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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 8868~t ,~ 1'y ,~~` 2' ~ ~: ORDINANCE NO. AN ORDINANCE AMENDING CHAPTER 32 OF THE FORT WORTH CITY CODE (1964), BEING A CHAPTER REGULATING SOLICITATIONS FOR CHARITABLE, PATRIOTIC, EDUCATIONAL OR PHILANTHROPIC PUR- POSES IN THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, PROVIDING FOR THE CREA- TION AND OPERATION OF THE CHARITABLE SOLICITATIONS COMMISSION; REQUIRING A PERMIT TO CONDUCT SUCH SOLICITA- TIONS; PROVIDING DUE NOTICE AND HEARING; EXEMPTING CERTAIN SOLICITATIONS; PROVIDING FOR THE FILING OF AN APPLICATION FOR A CHARITABLE SOLICITATIONS PERMIT; MAKING PERMITS NON- TRANSFERABLE; PROVIDING STANDARDS FOR REVOCATION OF PER- MITS; PROVIDING FOR APPEAL DE NOVO TO THE CITY COUNCIL; REQUIRING FINANCIAL AND ACCOUNTING REPORTS FROM PERMIT HOLDERS; PROVIDING ACCOUNTING STANDARDS; MAKING THIS ORDINANCE CUMULATIVE OF PRIOR ORDINANCES; REPEALING ALL ORDINANCES AND PROVISIONS OF THE FORT WORTH CITY CODE IN CONFLICT HEREWITH; PROVIDING A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; PRO- VIDING A PENALTY; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS: SECTION 1. That Chapter 32 of the Fort Worth City Code (1964) is hereby amended and, after being so amended, same shall read as follows: Sec. 32-1. DEFINITIONS In this Chapter: (a) COMMISSION means the Charitable Solicitations Commission of the City of Fort Worth. (b) CHARITABLE SOLICITATION means any conduct where- by any person, organization, society, association, corpo- ration or any agent, member or representative thereof: (1) solicits property, financial aid, gifts in money or any article rep"resenting monetary value; or (2) sells or offers to sell any product, art- icle, tag, service, emblem, publication, ticket, advertisement, subscription or any thing of value; or (3) holds, promotes, sponsors or participates in an entertainment, sports event, benefit, dance, fair, bazaar or other type of organized social func- tion; on the plea or representation, express or implied, that the proceeds or other benefits from such conduct are or will be for a charitable purpose. (c) CHARITABLE PURPOSE means the use of money, prop- erty or thing of value for the benefit of: } E (1) a charity or philanthropy, or poor, under- privileged, needy, refugee, diseased, injured, crippled, disabled or handicapped persons, or persons in need of rehabilitation; r •. (2) patriotism or for the teaching or encour- agement of patriotism and citizenship or for the relief or assistance of veterans of the armed forces of the United States; (3) educational institutions or in aid of the education of any person or group of persons; (4) the arts or organizations whose purpose is the support and furtherance of the arts. (d) FUND RAISING EXPENSES are all expenses incurred during a charitable solicitation, including expenses for informational material and activities which include an appeal for financial support, informational material and activities distributed or conducted as part of or in prep- aration for a charitable solicitation or for the recruit- ment and training of persons to assist in the charitable solicitation and including all direct out-of-pocket ex- penses, directly related supporting costs and a reasonable allocation of the time of paid staff of the soliciting organization. If a public education or information effort includes a charitable solicitation, then a fairly and reasonably apportioned part of the entire cost of such undertaking shall be included as fund raising expenses. (e) FUNDS SPENT FOR THE DIRECT BENEFIT OF THE STATED PURPOSE OF THE SOLICITATION means that money and the cost of services expended directly for the specific purpose which the soliciting organization states in its applica- tion for permit hereunder, promotional advertising and solicitations, excluding: (1) fund raising expenses; and (2) general management and administration of the soliciting organization; and (3) the value of volunteer labor and services. Sec. 32-2. CHARITABLE SOLICITATIONS COMMISSION--CRE- ATED: COMPOSITION, TERM OF MEMBERS. There is hereby created a Charitable Solicitations Commission which shall be composed of nine members who are residents of the City of Fort Worth, who shall serve in Places numbered 1 through 9, who shall serve without re- muneration for their services and who shall be appointed by the City Council. Each member shall hold office for a term of two years or until a successor is appointed and confirmed. Members initially appointed to odd-numbered Places shall serve terms which expire October 1, 1985. Members initially appointed to even-numbered Places shall serve terms which expire October 1, 1984. Thereafter, mem- bers shall serve two-year terms. No member shall serve more than six consecutive years, and the terms of service of current members shall be counted toward such limit. Sec. 32-3. SAME--INTERNAL ORGANIZATION. The Commission shall elect a Chairman and a Vice- Chairman from its members and may adopt rules and regula- tions for the conduct of its business. The City Manager or