Dear Department Heads and Departmental Filing Officers:
Happy New Year! We are happy to share news that E-Filing for all designated Form 700 (Statement of Economic Interests) filers has now officially launched!
Effective immediately, paper filings will no longer be accepted for Form 700 filings by Conflict of Interest Code-designated filers. All Form 700 filings for persons occupying Conflict of Interest Code-designated positions must be submitted online using the Ethic Commission’s e-filing system (NetFile).
Mandatory Filing Officer Training is Required
As also noted in our December 27th email, Departmental Filing Officers who completed the mandatory training in SF Learning on or before December 31, 2021, will receive an email today containing their login credentials and login instructions for the NetFile Form 700 E-Filing System. This is the platform that designated Filing Officers will use to manage Conflict of Interest Code-designated Form 700 filers and their filing activities.
January 7 training deadline for all Filing Officers.
To avoid delay in accessing the system, Filing Officers who have not yet completed the training should do so no later than Friday, January 7, 2022. Once a Filing Officer completes their training, they will receive login credentials within three business days.
Please allow 40 minutes to complete the training, which is now available in SF Learning. All departmental filing officers of record have been auto-enrolled. To access the training:
- Login to the SF Employee Portal
- Click on My Learning
- Locate the training titled Form 700 Filing Officer Training under the ‘Current Learning’ tab
- Click the Launch icon
Note: the training is not timed, however, we recommend that you complete it in one sitting.
If you have trouble accessing or launching the training in the SF Learning platform, please send an email to: rachel.gage@sfgov.org.
Confirm Your Active Filers Are in the NetFile E-Filing System
Once a Filing Officer has received their log in credentials and can log in, it’s important to confirm that all active Code-designated filers appear in the NetFile system.
To view a list of your Code-designated filers:
- From the Netfile main menu select Filers > View & Edit Filers.
- Set “Filer Status” to Active and click “Submit.”
- The resulting list can be viewed on screen.
- You may also click “Export to Excel” (located below your search results) to download the data.
Important Resources for Filing Officers
- Form 700 Home Page – Start here to learn essential information about state and local laws, the conflict of interest code, filing requirements, deadlines, and more.
- Filing Officers Home Page – Filing Officers’ one-stop-shop for information, news, trainings, resources, and instructions required to perform Form 700 filing officer responsibilities as prescribed by the Fair Political Practices Commission and the San Francisco Ethics Commission.
- Form 700 Workflow Process Flowcharts – Provide a visual representation of the Form 700 workflow for each filing event:
- Filing Officer Fact Sheet – Summarizes the changes and benefits in connection with the transition to Form 700 e-filing. Includes an overview of the law, a summary of filing officer responsibilities, and answers to frequently asked questions.
- Departmental Filing Officer Directory – Online listing of filing officers designated in City departments. Departments must submit a Department Contact Change Form to add or remove filing officers. Please note that form submissions require department head authorization.
- Form 700 Filers Home Page – Form 700 filers’ one-stop-shop to information and resources related to the Form 700 program. Direct your filers here to e-file their Form 700 statements and include a link to this page in all filer notices and communications.
- Trainings & Resources – Central hub to all online trainings and resources, including memoranda, notices, and reports developed and/or recommended by the Ethics Commission.
For More Support
To support requests and questions and better serve departmental filing officers and filers, the Ethics Commission has established a dedicated Form 700 Support Portal. By using this portal, every support request is assigned a unique ticket number, which can be used to track the progress of a request online. For your convenience, we also provide several self-help articles in the portal.
We are excited to see this project launch, and we look forward to your ongoing partnership and collaboration in making this project a success throughout the coming filing season!
Sincerely,
Rachel Gage
Engagement & Compliance Manager
San Francisco Ethics Commission
415-252-3100 | sfethics.org