CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS.

Dallas City Code ch. 15A, art. I

in effect

Dallas City Code § 15A-1 DEFINITIONS.

SEC. 15A-1. DEFINITIONS. The terms used in this article have the meanings ascribed to them in Chapter 251, Texas Election Code, as amended, or as defined in this section. (1) CITY-FUNDED OFFICEHOLDER ACCOUNT means, for the purposes of this chapter, an individual attributable Mayor/Council account that is funded from the city budget and intended for use by a city council member to cover the expenses of holding office. (2) CONTRIBUTION means: (A) a direct or indirect transfer of money, goods, services, or any other thing of value and includes an agreement made or other obligation incurred, whether legally enforceable or not, to make a transfer. The term includes a loan or extension of credit, other than those expressly excluded by this subdivision, and a guarantee of a loan or extension of credit, including a loan described by this subdivision; or (B) an expenditure made to advocate or influence the election of a candidate and that is made in cooperation, consultation, or in concert with the candidate's campaign. The following is considered a contribution within the meaning of this subparagraph: (i) the expenditure is made at the request or suggestion of the candidate's campaign; (ii) the individual or political committee suggests the expenditure and the candidate's campaign assents to the suggestion; (iii) the individual or political committee making the expenditure communicates with the candidate's campaign before making the expenditure; (iv) the candidate's campaign has solicited funds for or directed funds to the individual or political committee making the expenditure, but only if the expenditure or direction occurred in the 12 months before the election that the expenditure seeks to influence; or (v) the individual or political committee making the expenditure uses information from the candidate's campaign to design, prepare, or pay for the expenditure unless that same information is available to the general public. (C) The term does not include: (i) a loan made in the due course of business by a corporation that is legally engaged in the business of lending money and that has conducted the business continuously for more than one year before the loan is made; or (ii) an expenditure required to be reported under Section 305.006(b), Government Code, as amended. (Ord. Nos. 15434; 16718; 21035; 22925; 30391; 30715)

Dallas City Code § 15A-2 CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION LIMITATION.

SEC. 15A-2. CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTION LIMITATION. (a) An individual shall not make a contribution of more than: (1) $1,000 per city election in support of, or opposition to, a single candidate for election to Place Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, or 14 on the city council; or (2) $5,000 per city election in support of, or opposition to, a single candidate for election to Place Number 15 on the city council. (b) Each individual is entitled to contribute the full amount of the limitation established in Subsection (a), regardless of marital status. (c) A political committee shall not: (1) make a contribution of more than $1,000 per contributing member per city election to a single candidate for election to Place Numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, or 14 on the city council; (2) make a contribution of more than $5,000 per contributing member per city election to a single candidate for election to Place Number 15 on the city council; or (3) make a total contribution per city election of more than $2,500 to a candidate for a single- member district nor more than $10,000 to a candidate for mayor. (d) For the purpose of this article an initial election and a runoff election are separate elections. (Ord. Nos. 15434; 16105; 16718; 18403; 21035)

Dallas City Code § 15A-3 CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS BY POLITICAL COMMITTEES.

SEC. 15A-3. CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS BY POLITICAL COMMITTEES. (a) A general purpose political committee that makes a contribution to support or oppose a candidate for election to the city council or a city measure shall file with the city secretary: (1) a copy of the latest campaign treasurer designation, a verified statement of the number of contributing members of the committee, and a copy of the monthly reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission: (A) for the three months immediately preceding the date of the contribution; and (B) for the two months immediately following the date of the contribution; or (2) if the committee does not file monthly reports with the Texas Ethics Commission, then reports on the dates and covering the reporting periods required by state law for candidates or measures, whichever apply. (b) A general purpose political committee shall make its initial filing with the city secretary no later than five business days following the date of its first contribution to support or oppose a candidate for city council or a city measure, the initial filing to include the required campaign treasurer designation, the verified statement of the number of contributing members of the committee, and copies of reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission for the preceding three months, if the committee files monthly with the Texas Ethics Commission. Subsequent monthly reports filed by general purpose political committees must be filed with the city secretary by the deadline and covering the reporting periods designated in Chapter 254, Texas Election Code, for monthly reports filed with the Texas Ethics Commission. (c) Specific purpose political committees must file campaign reports with the city secretary in accordance with Chapter 254, Texas Election Code. (Ord. Nos. 15434; 16105; 16718; 21035; 22925; 27146)

Dallas City Code § 15A-4 PERSONAL SERVICES.

SEC. 15A-4. PERSONAL SERVICES. An individual may donate personal services and personal traveling expenses to aid or defeat a candidate and such a donation does not constitute a contribution as defined in Section 251.001 of the Texas Election Code. (Ord. Nos. 15434; 16718; 21035)

Dallas City Code § 15A-4.1 CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS BY APPLICANTS IN ZONING CASES AND PUBLIC SUBSIDY MATTERS AND BY BIDDERS AND PROPOSERS ON CITY CONTRACTS.

