FAIR CAMPAIGN PRACTICES; CANDIDATE AND COMMITTEE FUNDS AND DISCLOSURES

Colorado Springs City Code ch. 5, art. 2, pt. 2

in effect

Colorado Springs City Code § 5.2.201 PURPOSE

5.2.201: PURPOSE: City Council finds and declares that the trust of the people is essential to representative government and that the public disclosure and regulation of certain campaign practices will serve to increase the people's confidence in their elected officials. It is the purpose of this part to promote public confidence in government through a more informed electorate. To best serve the interests of the citizens, Council enacts this part for the purpose of promoting public confidence in government through a more informed electorate. Because this part does not limit the amount of contributions to a candidate or a committee or the source of those contributions, contributions may be accepted in any amount from corporations and other business entities and from labor unions. (Ord. 12-91)

Colorado Springs City Code § 5.2.202 DEFINITIONS

5.2.202: DEFINITIONS: Unless the specific language or the context indicates that a different meaning is intended, the following definitions apply to this part: BALLOT QUESTION: A matter placed on the ballot in an election required or permitted by the Charter, including a matter related to the recall of an elected official, but not including a matter related to the election of a candidate, and not including an annexation matter. CANDIDATE: A person who seeks election to City Council or the office of Mayor. CANDIDATE COMMITTEE: A person, including the candidate, or persons with the common purpose of receiving contributions or making expenditures under the authority of a candidate. A contribution to a candidate shall be deemed a contribution to the candidate's candidate committee. A candidate shall have only one candidate committee. A candidate committee shall be considered open and active until affirmatively closed by the candidate or by the candidate committee. COMMITTEE: A candidate committee, issue committee, or political committee. CONDUIT: A person who transmits contributions from more than one person, directly to a candidate committee. "Conduit" does not include the contributor's immediate family members, the candidate or campaign treasurer of the candidate committee receiving the contribution, a volunteer fundraiser hosting an event for a candidate committee, or a professional fundraiser if the fundraiser is compensated at the usual and customary rate. CONTRIBUTION: A. The payment, loan, pledge, gift, or advance of money, or guarantee of a loan, made to any candidate committee, issue committee, or political committee; any payment made to a third party for the benefit of any candidate committee, issue committee, or political committee; the fair market value of any gift or loan of property made to any candidate committee, issue committee, or political committee; and anything of value given, directly or indirectly, to a candidate for the purpose of promoting the candidate's nomination, retention, recall, or election. B. Contribution does not include services provided without compensation by individuals volunteering their time on behalf of a candidate, a candidate committee, a political committee, or an issue committee. The term does not include a transfer by a membership organization of a portion of a member's dues to a political committee sponsored by such membership organization, or payments by a corporation or labor organization for the costs of establishing, administering, and soliciting funds from its own employees or members for a political committee. ELECTED OFFICIAL: The Mayor or a member of City Council. ELECTION CYCLE: For all elections other than for the office of Mayor, the period commencing thirty one (31) days after the first Tuesday in April of each odd numbered year and ending thirty (30) days after the first Tuesday in April of the following odd numbered year. For the office of Mayor, the election cycle shall be as above except that if any Mayoral runoff elections are required, the election cycle shall end thirty (30) days after the final Mayoral runoff election, and the next election cycle shall begin the following day. For any special election not held on the first Tuesday of April in any odd numbered year, the election cycle for that election shall be the period between the date City Council calls the special election and the date that is thirty one (31) days after the election. EXPENDITURE: Any purchase, payment, distribution, loan, advance, deposit, or gift of money by any person for the purpose of expressly advocating the election or defeat of a candidate or supporting or opposing a ballot question. An expenditure is made when the actual spending occurs or when there is a contractual agreement requiring such spending and the amount is determined. Expenditure does not include: a) any news articles, editorial endorsements, opinion or commentary writings, or letters to the editor printed in a newspaper, magazine or other periodical not owned or controlled by a candidate or political party, b) any editorial endorsements or opinions aired by a broadcast facility not owned or controlled by a candidate or political party, c) spending by persons, other than political committees, in the regular course and scope of their business or payments by a membership organization for any communication solely to members and their families, d) any transfer by a membership organization of a portion of a member's dues to a political committee sponsored by such membership organization, or e) payments made by a corporation or labor organization for the costs of establishing, administering, or soliciting funds from its own employees or members for a political committee. ISSUE COMMITTEE: Any person, other than a natural person, or any group of two (2) or more persons, including natural persons: a) that has a major purpose of supporting or opposing any ballot question or b) that has accepted or made contributions or expenditures in excess of five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) to support or oppose any ballot question. The term does not include political committees or candidate committees. An issue committee shall be considered open and active until affirmatively closed by the committee. NATURAL PERSON: A human being, as distinguished from a corporation or other entity created by law. POLITICAL COMMITTEE: Any person, other than a natural person, or any group of two (2) or more persons, including natural persons that have accepted or made contributions or expenditures in excess of two hundred dollars ($200.00) to support or oppose the nomination or election of one or more candidates. The term does not include political parties, issue committees, or candidate committees. The following are treated as a single political committee: A. All political committees established, financed, maintained, or controlled by a single corporation or its subsidiaries; B. All political committees established, financed, maintained, or controlled by a single labor organization, except that, any political committee established, financed, maintained, or controlled by a local unit of the labor organization which has the authority to make a decision independently of the state and national units as to which candidates to support or oppose shall be deemed separate from the political committee of the state and national unit; C. All political committees established, financed, maintained, or controlled by the same political party; and D. All political committees established, financed, maintained, or controlled by substantially the same group of persons. A political committee shall be considered open and active until affirmatively closed by the committee. SMALL SCALE ISSUE COMMITTEE: An issue committee that has accepted or made contributions or expenditures in an amount that does not exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) during an applicable election cycle for the major purpose of supporting or opposing any initiative or ballot question. The following are treated as a single small scale issue committee: A. All small scale issue committees that support or oppose a common ballot question if the committees are established, financed, maintained, or controlled by a single corporation or its subsidiaries; B. All small scale issue committees that are established, financed, maintained or controlled by a single labor organization or the affiliated local units it directs; or C. All small scale issue committees that support or oppose a common ballot measure if the committees are established, financed, maintained or controlled by substantially the same person, group of persons, or other organizations. (Ord. 12-91; Ord. 16-103)

