Preconsidered Res. No. 1540
Resolution to Amend the Rules of the Council in relation to discretionary funding.
By Council Member Williams, the Speaker (Council Member Quinn), Recchia, Koppell, Brewer, Garodnick, Comrie, Koo, Lander, Mealy, Palma and Rose
2.55. Discretionary Funding. a. The Speaker shall establish a policy to ensure the integrity and transparency of the Council discretionary funding process. Such policy shall require that all organizations that wish to be considered for discretionary funding from the expense budget or for discretionary funding from the capital budget for a "non-City capital project" shall file an application with the Council or relevant City offices and/or agencies. For the purposes of this rule, a "non-City capital project" is a project for which the applicant organization is required to submit a Capital Funding Request Form for Not-for-Profit Organizations. Applications for discretionary funding from the expense budget or for discretionary funding from the capital budget for a non-City capital project shall be reviewed by the Council and/or relevant City offices and/or agencies to ensure that they are legally eligible to receive the City funds, are capable of providing the services for which they seek funding, are seeking funding for a public purpose, and are in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations. All expense applications received by the Council shall be made available to the public in a searchable on-line database in summary form. All allocations for discretionary funding from the expense budget or for discretionary funding from the capital budget for a non-City capital project shall be made available to the public in a searchable on-line database.
In addition, such policy shall require completion of conflicts of interest disclosure/certification forms as specified by the Speaker from i) all organizations seeking discretionary funding from the expense budget or discretionary funding from the capital budget for a non-City capital project, ii) all Council Members sponsoring discretionary funding allocations and iii) all Council Members prior to voting to designate discretionary funds. Such disclosure/certification forms shall contain either disclosure of any relationship between an organization and applicable City officials and associated persons or firms so that a determination may be made as to whether funding such organization is consistent with the City's Conflicts of Interest Laws and if so whether disclosure is necessary, or a certification that no such relationships exist.
b. Allocation of discretionary funds from the expense budget or discretionary funds from the capital budget for a non-City capital project, designation of recipients of discretionary funds from the expense budget or discretionary funds from the capital budget for a non-City capital project, and delineation of the uses of such funds shall be made solely through the budget adoption or modification process or through a discretionary funding transparency resolution.
EJS
LS# 3936
10/4/12