SEC. 15A-4.1. CAMPAIGN CONTRIBUTIONS BY APPLICANTS IN ZONING CASES AND PUBLIC SUBSIDY MATTERS AND BY BIDDERS AND PROPOSERS ON CITY CONTRACTS. (a) In this section: (1) AFFILIATED means the relationship created when one business entity is the parent or subsidiary of another business entity or when multiple business entities are subsidiaries of the same parent business entity. (2) APPLICANT means any person who: (A) owns all or part of the property that is the subject of a zoning case or public subsidy matter; (B) is a parent, child, spouse, or other family member within the first degree of consanguinity or affinity, or the domestic partner, of: (i) the property owner; or (ii) any individual described in Paragraph (2)(E) of this subsection; (C) is a representative of the property owner in connection with the zoning case or public subsidy matter, and, if the representative is an entity, includes any individual who holds with the entity any position described in Paragraph (2)(E)(i) through (vii) of this subsection; (D) is affiliated with the property owner; or (E) if the property owner is an entity, is an individual who holds any of the following positions with the entity or with any affiliated business entity: (i) the chief executive officer, chief financial officer, or chief operating officer, or any person with equivalent duties, powers, and functions; (ii) a member of the board of directors of a corporation; (iii) a general partner of a general partnership or limited partnership; (iv) a manager of a limited liability company that is managed by managers; (v) a member of a limited liability company that is managed by members entitled to manage the company; (vi) a member of the board of directors of a cooperative association; or (vii) a trust manager of a real estate investment trust. (3) CANDIDATE means a person who has filed an application with the city secretary for a place on the official ballot in an impending election for one or more members of the Dallas city council. (4) PUBLIC SUBSIDY MATTER means any of the following: (A) A tax abatement. (B) A housing tax credit. (C) An historic development tax abatement. (D) Federal grant money administered by the city. (E) Tax increment financing. (F) An economic development grant or loan. (b) An applicant in a zoning case shall not (either personally or through a representative, employee, or agent) knowingly make a campaign contribution to a city council member or candidate during the period between the date the first notices of a public hearing to consider the zoning case by the city plan commission are mailed and the later of: (1) 60 days after the zoning case is withdrawn pursuant to Section 51A-4.701(f) of the Dallas City Code; (2) 60 days after the date a decision of the city plan commission on the zoning case becomes final and all opportunities for appeal are exhausted; or (3) 60 days after the date a final decision on the zoning case is made by the city council either granting or denying the request. (c) Subsection (b) does not apply to a change of zoning for historic districts, conservation districts, or neighborhood stabilization overlays. (d) An applicant in a public subsidy matter shall not (either personally or through a representative, employee, or agent) knowingly make a campaign contribution to a city council member or candidate from the time the matter is posted on a council committee agenda or a council agenda, whichever occurs first, until 60 days after the date the city council votes on the public subsidy matter or the application for the public subsidy matter is withdrawn by the applicant. (e) A person responding to a request for bids or request for proposals on a city contract shall not (either personally or through a representative, employee, or agent) knowingly make a campaign contribution to a city council member or candidate from the time the advertisement or public notification of the request for bids or request for proposals is made until 60 days after the date the contract is awarded by the city council. For purposes of this subsection, "person" includes: (1) any individual responding to the request for bids or proposals; (2) any entity responding to the request for bids or proposals and its affiliated business entities; (3) if the person responding to the request for bids or proposals is an entity, any individual who holds with the entity (or with any affiliated business entity) any position described in Subsection (a)(2)(E)(i) through (vii) of this section; (4) the parent, child, spouse, or other family member within the first degree of consanguinity or affinity, or the domestic partner, of any individual described in Paragraph (1) or (3) of this subsection; and (5) a representative of the bidder or proposer in connection with the city contract, and, if the representative is an entity, includes any individual who holds with the entity any position described in Subsection (a)(2)(E)(i) through (vii) of this section. (f) This section applies to a campaign contribution made to any specific-purpose political committee that will ultimately contribute to an identified city council member or candidate, and any campaign contribution made to the specific-purpose political committee during the time restrictions imposed by this section will be considered to have been made to that city council member or candidate. The time restrictions imposed by this section do not apply to when the specific-purpose political committee makes a campaign contribution to the identified city council member or candidate. (g) This section applies to a campaign contribution made by any political committee established, administered, financially supported, or assisted pursuant to state or federal law by a corporation or labor organization that is an applicant in a zoning case or public subsidy matter or that is the person responding to a request for bids or proposals on a city contract. The time restrictions imposed by this section do not apply to when an individual campaign contribution is received by the political committee, but only to when the political committee actually makes the campaign contribution to the city council member or candidate. (h) Except as provided in Subsection (g), this section does not apply to a campaign contribution made to or by any general-purpose political committee. (Ord. Nos. 27749; 28169; 28239; 30489)

Dallas City Code § 15A-5 USE OF LEGAL NAME.

SEC. 15A-5. USE OF LEGAL NAME. (a) An individual shall not make a contribution in support of, or opposition to, a candidate for city council under a name other than the name by which the individual is identified for legal purposes. (b) A contribution must be made in the name of the individual who owns and is contributing the thing of value, and one individual shall not make a contribution on behalf of another individual. (Ord. Nos. 15434; 16718; 21035)

Dallas City Code § 15A-6 RESPONSIBILITY OF CAMPAIGN TREASURER AND CANDIDATE.

SEC. 15A-6. RESPONSIBILITY OF CAMPAIGN TREASURER AND CANDIDATE. (a) A campaign treasurer for a political committee shall file reports required by this article. Failure to file a timely report required by this article constitutes an offense. (b) A candidate for city council or the candidate’s campaign treasurer shall not knowingly accept a contribution that will cause the amount contributed to a candidate by an individual or a political committee, with respect to a single city council election, to exceed the amount authorized in Section 15A-2. (Ord. Nos. 15434; 16105; 16718; 21035)

Dallas City Code § 15A-7 ENFORCEMENT.

SEC. 15A-7. ENFORCEMENT. The ethics advisory commission has jurisdiction to consider a violation of this article pursuant to the procedures detailed in Chapter 12A of this code. (Ord. Nos. 16718; 21035; 30715)

Source: City of Dallas, Dallas City Code and City Charter (American Legal Publishing, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/dallas/latest/dallas_tx/0-0-0-140267Fetched: 10/26/2026