Date: March 16, 2012
To:
- General Purpose committees
- Candidates, Primarily Formed Candidate and Ballot Measure committees for the June
5, 2012 election
From: John St. Croix, Executive Director
Re:
- Courtesy Notice regarding the March 22, 2012 Pre-Election Filing Deadline
- General Purpose Committees that make contributions or any expenditures totaling
$500 or more during a Pre-Election period - Independent Expenditures regarding San Francisco ballots measures and candidates
Please review this memorandum carefully. It contains important information about your campaign disclosure filing obligations. If you have questions on any of the items discussed below, please call our office at 415-252-3100 during normal business hours from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
1. Courtesy notice regarding the March 22, 2012 filing deadline
A. Who needs to file?
- All committees controlled by candidates for San Francisco county central committees voted upon in the June 5, 2012 election1; and
All candidates for San Francisco county central committees without committees being voted upon in the June 5, 2012 election. (These filers file a Form 470 covering the calendar year and need not file if they have already filed a 470 for the current election and year.);
All committees primarily formed to support or oppose local candidates or ballot measures being voted upon in the June 5, 2012 election; and
General purpose committees who make $500 or more in contributions or any expenditures during the pre-election period.
B. What is the period covered by the Statement?
The first pre-election statement covers the period between: either (a) the day after the closing date of the previous statement filed through March 17, 2012; or (b) if no statement was filed in 2012, January 1, 2012 through March 17, 2012.2
C. What form do you need to file?
Depending on the filer, a Form 460 (Recipient Committee Campaign Statement), Form 450 (Recipient Committee Campaign Statement – Short Form) or Form 470 (Officeholder and Candidate Campaign Statement – Short Form) must be filed. Candidates with committees must use Form 460. As discussed above, candidates without committees file Form 470. Ballot measure committees use Form 460 (Form 450 is used only when the committee has not received $100 or more from any person nor has it paid $100 or more to any person during the period covered by the campaign statement).
The Commission requires an original and one copy of each statement dated and signed by the treasurer and candidate.
D. Do you need to file electronically in addition to your paper filing?
Recipient committees that receive $5,000 or more in contributions or that make $5,000 or more in independent expenditures in a calendar year must file campaign finance statements electronically (i.e., Form 460) in addition to submitting paper forms. Filers who previously filed electronic campaign statements must continue to file electronically. Controlled committees formed for county central committee elections are not required to file electronically.
E. What is the fee for the late filing of paper and/or electronic reports?
Filing deadlines will be strictly enforced. Late filings are subject to a $10-per day late fee for paper reports and, if applicable, an additional $25-per day late fee for electronic reports.
2. General Purpose Committees that make contributions or any expenditures totaling $500 or more during a Pre-Election period
Under local law, all San Francisco general purpose committees, which include Independent Expenditure and Major Donor Committees, must file pre-election statements before any election held in the City and County of San Francisco at which a candidate for City elective office or City measure is on the ballot, if the committee makes contributions or expenditures totaling $500 or more during the period covered by the pre-election statement. Any expenditure, including expenditures for overhead costs, counts toward the $500 threshold when determining whether a pre-election filing is due.
3. Independent Expenditures regarding San Francisco ballot measures and candidates
An independent expenditure is an expenditure that advocates the election or defeat of a candidate or the qualification, passage or defeat of a measure but is not made to or at the behest of the affected candidate or ballot measure committee.
Committees that make independent expenditures regarding a San Francisco ballot measure or candidate may have additional filing obligations with the Ethics Commission. An independent expenditure of $1,000 or more for or against a measure or candidate during any pre-election, semi-annual, quarterly or signature-gathering period requires the filing of Form 465 Supplemental Independent Expenditure Report. If your committee makes independent expenditures of $1,000 or more for a single measure or candidate during the pre-election period ending March 17, 2012, you must file Form 465 no later than March 22, 2012. If you are an electronic filer, you must also file Form 465 in electronic format.
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1 When a candidate or officeholder controls more than one committee for the purpose of election to office, all committees of that candidate or officeholder must file pre-election statements each time any committee statement is due (see Cal. Code Regulation Section §18405).
2 Candidates without committees file Form 470. The period covered by a Form 470 is the calendar year (i.e., 1/1/12-12/31/12).