Colorado Springs City Code § 5.2.203 CANDIDATE AND COMMITTEE FUNDS REPORTING AND DISCLOSURES; CONDUITS

5.2.203: CANDIDATE AND COMMITTEE FUNDS REPORTING AND DISCLOSURES; CONDUITS: A. Each candidate and candidate committee shall report to the City Clerk their contributions and contributions in kind received, including the name and address of each person who has made contributions or contribution in kind in the amount of twenty dollars ($20.00) or more. B. All cash contributions shall be deposited in a financial institution that is authorized to issue transaction accounts as that term is defined in 12 CFR 204.2(e). An expenditure greater than one hundred dollars ($100.00) shall be made by check, draft, debit card, credit card, or by any other instrument or electronic method of payment, but not with legal tender. C. Each candidate and candidate committee shall file disclosure statements if its expenditures or receipts exceed twenty dollars ($20.00) during the election cycle. D. Each political committee shall file disclosure statements if its expenditures or receipts exceed two hundred dollars ($200.00) during the election cycle. Dues transferred by a membership organization to a political committee shall be counted for as pro rata contributions from its members. E. Any small scale issue committee that accepts contributions or makes expenditures that do not exceed two hundred dollars ($200.00) during any applicable election cycle is not required to register as a small scale issue committee or to make disclosures about the contributions it has received or the expenditures it has made. F. Any small scale issue committee that accepts contributions or makes expenditures in an aggregate amount that exceeds two hundred dollars ($200.00) but is less than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) during any applicable election cycle shall register as a small scale issue committee with the City Clerk within ten (10) business days of the date on which the aggregate amount of contributions or expenditures exceeds two hundred dollars ($200.00). The registration required by this subsection F shall be made on a form provided by the City Clerk which shall include the following: 1. The Committee's full name, spelling out any acronyms used in the name; 2. The name of a natural person authorized to act as a registered agent of the committee; 3. A street address for the principal place of business of the committee; and 4. The name of the financial institution in which, in a separate account bearing the name of the committee, all contributions received by the committee are deposited. G. Each issue committee and each small scale issue committee shall file disclosure statements once it has accepted contributions or has made expenditures that exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) during the election cycle. 1. At such time as any issue committee that began as a small scale issue committee accepts contributions or makes expenditures that exceed five thousand dollars ($5,000.00), the committee shall make disclosure of any contributions or expenditures it accepts or makes on or after the date on which such aggregate amount exceeds five thousand dollars ($5,000.00). 2. Within fifteen (15) days of a small scale issue committee becoming subject to the requirements governing an issue committee, the committee, through its registered agent, shall report this change in the committee's status to the City Clerk. H. For elections held in April of an odd numbered year, candidate and committee disclosure statements shall be filed on the following reporting dates: 1) October 1, November 1, and December 1 prior to an April election, 2) January 1, January 15, February 1, February 15, and March 1, March 15 prior to an April election, 3) the Friday prior to an April election, and 4) thirty (30) days after an April election. For an election held at any time other than on the first Tuesday of April of an odd numbered year, disclosure statements shall be filed on the first day of the month that is ninety (90) days, sixty (60) days, and thirty (30) days before the election and on the Friday before the election, and thirty (30) days after the election. I. If an election for the Office of Mayor requires a runoff election, disclosure statements for each Mayoral candidate and candidate committee in the runoff election shall be filed as