his delegate shall appoint a staff person to serve as -2- {,. d Secretary of the Commission. Five members of the Commis- sion shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of bus- iness. Sec. 32-4. PERMIT--REQUIRED. It shall be unlawful to conduct any charitable solic- itation campaign on the streets or in any public place or by house-to-house canvass or by any other manner in the City of Fort Worth unless the person, organization, soci- ety, association or corporation conducting same and re- sponsible therefor shall first have obtained a permit in compliance with the terms of this chapter and shall have otherwise complied with the terms of this chapter; pro- vided, however, that the provisions hereof shall not apply to: (a) any church, congregation, religious society, sect, group or order which solicits funds for religious purposes; or (b) any organization which solicits contributions solely from its own members or from its own assemblies; or (c) Any person or organization which does not seek to obtain and does not obtain contributions in an amount or having a value of more than $1,000 within any consecu- tive twelve-month period; provided, a person or organiza- tion seeking to avail itself of the exemption provided in this subsection (c) shall, prior to conducting any char- itable solicitations campaign, file with the Secretary of the Commission an exemption certificate containing such information as may be required by the Commission. A person or organization to which an exemption applies under this section may apply for a permit in accordance with the requirements of this chapter. A charitable solicitation is deemed to be conducted within the City of Fort Worth when it is communicated to a person then located within the City of Fort Worth, whether or not the person making such solicitation is then located within the City of Fort Worth. Sec. 32-5. SAME -- APPLICATION; INFORMATION TO BE CON- TAINED. A permit to conduct a charitable solicitation in the City of Fort Worth shall be granted only after notice and hearing upon an application for such permit filed with the Secretary of the Commission not less than forty-five days prior to the initiation of the proposed charitable solici- tation and not less than fifteen days prior to the date of the hearing. Such application shall be sworn to by the applicant and shall contain at least the following infor- mation: (a) The full name of the organization applying for a permit to solicit and the address of the headquarters in the City; if the organization is a chapter or other affil- iate of an organization having its principal office out- side the City, the name and address of the affiliate organization. -3- (b) The names and addresses of all officers and directors or trustees of the organization and the name and city of residence of all officers, directors or trustees of the affiliate organization, if any. (c) The charitable purpose or purposes for which th e receipts derived from such solicitations or other activ- ities are to be used. (d) The name of the person or persons by whom the receipts of such solicitation shall be disbursed; if the receipts are transmitted to an affiliate organization for further disbursement, detailed information on the methods of handling and disbursement of all funds and a detailed and complete financial statement of the affiliate organi- zation for the last preceding fiscal year. (e) The name and address of the person or persons who will be in charge of conducting the charitable solici- tation. (f) A description of the method or methods to be used in conducting the charitable solicitation. (g) The period within which such charitable solici- tation will be conducted, including the proposed dates for the beginning and ending of such campaign. (h) The total amount of funds proposed to be raised. (i) The amount of all fund raising expenses to be expended or paid to anyone in connection with such cam- paign, together with the manner in which such wages, fees, commissions, expenses and costs are to be expended and the maximum percentage of funds collected which are to be used to pay such fund raising expenses. (j) A detailed and complete statement of the funds (if any) collected by the applicant during the preceding year from charitable solicitations which were the same or substantially the same as those for which the applicant is seeking a permit, such statement to show the gross amount collected, all costs of collection or solicitation and the final distribution thereof. (k) A full statement of the character and extent of the charitable, educational, patriotic or philanthropic work done by the applicant within the City during the last preceding year. (1) If the applicant is a corporation, a copy of its charter or articles of incorporation from its state of incorporation; if the applicant is a foreign corporation, a copy of its certificate to do business in Texas. (m) If the applicant is a charitable corporation or other organization, proof of its current status as a tax- exempt organization for federal income tax purposes. (n) A statement whether contributions