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HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 24815-04-2021ORDINANCE NO. 24215-04-2021 AN ORDINANCE REVISING CHAPTER 2, "ADMINISTRATION," OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS (2015), AS AMENDED, TO REVISE SECTION 2-12, "REIMBURSEMENT OF NECESSARY EXPENSES INCURRED BY MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL IN PERFORMANCE OF THEIR OFFICIAL DUTIES," TO ELIMJNATE OUTDATED REFERENCES TO ADMINISTRATIVE POLICIES AND ALIGN PROCESSES FOR ALL REIMBURSEMENTS; PROVIDING THAT THIS ORDINANCE SHALL BE CUMULATIVE OF ALL PRIOR ORDINANCES AND REPEAL CONFLICTING ORDINANCES; PROVIDING FOR A SEVERABILITY CLAUSE; AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE. WHEREAS, Chapter III, § 3 of the Charter of the City of Fort Worth sets the compensation to be paid to the Mayor and to each Councilmember and also provides that "all necessary expenses incurred by the City Council in performance of their official duties shall be paid by the city"; and WHEREAS, in accordance with the quoted language, the City Council previously enacted Section 2-12 of the City Code, entitled "Reimbursement of Necessary Expenses Incurred by Members of the City Council in Performance of their Official Duties"; and WHEREAS, in adopting Section 2-12, the City Council made itself subject to the City Manager 's administrative regulations for reimbursement of travel and out-of-town meeting expenses and established a different procedure for processing reimbursements of other necessary expenditures; and. WHEREAS, the specific administrative regulation referenced in Section 2-12 has since been repealed and replaced; and WHEREAS, having different sets of procedures for processing reimbursements depending upon the type of expense increases confusion and the likelihood of mistakes being made; and WHEREAS, staff recommends rev1smg the City Code to eliminate the outdated reference and to provide for all City Council reimbursements to be processed in accordance with administrative regulations adopted by the City Manager; and WHEREAS, City Council finds it advisable to enact the recommended amendments. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY Ordinance No. 24815-04-2021 Page 1 of 4 OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS, THAT: SECTION 1. Chapter 2, "Administration," Section 2-12, "Reimbursement of Necessary Expenses Incurred by Members of the City Council in Performance of Their Official Duties," of the Code of City of Fort Worth (2015), as amended, is hereby amended to repeal and replace subsection (b), to update the definition of "Necessary Expenses" in subsection (c), and to revise subsection (d), and after such amendment Section 2-12 shall read as follows: (a) Purpose. The City Charter provides that the city shall pay all necessary expenses incurred by members of the city council in the performance of their official duties. This section establishes procedures to be followed in reimbursing members of the city council for such expenses. (b) Applicability. This section applies to reimbursement of members of the city council for all necessary expenses incurred by the city council in performance of their official duties. ( c) Definitions. NECESSARY EXPENSES. a. Expenses that are reasonable and necessary for a member of the city council to incur in the performance of his or her official duties. Such expenses may include, but are not limited to , expenditures for personal automobile usage , telephone calls and postage and costs of travel related to official city business. b. NECESSARY EXPENSES do not include expenditures for: 1. Political advertising or political purposes; 2. Personal entertainment; 3. Compensation of additional council assistants or personnel to assist a council member; or 4. Personal expenditures that are not related to a council member's official duties. POLITICAL ADVERTISING. A communication supporting or opposing a candidate for nomination or election to a public office or office of a political party, a political party, a public office or a measure that: a. In return for consideration, is published in a newspaper, magazine or periodical or is broadcast by radio or television; and/or Ordinance No . 24815-04-2021 Page 2 of 4 b . Appears in a letter, pamphlet, circular, flier, billboard or other sign, bumper sticker or similar form of written communication. ( d) Procedures. (1) The annual budget shall include a specified amount which shall be available to reimburse each member of the city council for necessary expenses that he or she incurs during the fiscal year. (2) In adopting this ordinance, the city council agrees to follow procedures to be adopted by the city manager that address reimbursement of travel and non-travel related out-of-pocket expenses for elected officials with such policy to provide for basic documentation of such expenses , including required receipts. (3) Reimbursement forms completed in accordance with the city manager's policy shall be reviewed by the chief of staff or deputy chief of staff for the mayor and city council. That review shall consist of ensuring fonns are complete and detennining whether budgeted funds are available to pay the amount shown. Following this review, the reimbursement request shall be forwarded to city staff charged with processing accounts payable for payment. SECTION 2. This ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of ordinances of the Code of the City of Fort Worth , Texas, (2015), as amended, except where the provisions of this ordinance are in direct