specified in subsection H of this section for reports due prior to the April election, and shall also be filed for the first runoff election by April 15, May 1, the Friday prior to the May election, and thirty (30) days after the Mayoral runoff election. If more than one Mayoral runoff election is necessary, disclosure statements for each Mayoral candidate and candidate committee in the subsequent Mayoral runoff election or elections shall be submitted by the dates and for the periods specified by resolution or ordinance. J. Issue committees shall file disclosure statements for each election in which the committee supports or opposes a ballot question, beginning with the first reporting date that occurs after the date the issue committee qualifies as an issue committee. The reporting dates for issue committees are: 1) the first day of the month that is six (6) full months prior to the election and the first day of the month for the next two (2) months, 2) the first and the fifteenth days of the month for the next three (3) months, 3) the Friday prior to the election, and 4) thirty (30) days after the election. K. Any committee that is formed or that meets the filing threshold more than thirty (30) days before the election is not required to file disclosure statements on any disclosure reporting dates that occur less than twenty (20) days after the committee was formed or met the filing threshold. 1. A committee that is formed or that meets the filing threshold on or less than thirty (30) days before the election is required to file its first disclosure statement commencing twenty four (24) hours after the date the committee was formed or met the filing threshold, and all subsequent disclosure statements on the dates due. 2. The first reporting period shall commence on the first day of the election cycle and shall end five (5) days before the first applicable reporting date that a disclosure statement is due. Subsequent reporting periods shall commence on the day following the end date for the previous reporting period and shall end five (5) days prior to the next reporting date. L. Each disclosure statement shall be filed with the City Clerk and shall be signed under penalty of perjury by the candidate or candidate designee, or by the candidate or the candidate designee or representative for a candidate committee disclosure statement, or representative for an issue committee or a political committee. The forms required by this section may be filed and signed electronically under a system maintained by the City Clerk. M. Notwithstanding the reporting requirements specified above, sixty (60) days after a committee dissolves or otherwise ceases to function, no further disclosures are required except as required by section 5.2.208 of this part. N. No person shall act as a conduit for a contribution to a candidate committee. O. A candidate or committee, or their agent, that publishes a communication in a newspaper, magazine, outdoor advertising facility, any sign requiring a Large Sign Revocable Permit per the Planning Department, direct mailing, handbill, internet-based advertising, or broadcast through radio, television or other technologies, shall disclose in the communication the name of the committee or candidate making the expenditure. The disclosure shall be clear, legible, and conspicuous. P. Every candidate or committee disclosure shall be made on a Report of Contributions and Expenditures form provided by the City Clerk which shall include the following: 1. The Committee's full name, spelling out any acronyms used in the name; 2. The type of report; 3. The name of a natural person authorized to act as a registered agent of the committee; 4. A street address for the principal place of business of the committee; and 5. The name of the financial institution in which, in a separate account bearing the name of the committee, all contributions received by the committee are deposited. 6. For each contribution received, the date and amount of the contribution and the name, address and occupation of each person who has made such contribution. 7. For each expenditure made, the source and purpose of the expenditure, the date and amount of the expenditure and the name of the payee. (Ord. 12-91; Ord. 16-103; Ord. 18-125)

Colorado Springs City Code § 5.2.204 ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE OR TO CURE

