SEC. 1.138. ELECTION CAMPAIGN FUND; APPROPRIATION OF FUNDS.
§ 1.138
San Francisco establishes a special Election Campaign Fund financed by annual per-resident appropriations ($2.75 per resident normally, with additional amounts for special Mayoral or Supervisor vacancy elections) to provide public financing for candidates for Mayor and Board of Supervisors, capped at $7 million, with administrative costs not exceeding 15% of available funds.
The city creates a special fund to pay for election campaigns for candidates running for Mayor or Supervisor. Each year, the city puts in $2.75 for every person living in San Francisco. If there's a special election to fill a vacant Mayor or Supervisor seat, the city adds extra money to make sure there's enough funding for that election and the next regular one. Money left over from one election carries over to the next, but the fund can't hold more than $7 million total. The costs to run the campaign financing program can't be more than 15% of the fund's money for that election.
- Controversial:Public financing of elections is a subject on which San Franciscans hold differing views regarding government spending, campaign fairness, and electoral influence.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
(a) ESTABLISHMENT OF ELECTION CAMPAIGN FUND. There is hereby established a special fund of the City and County of San Francisco called the Election Campaign Fund. All money deposited in the Fund is hereby appropriated for use as specified in this Chapter and the implementing regulations.
(b) APPROPRIATION TO ELECTION CAMPAIGN FUND. Except as provided in Subsections (b)(3) and (b)(4), each fiscal year the City and County of San Francisco shall appropriate $2.75 per resident of the City and County of San Francisco to the Election Campaign Fund to provide funding for election campaigns as authorized by this Chapter for all candidates for Mayor or the Board of Supervisors who may be eligible to receive such funds. At the request of the Ethics Commission, the Controller shall estimate the number of residents of the City and County of San Francisco for purposes of this subsection.
(1) Any funds in the Election Campaign Fund not used in one election shall be carried over for use in the following election, provided that at no time shall the total amount in the Election Campaign Fund exceed $7 million. Any funds in the Election Campaign Fund in excess of $7 million shall be returned to the General Fund.
(2) Funds necessary for the Ethics Commission to administer the public financing program for candidates for Mayor or the Board of Supervisors authorized under Section 1.136 of this Chapter shall be taken from the Election Campaign Fund. The Commission's administrative expenses for such public financing program for any election shall not exceed 15% of the total amount of funds in the Election Campaign Fund for that election.
(3) If the Office of Mayor becomes vacant and an election is held to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the term, the City and County of San Francisco shall appropriate additional funds to the Election Campaign Fund in an amount that ensures that at least $8.00 per resident is available in the Election Campaign Fund for that election and the next regularly scheduled Mayoral election.
(4) If an office of a member of the Board of Supervisors becomes vacant and an election is held to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the term, the City and County of San Francisco shall appropriate an additional $0.25 per resident to the Election Campaign Fund for that election. These additional funds shall not be subject to the limit in Subsection (b)(1) of this Section. Any funds appropriated pursuant to this subsection that are not used for the election to fill the vacancy shall be returned to the General Fund.
(Added by Proposition O, 11/7/2000; amended by Ord. 31-06, File No. 051773, App. 2/23/2006; Ord. 268-07, File No. 071003, App. 11/26/2007; Ord. 64-12, File No. 111082, App. 4/20/2012, Eff. 5/20/2012)