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Amend Chapter 2, Article IV, 2-72 of the Town Code of Ordinances Regarding Campaign Contribution Limitations.
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Staff:
Department:
Maurice Jones
Town Manager
Ralph D. Karpinos
Town Attorney
Overview: The Town established campaign contribution limits in 1999 pursuant to special legislation enacted by the General Assembly. Chapter 2, Article IV, of the Town Code of Ordinances limits the amount of money that an individual or a political committee can contribute to a Mayor or Town Council candidate's campaign. The Ordinance also establishes a maximum contribution that can be made without disclosing the contributor's name in municipal campaign reports. Ordinance Section 2-731 requires that these amounts be adjusted during even-numbered years and provides criteria for making these adjustments based on the number of Town of Chapel Hill registered voters and changes in the Consumer Price Index (CPI) since January 1st of the prior even-numbered year. The adjustments proposed for tonight, if enacted, will apply to the 2021 municipal campaigns.
Recommendation(s):
That the Council enact the attached ordinance to increase the municipal campaign maximum contribution to $378.00 and the contribution disclosure exemption to $39.00 as required by ordinance.
Background:
* In 2019, the maximum amount that an individual or political committee could donate to a municipal candidate's campaign was $361.00 and the names of contributors donating $37.00 or less were exempt from disclosure in campaign reports.
* The 2019 amounts were established May 23, 2018.2
* Sec. 2-72 was amended on November 20, 20193 to update State statute references.
Decision Points:
* Based on data obtained for January 2020 (as required by Sec. 2-73 of the Town Code), the CPI had increased by 4.46% since January 2018 and active voter registration for the Town of Chapel Hill was 38,373.
* Based on the adjustment criteria established in Ordinance Sec. 2-73, maximum contribution and disclosure exempti...
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