officeholder funds to pay “campaign expenses” as defined in California Code of Regulations, title 2, § 18525(a).
(3) The officeholder may not transfer or contribute funds from any other committee he or she controls to the officeholder account, except as permitted in Subdivision (h)(2) and (h)(3).
(f) Contributions to the Officeholder Account.
(1) Required Notices. In addition to the requirements of California Code of Regulations, title 2, § 18523.1, a written solicitation for contributions to the officeholder account shall include the following: “For purposes of the County of San Bernardino Campaign Finance Reform Ordinance’s contribution limits, a contribution to an officeholder account is also considered to be a contribution to all campaign committees for future elective County office the officeholder seeks during his or her current term of office.”
(2) In addition to the requirements of Subparagraph (1) above, an officeholder who files a statement of intention to be a candidate for any elective County office during the officeholder’s term of office shall provide notice of this filing to every person that has made a contribution to his or her officeholder account. The notice shall contain the language in Subparagraph (1) and be transmitted or mailed within ten days of filing the statement of intention to be a candidate.
(3) Cumulation. A contribution to the officeholder account shall also be deemed a contribution to the officeholder’s controlled committee for election to elective County office for the purposes of § 12.4319(b)(3) only under all of the following circumstances:
(A) The contributor makes the contribution between the day the election was held for the term of office for which the officeholder account was established and the end of that term of office;
(B) The officeholder maintains the controlled committee, established for a future term of elective County office, at any time during the period covered in Subparagraph (A).
(4) Cumulation and Primary and General Elections. A person’s contributions to the officeholder account, when combined with contributions from the same person for a primary and general election to the elective County office, may not exceed the contribution limits applicable to the primary and general election.
(5) Multiple Officeholder Accounts. When an officeholder maintains more than one officeholder account in the same calendar year, he or she may not receive the following contributions to any of those accounts during that calendar year:
(A) Contributions from a single contributor that, when cumulated for all the accounts, exceed the maximum amount the contributor could give to the officeholder account having the highest per person contribution limit under Subdivision (b)(1).
(B) Contributions from all contributors that, when cumulated for all the accounts, exceed the maximum amount in total contributions the officeholder could receive in the officeholder account having the highest aggregate contribution limit under Subdivision (b)(2).
(g) Contributions Over the Limits.
(1) An officeholder shall return to the contributor the portion of any contribution to his or her officeholder account that exceeds the limits of § 12.4305 or § 12.4319 (either alone or after cumulation) by the earlier of 14 days of receipt or 14 days of the date the officeholder files a statement of intention to be a candidate for elective County office pursuant to Government Code § 85200.
(2) A contributor to the officeholder account does not violate the contribution limits applying to the officeholder’s election to a future elective County office as otherwise provided under Subdivision (b)(3) if, when he or she makes the contribution, the officeholder has not filed a statement of organization to establish a controlled committee for election to a future elective County office.
(h) Terminating Officeholder Accounts and Committees.
(1) The officeholder may not accept contributions after the officeholder’s term of office ends or the date he or she leaves that office, whichever is earlier.
(2) The officeholder may redesignate the officeholder account as an officeholder controlled committee for a future term of the same office for purposes of paying expenses associated with holding the office by amending the statement of organization for the committee to reflect the redesignation for the future term of office prior to the date the officer’s term of office ends.
(3) An officeholder may redesignate officeholder funds in the redesignated officeholder account as officeholder funds for the new term of office, subject to the limitations in Subdivision (f)(5).
(4) Once the officeholder’s term of office ends or he or she leaves that office, whichever is earlier, the officeholder may only use his or her officeholder funds for the following purposes:
(A) Paying outstanding officeholder expenses.
(B) Repaying contributions to contributors to the officeholder account.
(C) Making a donation to a bona fide charitable, educational, civic, religious, or similar tax-exempt, nonprofit organization, if no substantial part of the proceeds will have a material financial effect on the officeholder, a member of his or her immediate family, or his or her committee treasurer.
(D) Paying for professional services reasonably required by the officeholder controlled committee to assist in the performance of its administrative functions.
(E) The officeholder shall terminate the officeholder controlled committee within 90 days of the date the officer’s term of office ends or he or she leaves that office, whichever is earlier.
(Ord. 4350, passed - -2018)