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Home My WebLink About0214 REIMBURSEMENT OF CERTAIN EXPENDITURES - UPDATED CITY OF BAKERSFIELD COUNCIL POLICY STATEMENT CP No. 2.14 I SUBJECT: REIMBURSEMENT OF CERTAIN EXPENDITURES AND THE REQUIREMENT FOR ETHICS TRAINING I SECTION: CHAPTER TWO f f I ; f POLICY: REIMBURSEMENT OF CERTAIN EXPENDITURES FOR CITY LEGISLATIVE MEMBERS STATEMENT: Amendment No. 2 to Resolution No. 173-06 which established a written policy for reimbursement of certain expenditures for City legislative members. ADOPTION: Agenda Item No./Date 7.k.; April 12, 2023 Approved by City Council Res. No. 173-06(2) Amended by City Council April 12, 2023 Prior Resolutions Res No. 173-06; Res No. 173-060) j I I I SACouncil\POLICIES\STATM ENT\FORM.CPS I RESOLUTION NO. 173-06(2) AMENDMENT NO. 2 TO RESOLUTION NO. 173-06 WHICH ESTABLISHED A WRITTEN POLICY FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF CERTAIN EXPENDITURES FOR CITY LEGISLATIVE MEMBERS WHEREAS, on June 21, 2006, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 173- 06 which established a written policy for reimbursement of certain expenditures for members of the City Council and all City Commissions, and created a new ethics training requirement for local public officials; and I f WHEREAS, Exhibit "A" to Resolution No. 173-06 provided a list of events for which the Mayor and members of the City Council may be reimbursed, in advance, for actual and necessary expenses; and WHEREAS, on June 29, 2016, the City Council amended Resolution No. 173- 06 to amend and substitute Exhibit "A" to add the Kern Economic Development Corporation's Kern County Economic Summit as reimbursable; and f WHEREAS, for any events not listed on Exhibit "A" the Mayor and City Council members must seek Council approval before any expenses are reimbursed; and WHEREAS, the City Council finds that there are additional conferences and events that are beneficial to the performance of official duties for which the City Council and Mayor should be reimbursed in advance; and WHEREAS, Government Code section 53232.1 authorizes the City Council to adopt a written policy describing types of occasions that constitute the performance of official duties for which a member of the legislative body may receive payment; and I WHEREAS, to encourage open and active engagement of the Council and Mayor in activities that further performance of official duties, the Council further desires to broaden the category of events that qualify for reimbursement. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, by the Council of the City of Bakersfield as follows: j 1. The above recitals are true and correct and incorporated herein by reference. I --Page 1 of 5 Pages-- _ i 2. Section 2 of Resolution No. 173-06, titled "Direction" is hereby amended to read as follows: SECTION 2 DIRECTION The City Council hereby adopts the following Reimbursement and Ethics Training Policy for members of the City Council and all City Commissions: i A. ADVANCE REIMBURSEMENT. Subject to the submission of an expense report as set forth in paragraph "Y below, the Mayor and members of City Council may be reimbursed, in advance, for actual and necessary expenses in connection with: (i) events listed in Exhibit "A", attached hereto, and incorporated by reference herein; or (ii) educational seminars, conferences, and events not listed in Exhibit "A", subject to acknowledgment of available funds and prior approval of the City Manager, that are designed to improve City Council members' skill and knowledge in the performance of their official duties for the City of Bakersfield, consistent with adopted City Council Goals, including regional, state and national organizations whose activities affect the City's interests. The reimbursement of expenses is limited in the following manner: 1 . LODGING. Lodging costs in conjunction with a conference or other official activity may not exceed the maximum group rate published by the conference or activity sponsor, if lodging at the group rate is available at the time of booking. If not, the member shall be reimbursed for lodging at comparable rates, or rates established by the Internal Revenue Service. 2. MEALS. Meals may be reimbursed at standard rates established by the Internal Revenue Service. 3. TRAVEL. Members shall use government or group rates for travel, when available. If not available, members may be reimbursed according to the standard rates established by the Internal Revenue Service. --Page 2 of 5 Pages-- 4. INCIDENTAL EXPENSES. Incidental expenses, including but not limited to tips and business telephone calls may be reimbursed at the rates established in Internal Revenue Service Publication 463 and as amended from time to time. Any additional expenses that fall outside the scope of this policy may be reimbursed only if approved by the City Council, at a public meeting, before the expenses are C incurred. i I B. SUBSEQUENT REIMBURSEMENT. For events not authorized in advance, the Mayor and City Councilmembers must seek Council approval before any expenses are reimbursed. C. OTHER LEGISLATIVE MEMBERS. For all City of Bakersfield legislative members, except the Mayor and City Council, Exhibit "A" does not apply and expenses shall be reimbursed at the discretion of the City Manager's Office and approved by the City Council at a public meeting, either in advance or subsequent to the event. In either case, expenses shall be limited as set forth in paragraph "A", subsections 1 - 4 above. f D. EXPENSE REPORTS. Members of all City legislative bodies seeking reimbursement of expenses must submit such requests on City approved expense reports. Such reports are public records subject to disclosure. In addition, all City legislative members must provide brief reports on any outside meetings attended at the expense of the City at the next regular meeting of the legislative body, or as soon thereafter is reasonable. i E. ETHICS TRAINING. All members of City legislative bodies shall receive at least two hours of ethics training in general ethics principles and ethics laws relevant to his or her public service every two years. New members must receive this training within their first year of service on a legislative body. An individual who serves on multiple legislative bodies need only receive two hours of ethics training every two years to satisfy this requirement for all applicable public service positions. The City Clerk will be required to keep ethics training records for at least five years to document and prove that these continuing education requirements have been satisfied. The City may develop its own ethics training course or use an outside provider. If the City develops its own ethics training, the City must consult with the Fair Political Practices Commission and the State Attorney General. -- Page 3 of 5 Pages-- 3. Except as amended herein, all other provisions of Resolution No. 173- 06 shall remain in full force and effect. f --00000— F I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Resolution was passed and adopted by the Council o t{ Ity of Bakersfield at a regular meeting thereof held on A�`` ? LaL by the following vote: i ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ �UR AYE : COUNCIL MEMBER ARIAS,GONZALES,WEIR,SMITH,FREEMAN,-6R",KAUR NOES: COUNCIL MEMBER ABSTAIN: COUNCIL MEMBER fC COUNCIL MEMBER JLIKIE DRIMAKIS, CPMC, MMC CITY CLERK and EX OFFICIO CLERK of the Council of the City of Bakersfield APPROVED AFQ 12 2023 i By I KAREN GO Mayor i APPROVED AS TO FORM: VIRGINIA GENNARO City Attorney i I By ASHLE AMBRANO Deputy City Attorney A EZ/vlg S:\COUNCIL\Resos\22-23\ReimbLegisMember173-06Amend2-Reso(Final).docx -- Page 4 of 5 Pages-- EXHIBIT "A" Central Valley Mayor's Conference (Mayor) Chamber of Commerce Kern Council of Governments (KernCOG) 1 Kern County Association of Cities Kern Economic Development Corporation f Kern Transportation Foundation League of California Cities National League of Cities San Joaquin Valley Rail Committee (Mayor) Sister City So Cal Water Association U.S. Conference of Mayors (Mayor) Water Association of Kern County --Page 5 of 5 Pages--