conflict with the provisions of such ordinances and such Code, in which event conflicting provisions of such ordinances and such Code are hereby repealed. SECTION 3. It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of this ordinance are severable, and, if any phrase, clause, sentence , paragraph or section of this ordinance shall be declared unconstitutional by the valid judgment or decree of any court of competent jurisdiction, such unconstitutionality shall not affect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and sections of this ordinance, since the same would have been enacted by the City Council without the incorporation in this ordinance of any such unconstitutional phrase, clause, sentence, paragraph or section. SECTION 4. All other provisions of Chapter 2 of the Code of the City of Fort Worth , as amended, shall remain in full force and effect, save and except as amended by this ordinance. Ordinance No . 24815-04-2021 Page 3 of 4 SECTION 5. This ordinance shall take effect upon adoption, and it is so ordained . APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY: Assistant City Attorney Adopted and Effective: April 20, 2021 Ordinance No . 24815-04-2021 Page 4 of 4 ATTEST: Mary J. Kayser, City Secretary City of Fort Worth, Texas Mayor and Council Communication DATE: 04/20/21 M&C FILE NUMBER: M&C 21-0297 LOG NAME: 12AMEND SEC 2-12 RE: COUNCIL REIMBURSEMENT SUBJECT (ALL) Adopt Attached Ordinance Amending Chapter 2, "Administration," of the City Code, Section 2-12 , "Reimbursement of Necessary Expenses Incurred by Members of the City Council in Performance of their Official Duties ," to Eliminate an Outdated Reference and to Provide Uniform Process for all Reimbursements RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the City Council adopt the attached ordinance amending Chapter 2, "Administration," of the City Code , Section 2-12 , "Reimbursement of Necessary Expenses Incurred by Members of the City Council in Performance of their Official Duties," to eliminate an outdated reference to a former administrative regulation and to provide that all City Council necessary expenditures be subjected to the same reimbursement process . DISCUSSION: The purpose of this Mayor and Council Communication (M&C) is to revise the City Code provision that governs reimbursement of necessary expenses incurred by members of the City Council to eliminate an outdated reference and to update the reimbursement process to make it consistent for all expenses. The City Charter provides that, in addition to being entitled to specified annual compensation, the Mayor and each City Councilmember is entitled to reimbursement by the City for "all necessary expenses incurred by the City Council in performance of their official duties." The City Council previously enacted Section 2-12 of the City Code to govern the reimbursement process . In its current iteration, Section 2-12, "Reimbursement of Necessary Expenses Incurred by Members of the City Council in Performance of their Official Duties," provides that (1) certain travel expenses are subject to a now-repealed administrative regulation adopted by the City Manager and (2) other expenses are subject to a different process outlined in the City Code provision. The City's Financial Management Services Department undertook an overhaul of City administrative regulations (ARs) regarding reimbursements to employees and elected officials. The goals in enacting the updated ARs were to clarify the reimbursement process, update terminology, and ensure reimbursements were supported by sufficient documentation to reduce the likelihood of the reimbursement payments being treated as taxable income . As indicated above, the City Code provision currently references a prior AR , which has since been repealed. Staff is recommending Section 2-12 be amended to eliminate that outdated reference and to replace it with a more generalized reference that should not require updating as frequently. The other aspect of the proposed amendment would subject all City Council reimbursements to the same process. Under the current provision , only the reimbursement for out of town travel is subjected to the ARs , and all other expenses are supposed to follow a different process that is laid out in the ordinance . Staff proposes that the reimbursement of all City Council expenses be subjected to the AR . The goals of having all reimbursements follow the same process are to reduce confusion and to decrease the likelihood of a mistake occurring as a result of having two different processes. The City Council was previously briefed on the current version of the reimbursement AR, a copy of which is attached. In amending Section 2-12, the City Council is agreeing to follow the City Manager's administrative regulations for business expense reimbursement as those regulations currently exist or might later be amended. By not pegging the City Code to the specific AR version that currently exists , the City Council would avoid the need to process amendments to the City Code every time the reimbursement ARs need to be modified due to updated IRS guidance or some other factor . A Form 1295 is not required because: This M&C does not request approval of a contract with a business entity . FISCAL INFORMATION/ CERTIFICATION: The Director of Finance certifies that approval of this recommendation will have no material effect on City funds. Submitted for City Manager's Office by: ALL ACMs 6222 Originating Business Unit Head : Sarah Fullenwider 7623 Additional Information Contact: Denis McElroy 2758 Expedited