General Gift Rules
These are general gift rules that apply to City officers and employees. Special rules apply to gifts given directly to City departments rather than to individual employees or officers. Additional disclosure requirements apply to gifts of travel to City elected officials. The information below does not cover those special rules.
This summary is not a substitute for Ethics Commission’s advice. Seek advice from the Ethics Commission any time you need to know how the law applies to your own conduct.
- Restricted Source Rule
- Compensation for City Duties or Advice
- Gifts from Subordinates
- State Gift Limit (Form 700 Filers)
Restricted Source Rule
SF C& GC Code § 3.216 and EC Regulations 3.216(b)-1-6, amended by Proposition D, effective 10/12/2024
Who is Affected?
The Restricted Source Rule applies to all City and County of San Francisco officers and employees.
What is the Rule?
- No City officer or employee may solicit, coordinate, facilitate, or accept, any gift for themselves or for any other City official from a person who the officer or employee knows or has reason to know is a restricted source for themselves or for the recipient of the gift.
- No City officer or employee may solicit or accept a gift from any person, including any gift obtained through a City department, if the officer or employee knows or has reason to know that the gift was funded, provided, or directed by a restricted source.
- No City officer or employee may solicit or accept any gift from a restricted source for any of their family members.
What Are Restricted Sources?
- Any person or entity that contracts or is seeking to contract with the department of the officer or employee, or any affiliate of that entity. The prohibition is effective until 12 months after the term of the contract ends or, if no contract is approved, until 12 months after negotiations regarding the contract end.
- Any person or entity involved in proceedings regarding non-ministerial permits, licenses or other entitlements for use or any affiliate of that entity, as follows:
- For permits that go before a department head, board or commission, or the Board of Supervisors, the applicant or holder is a restricted source to all officers and employees in the department from when the applicant starts the proceeding until 12 months after the final decision regarding the permit or license is made.
- For all other non-ministerial permits, a person seeking, obtaining, or possessing a license, permit, or other entitlement for use in which the officer or employee was personally and substantially involved is a restricted source to the officer or employee from when the applicant starts the proceeding until 12 months after the final decision regarding the permit or license is made.
- Affiliates include the entity’s board of directors, principal officers, or persons with a 10% or more ownership interest.
- Anyone who during the prior 12 months knowingly attempted to influence the officer or employee in any legislative or administrative action.
- Any permit consultant who has registered with the Ethics Commission, if the permit consultant has reported any contacts with the designated employee’s or officer’s department to carry out permit consulting services during the prior 12 months.
- For City officers, a registered lobbyist.
Learn more about the definition of “department” for the restricted Source Rule (Section 3.216-b of the C&GCC) on the Ethics Commission’s Departmental Determinations for Sections 3.216(b) notice.
Are There Exceptions?
There are some exceptions to the Restricted Source Rule, most notably:
- Routine office courtesies with an aggregate value of $25 or less up to 4 times a year at the restricted source place of business at times that the officer or employee must visit the place of business to carry out City duties. Examples include coffee, tea, water, bagels, pastries, a pad of paper, a writing instrument, and do not include alcohol.
- Free attendance at a widely attended convention or ceremony only where attendance is appropriate to the official duties of the official, and just for that official.
Previous exceptions for non-cash gifts worth $25 or less, up to 4 times per year from a restricted source; and gifts of food or drink to be shared in office from a restricted source are no longer in effect.
Compensation for City Duties or Advice
C&GC Code § 3.218(7), amended by Proposition D, effective 10/12/2024
Who is Affected?
This rule applies to all City and County of San Francisco officers and employees.
What is the Rule?
City officers and employees shall not receive or accept a payment from anyone other than the City for the performance of a specific service or act the officer or employee would be expected to render or perform in the regular course of their City duties or for advice about the processes of the City directly related to the officer or employee’s duties and responsibilities or the processes of the officer or employee’s department.
Gifts from Subordinates
SF C&GC Code § 3.216(c) and EC Regulation 3.216(c)-1, amended by Proposition D, effective 10/12/2024
Who is Affected?
The Gifts from Subordinates rule applies to all City and County of San Francisco officers and employees.
What is the Rule?
No officer or employee shall solicit or accept any gift or loan, either directly or indirectly, from any subordinate or employee under their supervision or from any candidate or applicant for a position as a subordinate or employee under their supervision.
Are There Exceptions?
Exceptions include, when unsolicited, non-cash gifts of $25 or less given on occasions on which gifts are traditionally given; food and drink to be shared in office, and personal hospitality.
State Gift Limit (Form 700 Filers)
Who is Affected?
This rule applies to City officers and designated employees, who must disclose their finances on the Statement of Economic Interests (SEI or Form 700).
What is the Rule?
No City officer or designated employee may receive any gift(s) worth more than $590 in a calendar year from a single source, if the source of the gift is a reportable source within the filer’s disclosure category. Filers must report on the Form 700 any gift(s), single or cumulative, with a fair market value of $50 or more.