CITY OF POMONA
COUNCIL REPORT
May 19, 2025
To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Anita D. Scott, City Manager
Submitted By: Sonia Carvalho, City Attorney
Maritza Sosa-Nieves, Assistant to the City Manager
SUBJECT: A Resolution to ADOPT THE CITY COUNCIL EXPENSE FUND ALLOCATIONS POLICY RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the City Council consider adopting the following resolution:
RESOLUTION NO. 2025-51– A Resolution OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF POMONA, CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING THE CITY COUNCIL EXPENSE FUND ALLOCATIONS POLICY WHICH INCORPORATES THE COUNCIL EXPENSE REIMBURSEMENT POLICY, REGULATIONS FOR USE OF EXPENSE FUND ALLOCATION, AND THE COUNCIL SPONSORSHIP POLICY, and rescinding resolution no. 2002-171
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The Pomona City Charter authorizes reimbursement of necessary expenses for the Mayor and Councilmembers and provides for increases to the maximum annual reimbursement of expenses. The City Council previously adopted an AB1234-compliant Expense and Reimbursement Policy, which included “donations” as an expense. These donations were not authorized by the City Charter or AB1234. However, a Charter City may find that certain donations are proper and serve a public purpose. The proposed Resolution seeks to modernize the City’s expense policy and provide safeguards to ensure that Council reimbursements comply with current law. Adoption of Resolution No. 2025-51 will amend the Council Expense Reimbursement Policy, establish Regulations for the use of the Expense Fund Allocations, establish a Council Sponsorship Policy, and rescind Resolution No. 2002-171. This provides improved oversight, transparency, and accountability, as well as a more efficient and streamlined process for distributing sponsorships to eligible entities.
SB1439/GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLICABILITY:
☐ When this box is checked, it indicates the agenda item is subject to the Levine Act SB1439 requirements. Councilmembers are reminded to check their campaign contributions and determine whether they have received a campaign contribution of $500 or more that would require disclosure and/or recusal from discussing or acting on this agenda item. Campaign contributions of $500 or more made 1) by any person or entity who is identified in the agenda report as the applicant or proposer or 2) on behalf of the applicant or participant, including a parent, subsidiary or otherwise related business entity, or 3) by any person who has a financial interest in the agenda item requires a councilmember to comply with SB1439.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this report as the total reimbursement of expenses and the sponsorship policy expenditures will not increase current allocations or the authority set forth in the Pomona City Charter.
PREVIOUS RELATED ACTION
On July 15, 2002, the City Council approved Resolution 2002-171 authorizing the carry-forward of remaining city council expense account balances to a Capital Improvement Fund.
On February 6, 2006, the City Council approved an Expense and Reimbursement Policy in compliance with the requirements of Assembly Bill 1234.
On November 16, 2015, the City Council adopted the Finding of Public Benefit “Best Practices” Guidelines and the Finding of Public Benefit Request Form.
On December 5, 2016, the City Council approved revisions to the AB1234 Expense and Reimbursement Policy, which pertains to the approval of expenses and reimbursements for carrying out the duties of the office.
DISCUSSION
Section 404(b), Compensation and Expenses, of the Pomona City Charter provides that the Mayor and Councilmembers shall be entitled to “reimbursement for their necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties in connection with authorized city business”. The maximum expense that a Councilmember or the Mayor can incur during a year of their term shall be the amounts in effect at the time the section became effective, and it is adjusted annually for inflation based upon the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U) for the Los Angeles-Long Beach-Anaheim area.
For Fiscal Year 2024-25, the total expense fund amount is $24,425 for each Councilmember and $28,820 for the Mayor. Based on historical practices, it appears the City has interpreted Section 404(b) of the Charter to mean that the maximum allowable expense should be fully allocated to the Mayor and each Councilmember. Following that interpretation, past practice has allowed the Mayor and Councilmembers to consider and approve funding requests from the community while making Findings of Public Benefit at each City Council meeting. This program allows non-profit organizations, individuals, or agencies to submit funding requests. If a Finding of Public Benefit was recognized, the Mayor and Councilmembers could then decide how much of their Council Expense Funds they wished to contribute toward the request.
Following several questions and practical conflicts regarding the Council Expense Funds, Staff and the City Attorney’s Office conducted a thorough review of the City Charter, the existing Council Expense and Reimbursement Policy, and modern practices of other similarly situated charter cities, assessing the risks associated with the current practices. The results of that review have led staff and the City Attorney to recommend several policy adjustments.
