AUTHORITY:
Adopted by City Council on July 15, 16 and 17, 2008, as set out in motion 12 in 2008 EX22.6, as amended and adopted by Council; further amended by City Council on December 15, 16 and 17, 2021, EX28.19.
«12. City Council adopt the following Policy on Council Member-Organized Community Events:
- donations must be for specific community events held on a specific date or a specific series of dates. Members of Council should not seek donations in money or in kind for ongoing or new programs that have been or could be offered through City programs, and which have a separate donations policy;
- support for the events (whether in money or in kind) shall not exceed $20,000 annually (whether for a single event or multiple events). (This amount does not include moneys or goods collected at any event in support of a charity or other cause if those donations go directly to the charity or cause.);
- a Member of Council or a third party acting on behalf of the member shall neither solicit nor accept support in any form from those registered as lobbyists with the City, or developers with any pending planning, conversion, demolition or sign variance application. This prohibition extends to the negotiation of community benefits outside of the Planning Act processes including Sections 37 and 45;
- Members of Council must report to the Director, Council and Support Services, in a manner and form prescribed by the City Clerk, on the source, details and value of all donations for community events prior to the event (if it is anticipated that the value of donations will exceed $500) and a statement of accounts subsequent to the event if the value of the donations has exceeded $300). This report shall include a genuine estimate of the value of in-kind donations. All donations and expenses paid for by donations are subject to the same administration, accounting and disclosure requirements as expenses charged to Office Expense Budgets;
- all donation cheques should be made out to the City of Toronto and accounted through the City Clerk’s Office. Members of Council or third parties acting on behalf of members should not hold or administer donations in separate personal accounts;
- surpluses should be minimized with accurate estimation of event costs and requirements. Surpluses (including in-kind donations such as equipment) should be returned to donors or transferred to general Council revenue. Under no circumstances, can a surplus be used for a different community event and, in particular, in supplementation of a member’s office operations. Any surplus will count against the member’s $20,000 annual limit in the year in which it is used or drawn upon. Multi-year donations are not permitted;
- the City Clerk, in consultation with the Treasurer, will develop detailed procedures and guidelines regarding the receipt and accounting of donations for Council member community events, including the administration of surplus funds;
- This policy does not affect the entitlement of a member of Council to:
- use her or his office expense budget to run or support community events subject to the terms of the Councillor Expense Policy;
- urge constituents, businesses and other groups to support community events staged by others in the member’s Ward or elsewhere in the City;
- play an advisory or membership role in any organization staging community events in the member’s Ward; and
- team with the City and its agencies in the staging of community events.
- under clause h., Members of Council should not handle any funds on behalf of these organizations and should remain at arms length from the financial aspects of these external events; and
- in an election year, a Member of Council must not seek donations and sponsorships for any community event that has not been staged in the previous two years nor accept donations or stage any community event supported by donations and sponsorships after he or she has filed nomination papers for election to any office in the City of Toronto. A community event is considered to have been staged in the previous two years if it meets the following criteria:
- has a very similar, if not the same, event name/title
- takes place at approximately the same time
- has the same general purpose.»
