CITY COUNCIL Staff Report
Meeting: May 19, 2022
Subject
Set a voluntary campaign expenditure limit of $34,470 for the November 8, 2022 City Council election.
Recommended Action
Adopt the draft resolution setting a voluntary campaign expenditure limit of $34,470 for the November 8, 2022 City Council election.
Discussion
Voluntary expenditure limits enable both candidates and officeholders to spend less time on fundraising and more time communicating issues of importance to voters and constituents. Beginning in 1997, the City Council set a voluntary campaign expenditure limit of $15,000. In later years this amount was adjusted because of increases in postage costs or when the population was increased through annexations.
A General Municipal Election will be held Tuesday, November 8, 2022 to fill three City Council seats. If Council wishes to establish a limit for the 2022 election, it would be voluntary, is not required, and would have no force of law. The candidate decision of whether to accept the ceiling is made at the time of filing the nomination papers. Candidates who agree to voluntarily limit campaign expenditures receive an asterisk designation next to their name in the official voter’s pamphlet.
Campaign expenditures include allocations for mailing or distribution of campaign literature, publications in broadcast, print or electronic media, telephone banks, professional services, overhead expenditures, and campaign fundraising. The cost of printing and translating Candidate Statements shall not be counted against the voluntary expenditure ceiling.
Staff recommends an increase of $4,470 to the voluntary expenditure limit set in 2020. The escalated amount is based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index (CPI) which measures increases in the cost of paper, printing, and other goods and services. The change in the CPI (5.2%) is multiplied by the current number of registered Cupertino voters (32,766), as determined by the State’s Report of Registration, and rounded up.
ELECTION YEAR
VOLUNTARY EXPENDITURE LIMIT
1997
$15,000
1999
$20,000
2001
$20,000
2003
$20,000
2005
$26,000
2007
$26,500
2008 Special Election
$26,500
2009
$28,000
2011
$28,000
2014
$28,000
2016
$33,000
2018
$29,000
2020
$30,000
2022
$34,470
Sustainability Impact
None
Fiscal Impact
None
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Prepared by: Kirsten Squarcia, City Clerk
Approved for Submission by: Dianne Thompson, Assistant City Manager Attachments:
A – Draft Resolution
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