Resolution No. 2002-171 - Expense Fund Carry-Overs
In 2002, the Council adopted Resolution No. 2002-171, which authorized Councilmembers to carry forward unused Council Expense Funds to a capital improvement fund for their respective districts. This Resolution directly conflicts with Section 1008, Lapse of Appropriations, of the City Charter, which states that “every appropriation, except an appropriation for a capital improvement expenditure, shall lapse at the close of the fiscal year.” The Council Expense Funds that were to be rolled over in violation of Charter Section 1008 were not allocated to any identified capital improvement project, so they do not fall within the exception. Resolution No. 2002-171 cannot amend or overrule a City Charter provision adopted by the voters; therefore, it should be rescinded.
Council Expense Funds allocated for Capital Improvement projects do not qualify as necessary expenses related to the performance of official duties associated with authorized City business. The City has allowed the funds designated by the City Charter for “necessary expenses” to encompass capital improvements within individual districts; however, this presents a risk. The Charter specifies that reimbursement for necessary expenses must be for costs incurred while performing official duties in connection with authorized city business. Utilizing the Council Expense Funds for capital improvements does not align with the City Charter.
Donations for a Public Purpose
The City also allows funds allocated under the City Charter for “Necessary Expenses” to include donations for a public purpose, provided that the necessary findings can be made to demonstrate that the donation will benefit the community at large. California’s constitution prohibits explicitly “gifts” of public resources, commonly known as a ban on “gifts of public funds." This typically prevents an agency or its officials from giving public funds to private citizens or organizations. However, charter cities like Pomona are not bound by this restriction. As a charter city, Pomona legally allocates funding for donations. The question is whether a policy decision regarding such funding should be classified as a necessary expense that requires prior approval from the City Council or if a separate policy should apply.
The current practice allows a nonprofit, individual, or agency to make nearly any type of request. If the Council makes a Finding of Public Benefit, the Mayor and Councilmembers then decide how much of their Council Expense Funds to allocate toward the request. This process opens the door for potentially improper use of public funds, and there is minimal oversight or transparency once the funds are distributed. In some instances, the funds are given to individuals without any audit or verification of how the funds are spent. Another issue is that there are no limits on how much a Councilmember can allocate in a fiscal year, particularly when they may be running for re-election. There have been instances where an incumbent has used up all the funds for a district, leaving a newly-elected Councilmember without any district funding for the remainder of the fiscal year.
Consideration of a Sponsorship Policy
Staff recommends that the Council adopt a Sponsorship Policy to replace the current Finding of Public Benefit donation practice. The Sponsorship Policy would allocate funds for each district, with guidelines and donation eligibility pre-approved by the Council upon adoption of the policy. This change would enable applicants to make direct requests to the Mayor and Councilmembers, eliminating the need for them to wait for Council meeting approvals. Furthermore, it would provide certainty to applicants, allowing them to request a specific amount and know exactly how much the donation will be once approved. Adopting the recommended policy will also reduce liability and claims of improper use. The policy will restrict applicants to non-profits in good standing with verified tax identification numbers. Additionally, it will ensure appropriate restrictions are in place to guarantee funding is available for the districts when a new person is elected. Under the policy, individuals will not be eligible for donations. By limiting donations to non-profits, the City creates an additional layer of assurance that funds will be appropriately used and tracked, as non-profits have tax reporting obligations and restrictions that prevent public funds from being used for political purposes, for example.
This stated, Staff recommends the adoption of the attached Resolution: adopting a City Council Expense Fund Allocations Policy which incorporates the Council expense reimbursement policy, regulations for use of expense fund allocation, and the Council sponsorship policy, and rescinds Resolution No. 2002-171.
As part of the adoption of this policy, the Mayor and Councilmembers have until November 30, 2025 to use their current capital improvement fund. Any unspent money after this date will be rolled into the City’s CIP Reserves.
The new Expense Fund Allocations Policy is effective upon adoption by the City Council and fully replaces the former Council Expense and Reimbursement Policy as well as the Finding of Public Benefit practice.
Prepared by:
Maritza Sosa-Nieves
Assistant to the City Manager
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment No. 1 – Resolution 2025-51, Adopting the City Council Expense Fund Allocations Policy, which incorporates the Council Expense Reimbursement Policy, regulations for use of expense fund allocation, and the Council Sponsorship Policy, and rescinding Resolution No. 2002-171 Attachment No. 2 - City Council Expense Fund Allocations Policy Resolution No. 2025-51 Adopting the City Council Expense Fund Allocations Policy