5.2.204: ORDER TO SHOW CAUSE OR TO CURE: A. The City Clerk shall use his or her best efforts to review all filings for facial compliance within forty eight (48) hours of receipt and shall consider whether a candidate, a committee, or an elected official has failed to submit a required filing. The City Clerk shall determine whether there is reason to believe that a candidate, a committee, or an elected official has violated this part. In making this determination, the City Clerk shall disregard any filing that contains, or that the City Clerk reasonably believes contains, any false or misleading information. Any filing the City Clerk disregards shall be deemed to violate this part and shall be deemed not to have been filed. B. Within forty eight (48) hours of receipt, the City Clerk shall use his or her best efforts to review all signed complaints submitted on a form provided by the City Clerk that are received not more than forty five (45) days after the close of the reporting period to which the complaint applies, and shall determine whether the complaint states sufficient grounds to believe that a candidate, a committee, or an elected official has violated this part. Nothing in this section precludes the City Clerk or any other officer of the City from filing a complaint, and the complaint shall be processed in the same manner as any other complaint filed under this article. C. If the Clerk believes that a filing, on its face, does not comply with this Code or that a complaint states a probable violation of this Code, the City Clerk may notify the appropriate person of the probable errors or omissions, of the failure to file, or of the allegations in the complaint without issuing an order to show cause if the City Clerk believes that the violation is the result of a clerical error. If the City Clerk believes that a person has violated this part other than by the making of a clerical error that has been rectified, the City Clerk shall issue an "order to show cause or to cure" directed to the candidate, if any, and to the registered agent of the committee which shall be served upon that person by first class U.S. mail, postage prepaid. The order shall provide five (5) days from the date of mailing either: 1) to show cause as to why the City Clerk should not assess a civil penalty as provided by section 5.2.206 of this part or 2) to cure the alleged violation of this part. The City Clerk shall use his or her best efforts to review a timely filed response to order to show cause within forty eight (48) hours of receipt, and shall determine whether the response cures the defect or noncompliance or provides a basis to conclude that there has been compliance. If the City Clerk determines that the response has done so, the City Clerk shall withdraw the order to show cause or to cure. If the City Clerk determines that the response has not done so, the City Clerk shall consider the response to be an appeal of the order to show cause or to cure. A response that is not timely filed shall not be considered. D. The order to show cause or to cure shall state: 1) the alleged violations, 2) a general description of the facts upon which the determination was based, 3) that the violations, if any, must be cured within five (5) days of the date the order to show cause or to cure was mailed, and that if the violations, if any, are timely cured, no penalty will be imposed, 4) the action the City Clerk believes is necessary to cure the alleged violations, 5) that if the violations, if any, are not timely cured a civil penalty will be assessed under section 5.2.206 of this part unless an appeal of the order to show cause or to cure is filed in the Office of the City Clerk within five (5) days of the date of mailing of the order, and 6) that if no appeal is timely filed, the violations the City Clerk specified in the order to show cause or to cure will be final and not subject to appeal. (Ord. 12-91)

Colorado Springs City Code § 5.2.205 HEARINGS

5.2.205: HEARINGS: A. If an appeal is timely filed, the City Clerk shall, within forty eight (48) hours of the filing of the appeal, refer the matter to the City Attorney. The City Attorney shall appoint a Hearing Officer and shall set the matter for hearing to be held within fifteen (15) days of the filing of the appeal. B. The hearing shall be on the record and all testimony shall be given under oath. The Hearing Officer shall not be bound by the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure or the Colorado Rules of Evidence, and may consider any evidence reasonably calculated to assist in making a decision. The candidate, committee, or an elected official may be represented by counsel and the City shall be represented by an attorney designated by the City Attorney. The Hearing Officer may issue subpoenas to compel testimony and to produce documents. If any person fails or refuses to comply with a subpoena, the Hearing Officer may seek to enforce the subpoena in the Colorado Springs Municipal Court. The Hearing Officer may also seek to enforce a subpoena in any District Court in the State and in any foreign jurisdiction as permitted under the Uniform Interstate Depositions and Discovery Act, Colorado Revised Statutes section 13-90.5-101 et seq. C. The Hearing Officer shall consider all documents and other information in the City Clerk's file relating to the matter and all testimony and exhibits presented at the hearing. D. The Hearing Officer shall issue written findings of fact and conclusions of law regarding whether any violations alleged in the order to show cause or to cure should be sustained, and shall issue a written order within fifteen (15) days after the hearing unless additional time is necessary to consider all relevant information. The order shall be supported by the findings of fact and conclusions of law and shall assess a civil penalty as provided under section 5.2.206 of this part, if warranted, except that the Hearing Officer may abate all or a portion of any civil penalty for good cause shown. E. The decision of the Hearing Officer shall be final and may be reviewed only as provided by Rule 106(a)(4) of the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure in an action filed in the El Paso County District Court not later than thirty (30) days after the date the findings of fact, conclusions of law, and order were issued. (Ord. 12-91)

