2.05.110 The giving and reporting of gifts.
(1) Donee Reporting of Gifts. An elected or appointed official or employee of this city, or the spouse or minor child of an elected or appointed official or employee of this city, or a firm of which the elected or appointed official or employee of this city holds 10 percent or more of the stock either directly or indirectly, shall disclose in writing on a report form developed by the Secretary of State, the nature, date, and the name of the donor, and the name of such person as donee to which a gift or gifts were made where the gift or gifts exceed $15.00 in cumulative value in any one calendar day. However, the donee need not report food and beverage provided for immediate consumption in the presence of the donor.
By the fifteenth day of the month following the month in which the gift has been received, a copy of the report disclosing the gift or gifts shall be filed in the office of the county auditor of the county in which the city is located.
(2) Donor Reporting of Gifts. A donor of a gift to an elected or appointed official or to an employee of the city, or to the spouse, or to a minor child of an elected or appointed official or employee of this city, or to firm of which the elected or appointed official or the employee of the city is a partner, or to a corporation of which the elected official or appointed official or the employee of the city holds 10 percent or more of the stock either directly or indirectly, shall disclose in writing, on the form developed by the Secretary of State, the nature, amount, date and name of the donor and the name of donee of a gift or gifts made by the donor which gift or gifts exceeds $15.00 in cumulative value in any one calendar day. However, the donor need not report food or beverage provided for immediate consumption in the presence of the donor.
By the fifteenth day of the month following the month in which the gift was received, a copy of the report disclosing the gift or gifts shall be filed by the donor with the county auditor of the county in which the donee’s city is located.
(3) Definition of Gift. For the purpose of this section, “gift” is defined as follows:
(a) “Gift” means a rendering of money, property, services, granting a discount, loan forgiveness, payment of indebtedness, or anything else of value in return for which legal consideration of equal or greater value is not given and received, if the donor is in any of the following categories:
(i) Is doing or seeking to do business of any kind with the city. For purposes of this section, “doing business with the city” means being a party to any one or any combination of sales, purchases, leases or contracts to, from or with the city;
(ii) Is engaged in activities which are regulated or controlled by the city;
(iii) Has interests which may be substantially and materially affected by the performance or nonperformance of the donee’s official duty;
(iv) Is a lobbyist with respect to matters within the donee’s jurisdiction.
(b) However, “gift” does not mean any of the following:
(i) Campaign contributions;
(ii) Informational material relevant to the public servant’s official functions, such as books, pamphlets, reports, documents, or periodicals, and registration fees or tuition, not including travel or lodging, for not more than three days, at seminars or other public meetings conducted in this state, at which the public servant receives information relevant to the public servant’s official functions. Information or participation received under the exclusion of this subsection may be applied to satisfy a continuing education requirement of the donee’s regulated occupation or profession if the donee pays any registration costs exceeding $35.00;
(iii) Anything received from a person related within a fourth degree by kinship or marriage, unless the donor is acting as an agent or intermediary for another person not so related;
(iv) Any inheritance;
(v) Anything available or distributed to the public generally without regard to official status of the recipient;
(vi) Food, beverages, registration and scheduled entertainment at group events to which all members of the city council are invited;
(vii) Actual expenses for food, beverages, travel, lodging, registration, and scheduled entertainment of the donee for a meeting, which is given in return for participation in a panel or speaking engagement at the meeting;
(viii) Plaques or items of negligible resale value given as recognition for public services.
(c) The value of the gift is determined as follows:
(i) An individual making a gift on behalf of more than one person shall not divide the value of the gift by the number of persons on whose behalf the gift is made.
(ii) The value of a gift to the donee is the value actually received.
(iii) For the purpose of the reporting requirements of this section, a donor of a gift made by more than one individual to one or more donees, shall report the gift if the total value of the gift to the donee exceeds $15.00. [Ord. 398, 1987; Code 1975 § 1-1.0211.]
Statutory reference note: Iowa Code, Section 68B.22.