City and County of San Francisco
Ethics Commission

Table of Contents

• Mandatory Audit
• Use of Public Funds After the Election
• Unexpended Public Funds
  • Use of Unexpended Public Funds
  • Funds Raised After the Election
  • Examples

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Mandatory Audit

Under the rules of the Public Financing Program, all candidates who receive public funds are subject to a mandatory audit by the Ethics Commission to determine the candidates’ committees’ compliance with state and local laws and regulations. The Commission will initiate the audit process after the first post-election campaign report is filed. Additional information about the audit process can be found on the Audit Process page.

Use of Public Funds After the Election

After the election, candidates may use public funds to continue to pay outstanding qualified campaign expenditures directly related to the election, including expenses that were invoiced after Election Day but that were incurred prior, and a limited range of post-election expenses. These allowable post-election expenses can include treasurer/consultant, records storage, and banking fees associated with an audit, consultant/treasurer fees related to the preparation and filing of required campaign forms and statements, and rent/utility fees related to a campaign office for up to 30 days after the election.

Public funds cannot be used to pay for other expenses that do not directly affect the outcome of the election, such as fines/penalties, consultant/staff bonuses, and post-election expenses such as celebrations/events, announcements, or expenses associated with holding office.   

Unexpended Public Funds

Any funds that remain in a publicly financed candidate’s campaign contribution trust account on the 30^th day after the election are considered “unexpended public funds,” regardless of the source of the funds. Unexpended public funds may include both public funds and private contributions. However, a candidate’s unexpended public funds balance will not exceed the total amount of public funds the candidate received.

Candidates must forfeit unexpended public funds to the Ethics Commission for deposit into the Election Campaign Fund no later than 30 days after the Ethics Commission completes its audit of the candidate’s committee.

Use of Unexpended Public Funds

Unexpended public funds may be used only to pay for expenses associated with an audit, such as bank fees, treasurer fees, and records storage fees. The Commission also permits unexpended public funds to be used to pay accrued expenses (debt) for qualified campaign expenditures incurred prior to the election, though candidates are encouraged to pay any outstanding debts using available funds prior to the 30^th day after the election.

The amount of unexpended public funds used to pay for the allowable expenses described above can be deducted from the total amount of unexpended public funds required to be returned to the City. It is up to the committee to demonstrate through reasonable accounting methods that unexpended funds were only used to pay for qualified expenditures and that the committee returned the appropriate amount to the City.

Funds Raised After the Election

Any funds raised between Election Day and the 30^th day after the election will still qualify as unexpended public funds if these funds remain in the committee’s trust account after the 30^th day after the election. Funds that the committee receives more than 30 days after Election Day do not constitute unexpended public funds and may be used for any lawful purpose such as settling outstanding debts from the campaign.

Examples