to the appli- cant pursuant to the proposed charitable solicitation will be fully deductible for federal income tax purposes and, if not fully deductible, the percentage of the contribu- tion which will not be deductible. -4- (o) Such other and further information which may be required by the Commission in order that it review the proposed charitable solicitation. Sec. 32-6. SAME--NOTICE OF HEARING; CONDITIONS OF AP- PROVAL; CERTIFICATION TO SECRETARY. Upon receipt of a proper application for permit, the Secretary of the Commission shall set a time and place for hearing of said application, and such time for hearing shall be at least ten days after the date on which the application is received. The Secretary of the Commission shall notify the applicant of the time and place set for hearing. In the absence of notice acknowledged by the applicant, the Secretary of the Commission shall give written notice to the applicant by depositing same in the United States mail in a sealed envelope with sufficient postage attached, addressed to applicant at the address shown on the application. Such mailed written notice shall be sufficient if deposited in the United States mail at least ten days prior to the date of the hearing. At the conclusion of the hearing on any such application, the Commission shall determine whether or not to authorize and direct the Secretary of the Commission to issue the permit applied for. If the Commission finds that the application is complete and that the applicant has met all the re- quirements of this chapter, the Commission shall authorize and direct the issuance of the permit unless it determines that (a) one or more of the statements made in the appli- cation are not true; (b) the applicant or person in charge of the char- itable solicitation has been convicted of fraud, theft, conversion, embezzlement or swindling or that the appli- cant or such person has made or caused to be made false statements or misrepresentations to any member of the public with regard to the charitable solicitation or other activities described in the permit, or has made or caused to be made false statements or misrepresentations in the application or at the hearing on the application, or has in any way publicly represented that the permit granted hereunder is an endorsement or recommendation of the cause for which the charitable solicitation is being conducted or has otherwise violated any of the terms of the permit or this chapter; (c) the applicant has failed to keep or observe any promise, agreement, representation or commitment with re- gard to the allocation of funds or methods of fund-raising or solicitation made to the Commission in connection with any previous application; (d) the funds to be spent for the direct benefit of the stated purpose of the solicitation are such a small percentage of the gross amount to be collected that the public is likely to be misled in believing that a substan- tial portion of contributions will be spent for the direct benefit of the stated purpose of the solicitation. In mak- ing such determination, the Commission may consider and weigh the following factors: -5- ~• (1) The type of the solicitation. In a solici- tation involving sales or an entertainment, fund raising expenses may be expected to be proportionate- ly greater than in other types of solicitations; (2) The record of the applicant in past char- itable solicitations utilizing methods similar to those disclosed in the application; (3) The Commission may accept, as prima facie evidence that the public is not likely to be misled, representations that fund raising expenses will not exceed 50~ of the gross amount collected in a sales or entertainment type solicitation or 25% of the gross amount collected in other types of solicita- tions; provided, if the expected fund raising expenses are anticipated to exceed the foregoing per- centages, the applicant shall be afforded the oppor- tunity to show that special or unusual facts or circumstances exist which indicate that such higher level of fund raising expenses is not unreasonable under the circumstances. The applicant shall have the burden of proof on the matters covered in the fore- going proviso. The Commission may, as a condition to the issuance of a permit, require the applicant to disclose its estimated percentage of fund raising expenses in all of such appli- cant's promotional materials, printed materials related to the solicitation and in all verbal solicitation activ- ities. Sec. 32-7. SAME--ISSUANCE. Upon receipt of authorization and direction from the Commission or upon notification of action by the City Council of the City of Fort Worth in connection with any appeal from a decision of the Commission, the Secretary of the Commission shall issue a permit to conduct a char- itable solicitation for the period and in the manner authorized by the Commission or the City Council. Sec. 32-8. SAME--DURATION. (a) A permit shall be valid only for the period spe- cified in the permit. Permits will be issued for a period of one month unless the applicant shows the necessity for a longer period. Upon