(a) Limits on contributions by persons and committees.
(1) No person or committee shall make to any candidate, including the controlled committee of such candidate, and no such candidate or such candidate’s controlled committee, shall solicit or accept any contribution that will cause the amount contributed by the contributor to the candidate or the candidate’s controlled committee to exceed Seven Hundred Fifty and no/100ths ($750.00) Dollars for any single election.
(2) Except for independent expenditure committees or other committees not controlled by the candidate, no person shall make to any committee, which supports or opposes any candidate or candidates for City Council, and no such committee shall accept from any such person a contribution or contributions totaling more than Seven Hundred Fifty and no/100ths ($750.00) Dollars for any single election.
(3) The City Council shall adjust the contribution limits established in this subsection in March of every odd-numbered year to reflect any increase or decrease in the California Consumer Price Index since the last such adjustment of the contribution limit. Such adjustments shall be rounded to the nearest Ten and no/100ths ($10.00) Dollar amount. The base contribution limit will be re-evaluated every five years.
(4) The limitations of this subsection shall not apply to contributions of a candidate's personal funds to his or her controlled campaign committee on behalf of his or her own candidacy, and shall apply to contributions from the candidate's spouse.
(b) Restrictions on when contributions may be received.
(1) No candidate, including the candidate's controlled committee, and no committee primarily formed to support or oppose any candidate or candidates for City Council, shall accept any contributions (including candidate's personal funds) more than six (6) calendar months prior to any election in which the candidate is attempting to be on the ballot or is a write-in candidate. In the case of a recall effort, the pre-election fund-raising period set forth in this subsection shall commence on the date a notice of intent to circulate a recall petition is served on the officer.
(2) No candidate or the controlled committee of such candidate, and no committee primarily formed to support or oppose any candidate or candidates for City Council, shall accept any contributions (including candidate's personal funds) after the earlier of (i) ninety (90) days after the date of their candidate's withdrawal as a candidate, defeat or date of the election; or (ii) the date on which outstanding bills or debts owed by the candidate or committee are paid in full. Contributions received during such ninety (90) day period shall be used only to pay outstanding bills or debts owed by the candidate or committee for that election, or to comply with the provisions of Government Code Section 84308.
(3) If, at the end of the period specified in Section 1-13.03(b)(2), there remains any unexpended balance in the campaign bank account of any such candidates or committees, such unexpended funds remaining in the account shall be either kept for the purpose of maintaining available funds to comply with the requirements under Government Code Section 84308, should an occurrence requiring such arise; or be disposed of by either returning the funds to contributors pro rata; turning such funds over to the General Fund of the City of Thousand Oaks; or donated to any bona fide charitable, educational, civic, religious, or similar tax exempt, nonprofit organization, where no substantial part of the proceeds will have a material financial effect on the former candidate or elected officer, any member of his or her immediate family, or his or her campaign treasurer. Under no circumstances shall such unexpended funds be redesignated or used for any future election other than the election for which the funds were contributed.
(c) Limitations on loans. Any loan or extension of credit for a period of more than sixty (60) days, other than loans to the candidate from commercial lending institutions without a guarantor made in the regular course of business on the same terms available to members of the public, shall be considered a contribution from the maker and/or guarantor of the loan or the creditor, and shall be subject to all applicable contribution limits.
(d) Anonymous contributions. No person shall make to any candidate for City Council or the candidate's controlled committee, or to any committee that supports or opposes any such candidate or candidates, and no such candidate or committee shall solicit or accept, any anonymous contribution that exceeds Twenty-five and no/100ths ($25.00) Dollars.
(e) Cash contributions. No person shall make to any candidate for City Council or such candidate's controlled committee, or to any committee that supports or opposes any such candidate or candidates, and no such candidate or committee shall solicit or accept a cash contribution that exceeds Twenty-five and no/100ths ($25.00) Dollars. No contribution that causes the total amount contributed by the donor to the recipient to exceed Twenty-five and no/100ths ($25.00) Dollars, other than an in-kind contribution as defined by the Political Reform Act, shall be accepted or made unless it is made by written instrument, or by electronic transaction approved by the Fair Political Practices Commission, containing the name of the donor and the name of the payee.
(f) Assumed name contributions. No contribution shall be made, directly or indirectly, by any person or combination of persons acting jointly in a name other than the name by which they are identified for legal purposes, nor in the name of another person or combination of persons. No person shall make a contribution in his or her name of anything belonging to another person or received from another person on the condition that it be used as a contribution. Upon discovery by a candidate for elective office, or his or her campaign treasurer or committee, or ballot measure committee, that a contribution has been received in violation of this subsection, the amount received in violation of this subsection shall be promptly paid from available campaign funds to the Treasurer of the City for deposit in the General Fund of the City, and shall not be used to benefit any candidate or committee.
(g) Local aggregate contribution limit. No person shall contribute more than the local aggregate contribution limit to all candidates for the City Council and their controlled committees. For the purpose of this subsection, the local aggregate contribution limit shall be calculated by multiplying Seven Hundred Fifty and no/100ths ($750.00) dollars by the number of members of the City Council to be elected at that election and adding Seven Hundred Fifty and no/100ths ($750.00) Dollars to the resulting amount.
(h) Family contributions. Contributions by a husband and wife shall be treated as separate contributions and shall not be aggregated. Contributions by children under eighteen (18) years of age shall be treated as contributions by their parents and attributed one-half (½) to each parent or the total amount to a single custodial parent.
(i) Aggregation of contributions. For purposes of determining when contributions are aggregated: “Entity” means any person, other than an individual; “Majority owned” means an ownership of more than fifty percent.
(1) The contributions of an entity whose contributions are directed and controlled by any individual shall be aggregated with contributions made by that individual and any other entity whose contributions are directed and controlled by the same individual;
(2) If two or more entities make contributions that are directed and controlled by a majority of the same persons, the contributions of those entities shall be aggregated;
(3) Contributions made by entities that are majority owned by any person shall be aggregated with the contributions of the majority owner and all other entities majority owned by that person, unless those entities act independently in their decision to make contributions.
(§ 3, Ord. 1592-NS, eff. December 21, 2013; § 1, Ord. 1609-NS, eff. October 16, 2015; § 1, Ord. 1635-NS, eff. December 29, 2017; Ord. 1666-NS, eff. December 6, 2019; Ord. 1687-NS, eff. October 1, 2021; § 1, Ord. 1723-NS, eff. January 5, 2024)