Department Heads and Filing Officers:
This notice seeks your department’s action on critical next steps in the transition to electronic filing for all Form 700 designated filers on January 1, 2022.
Effective January 1, 2022, employees occupying designated positions (“designed filers”) identified in Sections 3.1-103(d) and 3.1-108 of the City’s Conflict of Interest Code will be required to file their Form 700 statements in electronic format. Beginning with that launch, all designated filers will use the same online system that has been used by Department Heads, elected officials, and board and commission members to file their statements since 2014, the Ethics Commission’s internet-based Netfile e-filing system. The current paper-based filing process will be eliminated, making it easier for filers to submit filings online, increase filing efficiency for departments, and improve public access to reportable information once the filer’s disclosure statement is submitted.
Action Needed
The next critical step in this Citywide project is to transition all positions currently identified in departmental Conflict of Interest Codes into the Commission’s Netfile e-filing system and match them with departments’ Form 700 filers as indicated in the City’s People & Pay system. To do this, the Ethics Commission is reaching out to all departments to confirm the names of the positions designated to file as they appear in the Code and to confirm the names of the individuals who occupy those positions and are therefore required to file a Form 700 under the law.
To ensure the accurate migration of all designated filers into the new system can be completed as necessary for the January launch, the Ethics Commission is asking each Department to confirm their Form 700 Filers no later than September 15, 2021, by taking the following steps:
- Review the Designated Filer Position Worksheet, which is attached to this email. This spreadsheet contains your department’s list of Form 700 filers based on information codified in city law following the most recent 2020 Biennial Code Review process and on the list of employees initially identified by your department in People & Pay as required to file a Form 700. Once confirmed by your department, the information contained on the spreadsheet will be imported by the Ethics Commission into the e-filing system rather than requiring your department to enter that information manually. (Note that some departments do not have designated filers flagged in the People & Pay system. See the FAQ section of our guide for more information.)
- Review the Ethics Commission’s Filing Officer Guide for Completing Designated Filer Position Worksheet to determine whether any corrections or updates may be necessary as detailed in the guide. Department Heads and Filing Officers may also wish to consult with your departmental HR staff and/or City Attorney if you have questions about positions or disclosure categories designated in your department’s Conflict of Interests Code listings.
- Complete each section of the worksheet by noting any corrections or adding any missing filers as detailed in the guide’s step-by-step instructions.
- Return your completed worksheet to the Ethics Commission by email no later than September 15th. Please email the completed worksheet to ethics.commission@sfgov.org with the subject: COMPLETED – PRT – Designated Filer Position Worksheet
We understand this time of year continues to be a very busy one and we thank you in advance for your continued support of this project and for prioritizing confirmation of filers to complete this step in the transition to e-filing. Please note that departments that do not complete this filer confirmation process by September 15 will be unable to take advantage of the bulk import of this data and instead will need to manually enter each of their designated filers directly into the Netfile system after that time.
To ensure ample time to provide any support that you may require, we encourage you to start this review process as soon as possible. If you have any questions, we invite you to contact the Ethics Commission’s Form 700 e-filing team by submitting a request through our support portal.
With thanks and appreciation for your continued collaboration,
Elaine Bozonelos
Client Support Specialist | Form 700 E-filing Expansion
San Francisco Ethics Commission
415-252-3100 | sfethics.org
ethics.commission@sfgov.org