such showing of necessity, the Commission may authorize issuance of a permit valid for a period not exceeding six months. (b) An extension of the permit, for any period not exceeding six months, may be authorized by the Commission upon a showing of good cause by the holder of the permit. Sec. 32-9. SAME--NONTRANSFERABLE. A permit issued hereunder shall be personal to th e applicant and may not be assigned or transferred to any other person, firm, corporation or association. Any such attempted assignment or transfer shall render the permit void. -6- r; y" Sec. 32-10. SAME--REVOCATION. If, after the notice and hearing, the Commission shall determine that any permit holder or any agent or representative of a permit holder is making or has made any false statement or misrepresentation to any member of the public in regard to the solicitation or other activ- ities described in the permit, or has made false state- ments or misrepresentations in the application or at the hearing on the application, or has in any way publicly represented that the permit granted hereunder is an endorsement or recommendation of the cause for which the charitable solicitation is being conducted, or has vio- lated any of the terms of the permit or has otherwise vio- lated the provisions of this chapter, then the Commission shall revoke the permit; provided, however, that the per- mit holder shall be given at least forty-eight hours written notice that a hearing on revocation is to be held. Sec. 32-11. SAME -- APPEAL FROM DECISIONS OF CHARITABLE SOLICITATIONS COMMISSION. An applicant shall have the right to appeal to the City Council from any adverse decision or ruling of the Commission. Such appeal, if taken, must be in writing addressed to the City Council and filed with the City Secretary within ten days after the date of the decision or ruling appealed from. The City Council shall hold an open public hearing on such appeal at either a regular or special meeting of that body after furnishing notice of such hearing to the applicant and appellant. The appeal shall be de novo. Sec. 32-12. SAME--REPORTS TO BE FILED. All persons or organizations issued permits under this chapter shall furnish to the Commission, within, thirty days after the charitable solicitation has been completed, a detailed report and financial statement show- ing the amount of funds raised by the charitable solicita- tions campaign, the fund raising expenses expended in collecting such funds (including a detailed report of the wages, fees, commissions and expenses paid to any person in connection with such solicitation) and the disposition of the balance of the funds and property collected by the campaign; provided, however, that the Secretary of the Commission may extend the time for filing of the report required by this section for an additional period not to exceed thirty days upon written certification by the applicant that the filing of the report within the time specified will work unnecessary hardship on the permit holder. The permit holder shall make available to the Commission, or to any person designated in writing by the Commission as its representative for such purpose, all books, records and papers whereby the accuracy of any application or report required by this Chapter may be in- vestigated. All financial statements and reports and all applica- tions submitted by any applicant or permit holder here- under, and all determinations, findings and rulings involving accounting procedures made by either the Commission or the City Council shall be prepared, made and -7- .y „ s,1 . V' . ,.. ,4 ,.. t. . interpreted in accordance with generally accepted account- ing principles, standards and practices applicable to charitable organizations. Sec. 32-13. AGENTS AND SOLICITORS FOR CHARITABLE SOLIC- ITATION PERMIT HOLDERS. No agent or solicitor shall conduct or participate in any charitable solicitation except under a valid permit issued in compliance with this chapter. Sec. 32-14. RESPONSIBILITY FOR ACTS OF SOLICITORS. The holder of a permit for a charitable solicitation shall be responsible for the acts of such holder's autho- rized representatives in connection with such campaign. Sec. 32-15. PUBLIC INSPECTION OF RECORDS. All applications, all records of hearing, all permits or rulings of the Commission or the City Council and all instruments filed in connection with any application or hearing shall be public records. Sec. 32-16. CHAPTER ENACTED AS GOVERNMENTAL FUNCTION. All of the regulations provided for in this chapter are hereby declared to be governmental and for the protec- tion and benefit of the general public. Any member of the City Council, the Commission, any city official or em- ployee, or any person charged with the enforcement of this chapter, acting for the City in the discharge of his duties, shall not thereby render himself personally liable, and he is hereby relieved from all personal lia- bility for any damage that may accrue to persons or prop- erty as a result of any act required or permitted in the discharge of his duties. Any suit brought against any such official