Council Expands Campaign Finance Rules for More Transparency

The Mayor and City Council initiated new campaign finance reporting rules in Orem that are now in effect and will be more comprehensive and transparent. These requirements are above and beyond what the state requires for campaign reporting and represent our elected officials’ desire for more transparency in local elections.

At the last City Council meeting, the Mayor and City Council voted 7-0 to require all elected officials who hold office in the City of Orem to file an annual campaign finance statement each year while in office. It will cover the contributions and expenditures made each year. There is a weekly fine of $250 for failure to file the disclosure.

The new rules also include a one-time “catch up” report for those currently in office who will have to file a disclosure covering the time between their last campaign disclosure and September 30th, 2023.

EXHIBIT A

2-3-4. Campaign Finance Disclosure.
A. Candidates for elected municipal office shall comply with the requirements of Utah Code
Section 10-2-208, as amended or renumbered.
B. Annual Contribution Disclosure by Elected Officials

1. All elected officials who hold office in the City of Orem must file an annual campaign finance statement no later than June 30 during each year while in office.
2. The annual campaign finance statement filed by an elected official must disclose all contributions received and expenditures made prior to June 15 of the preceding reporting cycle which have not been previously disclosed.
3. If an elected official fails to file an annual contribution disclosure by the deadline specified in subsection (B)(1):
   a. The City Recorder Shall Accept a late filing up to five (5) business days after the filing deadline, if the filing is accompanied with a late fee of fifty dollars
   ($50.00).
   b. Any elected official who fails to comply with this section is guilty of an infraction and upon conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than two
   hundred fifty dollars ($250.00). Each and every week an elected official fails to file the required annual contribution disclosure shall constitute a separate offense.
4. Any elected official, who holds office in the City of Orem, on September 26, 2023, shall file an annual campaign financial disclosure statement with the City Recorder on, or
   before, October 10, 2023. This reconciliation filing must disclose all contributions received and expenditures since the elected official’s last campaign financial disclosure
   statement filed with the City Recorder through September 30, 2023, which have not been previously disclosed.