Ethics Advisory Opinion No. 50
March 20, 2001
Issued By: City Attorney’s Office
Whether
members of a Tax Increment Finance Board are required to file Financial
Disclosure Forms pursuant to Part G(currently codified as Division 7) of the
Ethics Code of the City of San Antonio.
The
City Clerk’s Office has inquired whether members of Tax Increment Finance (TIF)
Boards appointed by the City Council are required to file financial disclosure
forms. The following facts are presented:
Chapter
311 of the Texas Tax Code provides for creation of a reinvestment zone to
promote redevelopment of a designated area.
To be designated as a reinvestment zone, the area must “substantially arrest or impair the sound
growth of the municipality creating the zone [ ]” or must be “described in a petition [ ] submitted to
the [City Council] by the owners of property constituting at least 50 percent
of the appraised value of the property in the area [ ].”
Although
not a public official, members appointed by the City Council are “city
officials” as defined in Part A, Section 2 of the Ethics Code[1]. Section
2[2] defines
an “official” to include “members of all
boards, commissions (except the Youth Commission whose members are minors),
committees, and other bodies created by the City Council pursuant to federal or
state law or City ordinance, including entities that may be advisory only in
nature. . . .” Because the TIF
reinvestment zone is created by the City Council pursuant to Chapter 311 of the
Texas Tax Code, all members appointed to the Board by the City Council are City
officials and are required not only to follow certain standards of conduct and
but also to file certain forms.
One
of the forms required to be filed is the Financial Disclosure Report. Pursuant to Part G, Section 1[3], “[b]efore initially accepting appointment or
assuming the duties of office, and annually thereafter, the city officials
defined in Section 2 of Part A, . . . are required to file with the City Clerk
a complete sworn financial disclosure report [by March 1st] .” Section 1[4] further
provides that an individual who fails to file within the requisite time may
file the report within 15 days of receiving notice of noncompliance. If, after the notice of noncompliance, the
individual still fails to file the report, he/she may be removed from the board
with one exception. Members of boards
created by state law may only be removed for failing to file a report if
allowed under the state law providing for creation of the board.
SUMMARY
Members
of a Tax Increment Finance Board are not “public
officials” pursuant to Chapter 311 of the Texas Tax Code. However, those members that are appointed by
the City Council are “City officials”
for the purposes of the Ethics Code of the City of
_____________________
FRANK
J. GARZA
City
Attorney