or employee because of such act performed by him in the enforcement of any provision of this chapter shall be defended by the Department of Law until the final ad- judication of the proceedings. SECTION 2. This ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, 1964, with respect to regulating charitable solicitations except in those instances where the provi- sions of this ordinance are in direct conflict with the provisions of such Code, in which instances said conflicting provisions of such Code are hereby repealed. SECTION 3. If any section, part of a section or provision of any section of this ordinance shall be held to be void, ineffective or unconsti- tutional by final judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction, the -8- ~ r . :~ T .. ~ - ~ T 'w holding of such section, part of a section or provision of any section to be void, ineffective or unconstitutional for any cause whatsoever shall in no way affect the validity of the remaining sec- tions and provisions of this ordinance, which shall remain in full force and effect. The City Council would not have passed any sec- tions, parts of sections or provisions of any section of this ordi- nance that were unconstitutional, void or ineffective if it had known that they were unconstitutional, void or ineffective at the time of adopting this ordinance. SECTION 4. Any person, firm or corporation violating any of the provisions of this ordinance shall be fined in any sum not to exceed Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00), and each day's violation thereof shall constitute a separate offense. SECTION 5. That the City Secretary of the City of Fort Worth is hereby directed to engross and enroll this ordinance by copying the caption and penalty clause in the minutes of the City Council and by filiing the ordinance in the ordinance records of the City. SECTION 6. That this ordinance shall become effective and be in full force and effect from and after the date of its passage and publication as required by law, and it is so ordained. APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: City Attorney ~-Q g3 Date: ADOPTED : ~/1~, 1rJ' /> ff ~- EFFECTIVE . -9- ASTER FILE 1 CITY MANAGER 1 ~i~~ ~f 11~~ ~~°~~ ~~~~'~~°~~,, ~C~.~~n~ ACCOUN7{NG 2 TRANSPOR7ATION~PUBLIC~RJyp~T p®~ ~f71~,f'll ~®~ll~~~,/1~1V ~®~~~ll/1V~~(l/~LiWl6~~®U lV naus-nr~ ~ _,,,, _`' 2. ~. DATE kEFERENCE SUBJECT Amendment of City Code PAGE gJMAn SERVICES NUMBER Chapter 32, Charitable 7/19/83 G-5691 Solicitations > or___.1__ BAC KGROUND: In order to protect the citizens of Fort Worth from fraud and deceptive practices in the solicitation of funds for charitable purposes, the City has heretofore adopted a system of regulation which is now codified as Chapter 32 of the Code of the City of Fort Worth. The evolution of the law in this area has modified the permissible extent of regulation by cities of such solicitations and made neces- sary a review of the existing ordinances. A series of workshops were held with current members of the Charitable Solicitations Commission and staff members from the Department of Housing and Human Services and the City Attorney's office. Con- siderable input was received from members of the Commission whose expertise and experience in these matters proved invaluable. The culmination of these efforts is the proposed ordinance which substantially amends Chapter 32 of the City Code (copy attached). Major changes made by the proposed ordinance include 1. Increasing t seven (7) to ing member's are made in Commissions", he membership of the Charitable Solicitations Commission from nine (9) members, providing for staggered terms, and limit- service to six consecutive years. (Sec. 32-2) These changes accordance with~Ordinance ~No. 8758, "Rules for Boards and passed by the CounciY~on March 15, 1983. Providing, for an exemption from th' permit requirement for persons or organizations which do not seek to rise and do not raise more than $1000 within a twelve month period, provided an exemption certificate is filed. (Sec. 32-4) 3. Replacing the fixed percentage limitation on fund-raising expenses with a morE:~flexible standard. (Sec. 32-6(d)) 4. Providing that the permit issued by the Commission shall generally be valid for a period of one month. Upon a showing of necessity, the Commis- sion may authorize a permit valid for a longer period not to exceed six months. (Sec. 32-8) As in the present ordinance, the proposed ordinance grants the applicant a right to appeal any ad verse decision or ruling of the Commission to the City Council. RECOMMENDATION. It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached proposed ordinance amending Chapter 32, Code of the City of Fort Worth (1964), as ~ s ord - inance to become effective from and after the date of its passa a ~ 'ration as required by law. C TY C " DY if Attachment SUBMITTED FOR THE CITY MANAGER'S OFFICF BY ORIGINATING DEPARTMENT HEAD Wade Adkins FOR AUDIf10NAL INFORMA7JaVld Yett Ext 7618 CONTACT 1J JUL 19 1983 DISPOSITION BY COUNCIL:' ""~" '~ !" _I-" PROCESS£.D-r6~+~"' '~-~ APPROVED TED E0~®A`" T.~~ CITY SECRETARti DATE