Mountain View Municipal Code Div. 3 Voluntary Expenditure Limit

a. Purpose. In the year 2000, the city council adopted a voluntary expenditure limit (VEL) believing that if candidates knew that other candidates were willing to limit their expenditures, it may attract additional qualified candidates and allow all candidates and officeholders to spend a lesser proportion of their time on fund-raising and a greater proportion of their time communicating issues of importance to voters and constituents. In that action, adopted by resolution, the council set a voluntary expenditure limit in the year 2000 of fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000). This expenditure limit is indexed to keep pace with changes in the cost of living and running campaigns. For the 2016 general municipal election, consistent with this index, the voluntary expenditure limit is twenty-four thousand seventy-three dollars ($24,073).

b. The voluntary expenditure limit is established in year 2000 at fifteen thousand dollars ($15,000) and shall be increased at the rate of three (3) percent per year to keep pace with the changes in the cost of living and conducting a campaign (the adjusted VEL). For the 2016 general municipal election, consistent with this index, the voluntary expenditure limit is twenty-four thousand seventy-three dollars ($24,073). Each candidate for office, at the time of filing his/her nomination papers with the city clerk, shall be advised by the city clerk of the applicable VEL for that year and file a statement of acceptance or rejection of the voluntary expenditure limit ceiling.

c. No candidate for the city's elective office who accepts the voluntary expenditure limit, and no controlled campaign committee of such candidate shall make campaign expenditures in excess of the voluntary expenditure limit established in this section.

d. In-kind contributions, including goods or services that are required to be reported under the Political Reform Act, received by a candidate for municipal office which are used, or intended by the donor or recipient to be used, for the candidate's campaign, shall count toward the VEL and shall be valued at fair market value.

e. The following shall not count toward the VEL:

1. Filing fees related to the candidacy, including the candidate statement filing fee, whether paid by the candidate or the city, and fees paid to the Secretary of State to open or maintain a committee;

2. Contributions returned by the candidate within thirty (30) days of receipt; and

3. Expenditures paid from a campaign bank account not related to the support of a candidacy (e.g., maintenance of a P.O. box after an election; an after-election party).

f. The city clerk shall maintain appropriate records of expenditures which shall be available for inspection in the city clerk's office during regular business hours.

(Ord. No. 4.06, 4/25/06; Ord. No. 8.16, § 1, 6/14/16; Ord. No. 6.18, § 5, 4/24/18.)

a. As part of the city elective process, candidates have the opportunity to publish a two hundred (200) word statement in the voter pamphlet published by the county registrar of voters. The cost of publishing that statement for each candidate has risen dramatically over the last number of years in order to enable the registrar to publish the pamphlet in the languages that are spoken by significant portions of the voters in the county.

b. The city has adopted a program whereby a candidate who, at the time of filing nomination papers, elects to be bound by the voluntary expenditure limit, is eligible for the city to pay a portion of their cost of a candidate's statement, should they elect to prepare and submit one. Upon the candidate paying five hundred dollars ($500) toward the statement, at the time of filing nomination papers, the city will cover the cost of the balance of the two hundred (200) word statement.

c. In each election cycle, the furnishing of this program by the city is contingent upon a budget appropriation made as part of the election year budget process. The city clerk is required to advise candidates whether or not the program is available at the time they pull their nomination papers and whether the program is available in whole or in part. As part of the budget process, the city council shall direct the city clerk relative to the level of support that will be offered, up to the maximum of the entire cost of the candidate's two hundred (200) word statement, minus five hundred dollars ($500).

(Ord. No. 4.06, 4/25/06; Ord. No. 8.16, § 1, 6/14/16.)

a. Any violation of the voluntary expenditure limit shall, within seventy-two (72) hours of the city's knowledge of the violation, be:

1. Forwarded to a newspaper of general circulation for publication;

2. Posted on the city's website; and

3. Posted at a reasonably accessible location at city hall.

b. If the city contributed public funds to offset the costs of a candidate's candidate statement fee or the candidate violates the voluntary expenditure limit which they previously elected, the candidate or councilmember-elect shall repay to the city the entire city contribution as required by this section.

1. Partial repayment. If a candidate exceeds the voluntary expenditure limit by no more than five hundred dollars ($500), the candidate shall repay to the city twenty-five (25) percent of the amount the city paid toward the candidate statement fee.

2. Full repayment. If the candidate exceeds the voluntary expenditure limit by more than five hundred dollars ($500), the candidate shall repay to the city the entire amount of the city contribution.

c. In all cases where the candidate has accepted a partial city contribution to the cost of the candidate statement fee, it is up to the applicant to determine compliance with this section, and if repayment is required by this section, the repayment is due and payable to the city within thirty (30) days of the expenditure that placed the candidate over the voluntary expenditure limit. The obligation to repay is not contingent on the receipt of an invoice from the city. For each month the candidate remains delinquent in the repayment past the initial thirty-day period, interest shall accrue on any delinquency at the rate of ten (10) percent per annum.

d. Methods of collection. In addition to all other remedies available to the city at law, the city auditor is directed to deduct any delinquent amounts on a month-to-month basis until paid in full from any councilmember-elect's city paycheck until the delinquency is paid in full. In the event of an unsuccessful candidate, the city clerk is directed not to accept nomination papers for a future election until any delinquency from a prior election is paid in full, including interest.

(Ord. No. 3.04, 5/25/04; Ord. No. 4.06, 4/25/06; Ord. No. 8.16, § 1, 6/14/16.)