SEC. 1.130. AMOUNT OF VOLUNTARY EXPENDITURE CEILINGS.
§ 1.130
Candidates for certain City offices who voluntarily accept spending limits are capped at $243,000 (for Assessor, Public Defender, City Attorney, District Attorney, Treasurer, Sheriff) or $104,000 (for School and Community College Board candidates), unless the Ethics Commission lifts the ceiling. The Commission may adjust these amounts annually based on inflation.
If candidates for City offices like Assessor, District Attorney, or Treasurer agree to limit their campaign spending, they cannot spend more than $243,000. Candidates for the School Board or Community College Board are limited to $104,000 if they agree to the cap. The Ethics Commission can raise these limits if needed, and it adjusts the dollar amounts each year to keep up with inflation.
- Controversial:Campaign spending limits are a politically contested topic, with disagreement over whether caps are appropriate or effective.
- Could be simpler:The section refers to 'qualified campaign expenditures' without defining them here; readers must cross-reference other sections to understand what counts against the limit.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
(a) Any candidate for Assessor, Public Defender, City Attorney, District Attorney, Treasurer, or Sheriff who agrees to accept voluntary expenditure ceilings shall not make total qualified campaign expenditures exceeding $243,000, unless the Ethics Commission has lifted the voluntary expenditure ceiling pursuant to Section 1.134 of this Chapter.
(b) Any candidate for the Board of Education of the San Francisco Unified School District or the Governing Board of the San Francisco Community College District who agrees to accept voluntary expenditure ceilings shall not make total qualified campaign expenditures exceeding $104,000, unless the Ethics Commission has lifted the voluntary expenditure ceiling pursuant to Section 1.134 of this Chapter.
(c) The Ethics Commission is authorized to adjust annually by regulation the voluntary expenditure ceilings imposed by this Section to reflect the change in the California Consumer Price Index for that year, provided that such adjustments shall be rounded off to the nearest $1,000.
(Added by Ord. 71-00, File No. 000358, App. 4/28/2000; amended by Ord. 141-03, File No. 030034, App. 6/27/2003; Ord. 3-06, File No. 051439, App. 1/20/2006; Ord. 31-06, File No. 051773, App. 2/23/2006; Ord. 228-06, File No. 060501, App. 9/14/2006; Ord. 268-07, File No. 071003, App. 11/26/2007; Ord. 234-09, File. No. 090989, App. 11/20/2009)