Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout06-023'WHEREAS, the Legislature has enacted effective January 1, 2006, Assembly Bill Number 1234 amending existing statutes and adding additional statutes requiring that local public agencies adopt a written policy concerning the agency's reimbursement of the actual and necessary expenses of members of its legislative bodies in the performance of their official duties for the agency; and WHEREAS, Assembly Bill Number 1234 further requires that if a local agency provides any type of compensation, salary, or stipend to, or reimburses the expenses of, a member of its legislative bodies, such individuals shall receive biennial ethics training; and WHEREAS, the County of Butte takes its stewardship over the use of its limited public resources seriously; and WHEREAS, the Butte County Local Agency Officials' Expense Reimbursement and Ethics Training policy provides guidance to the Board of Supervisors and other members of County legislative bodies on the use and expenditure of Butte County resources, as well as the standards against which those expenditures will be measured. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Board of Supervisors of the County of Butte hereby adopts the attached Butte County Local Agency Officials' Expense Reimbursement and Ethics Training Policy, incorporating the requirements mandated by the recently enacted Assembly Bill Number 1234. PASSED AND ADOPTED by the Board of Supervisors of the County of Butte, State of California, on the I4`~ day of February 2006 by the following votes: AYES: Supervisors Connelly, Dolan, Houx, Yamaguchi and Chair J'osiassen NOES: None ABSENT: None NOT VOTING: None CUR JOSIASSEN, Chair ATTEST: PAUL MCINTOSII, Chief Administrative Officer And Clerk of the Board of Supervisors B eputy RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF THE COUNTY OF BUTTE ESTABLISHING THE BUTTE COUNTY LOCAL AGENCY OFFICIALS' EXPENSE REIlVIBURSEMENT AND ETHICS TRAINING POLICY BUTTE COUNTY LOCAL AGENCY OFFICIALS' EXPENSE REIMBURSEMENT AND ETHICS TRAINING POLICY POLICY STATEMENT It is hereby declared that the Butte County Board of Supervisors and members of any other Butte County legislative body (as defined by Government Code Section 5952) hereinafter collectively referred to as "members of County legislative bodies" shall comply with this policy, as well as all applicable provisions of the Butte County Travel Policy (Personnel Rules Section 12.10). x. Reimbrxrsement a. When reimbursement is otherwise authorized by statute, ordinance, or resolution, or by the Butte County Travel Policy, the County may reimburse a member of a County legislative body for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of official duties. b. The types of occurrences that qualify a member of a County legislative body to receive reimbursement of expenses relating to travel, meals, lodging, and other actual and necessary expenses include the following: i. Communicating with representatives of regional, state and national government on County adopted policy positions; ii. Attending educational seminazs designed to improve officials' skill and information levels; iii. Participating in regional, state and national organizations whose activities affect the County's interests; iv. Attending County events; v. Implementing aCounty-approved strategy for attracting or retaining businesses to the County, which will typically involve at least one staff member; c. All other expenditures require approval by the Board of Supervisors. d. The reasonable reimbursement rates for travel, meals, and lodging, and other actual and necessary expenses are those set out in the Butte County Travel Policy (Personnel Rules Section 12.10). e. If the lodging is in connection with a conference or organized educational activity, lodging costs shall not exceed the maximum group rate published by the conference or activity sponsor, provided that lodging at the group rate is available to the member of the County legislative body at the time of booking. If the group rate is not available, the member of the County legislative body 1 shall use comparable lodging that is consistent with the requirements of the Butte County Travel Policy (Personnel Rules Section 12.10). f. Members of County legislative bodies shall use government and group rates offered by a provider of transportation or Lodging services for travel and lodging when available. g. All expenses that do not fall within this policy, the Butte County Travel Policy (Personnel Rules Section 12.10}, or the Internal Revenue Service reimbursable rates, shall be approved by the Board of Supervisors, in a public meeting before the expense is incurred, or ratified after the expense is incurred, when prior action is not possible due to the urgency of the requirement for the expense. h. Expense Reports. The County Auditor shall provide expense report farms to be filed by members of the County legislative bodies for reimbursement of actual and necessary expenses incurred on behalf of the local agency in the performance of official duties. i. The expense reports shall document that expenses meet this, and all other applicable County policies far expenditure of public resources. ii. Members of County legislative bodies shall submit expense reports to the County Auditor no Later than the 120th calendar day after the expense is incurred, and the reports shall be accompanied by the receipts documenting each expense. iii. Members of County legislative bodies shall provide brief reports on meetings attended at the expense of the County at the next regular meeting of that legislative body. iv. A11 documents related to reimbursable County expenditures are public records subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act {Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250) of Division 7 of Titlel). 2. Ethics Training a. Each member of a County legislative body shall receive at least two hours of training in general ethics principles and ethics laws relevant to his or her public service every two years. b. "Ethics laws" include, but are not limited to, the following: i. Laws relating to personal financial gain by public servants, including, but not limited to, laws prohibiting bribery and conflict- of-interest laws. ii. Laws relating to claiming prerequisites of office, including, but not limited to, gift and travel restrictions, prohibitions against the use of public resources for personal or political purposes, prohibitions against gifts of public funds, mass mailing restrictions, and 2 prohibitions against acceptance of free or discounted transportation by transportation companies. iii. Government transparency laws, including, but not limited to, financial interest disclosure requurements and open government laws. iv. Laws relating to fair processes, including, but not limited to, common law bias prohibitions, due process requ:urements, incompatible offices, competitive bidding requirements far public contracts, and disqualification from participating in decisions affecting family members. c. Each member of a County legislative body in County service as of January 1, 2006, except for officials whose term of office ends before January 1, 2007, shall receive ethics training before January 1, 2007. Thereafter, each member of a County legislative body shall receive ethics training at least once every two years. d. Each member of a County legislative body who commences service with the County an or after January 1, 200b, shall receive ethics training no later than one year from the first day of service with the County. Thereafter, each member of a County legislative body shall receive ethics training at least once every two years. e. A member of a County legislative body who serves more than one local agency shall satisfy the requirements of this policy once every two years without regard to the number of local agencies with which he or she serves. f. The County Chief Administrative Officer shall maintain records indicating both of the following: i. The dates that each member of a County legislative body satisfied the requirements of this article. ii. The entity that provided the training. g. The County may deny reimbursement of the expenses of a member of a County legislative body if the member fails to fulf 11 the ethics requirements set forth above. h. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the County shall maintain these records for at least five years after the members of the County legislative bodies receive the training. These records are public records subject to disclosure under the California Public Records Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 6250} of Division 7 of Title 1). 3 3. Penalties a. Penalties for misuse of public resources or falsifying expense reports in violation of expense reporting polices may include, but are not limited to, the following: i. The loss of reimbursement privileges. ii. Restitution to the County. iii. Civil penalties for misuse of public resources pursuant to Government Code Section 8314. iv. Criminal prosecution and a lifetime bar from public office. 4