Colorado Springs City Code § 5.2.206 CIVIL PENALTY

5.2.206: CIVIL PENALTY: A. If an affidavit, disclosure statement, or other required document is not filed, or is deemed not to have been filed, by the due date and the violation is not timely cured, a civil penalty of fifty dollars ($50.00) per day shall be imposed from the due date until the date the affidavit, disclosure statement, or other required document was filed. Unless otherwise specified in an order issued under subsection 5.2.205D of this part, if an order to show cause or to cure is sustained in whole or in part, a civil penalty of fifty dollars ($50.00) per day shall be imposed from the due date until the date the appeal was filed plus fifty dollars ($50.00) per day for each day in the period starting ten (10) days after the date the order was issued until the date the civil penalty specified in the order is paid. Except for good cause shown, a civil penalty is not considered paid until it is paid in its entirety. A candidate is liable for any penalty imposed on a candidate committee. B. Any committee that makes, or causes to be made, a communication in a newspaper that does not provide the disclosure required by subsection 5.2.203O of this part shall be subject to a penalty that is the greater of fifty dollars ($50.00) per day for each day that the communication is circulated without the disclosure or five hundred dollars ($500.00). C. The civil penalty imposed by this section shall be separate from and in addition to any penalty or sanction imposed by this Code or any other law. (Ord. 12-91)

Colorado Springs City Code § 5.2.207 UNPAID CIVIL PENALTY CONSTITUTES DEBT

5.2.207: UNPAID CIVIL PENALTY CONSTITUTES DEBT: A civil penalty that remains unpaid for more than thirty (30) days shall constitute a debt due the City. (Ord. 12-91)

Colorado Springs City Code § 5.2.208 UNEXPENDED CAMPAIGN FUNDS

5.2.208: UNEXPENDED CAMPAIGN FUNDS: A. Not later than ninety (90) days after the results of an election are certified, campaign funds held by a candidate or a committee shall be donated to a charitable organization recognized by the Internal Revenue Service or returned to the contributors, except that campaign funds held by a candidate or a candidate committee may be retained solely for use by the candidate as a candidate in a subsequent campaign, and except that funds held by a political committee may be retained for future activities. B. Issue committees shall close and file a final disclosure form no later than ninety (90) days after the results of an election are certified. C. If funds are retained by a political committee or by a candidate committee for a subsequent campaign, the political committee or the candidate shall file a report describing any changes in the account during the year with the City Clerk by April 30 of each year, until the candidate declares candidacy in another election or until the political committee participates in another election. (Ord. 12-91; Ord. 16-103)

Colorado Springs City Code § 5.2.209 PUBLIC RECORDS

5.2.209: PUBLIC RECORDS: Unless disclosure of information is protected by the Colorado Open Records Act, any other law, or by court order, all declarations of candidacy, disclosure statements, affidavits, complaints, and all other documents filed, submitted, or produced under this part shall be public information. (Ord. 12-91)

Colorado Springs City Code § 5.2.210 NO EFFECT ON CERTIFICATION OF ELECTION

5.2.210: NO EFFECT ON CERTIFICATION OF ELECTION: The certification of election results shall not be affected by the failure of any person to comply with this part. (Ord. 12-91)

Colorado Springs City Code § 5.2.211 ADMINISTRATION

5.2.211: ADMINISTRATION: A. The City Clerk shall administer this part and shall have the power to take any action that is necessary or appropriate for this purpose. B. The computation of time for filings under this part shall be controlled by section 1.1.105 of this Code. (Ord. 12-91)

Source: City of Colorado Springs, Colorado, City Code and City Charter (American Legal Publishing, codelibrary.amlegal.com)URL: https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/coloradospringsco/latest/coloradosprings_co/0-0-0-6503Fetched: 11/1/2026