With the passage of a referendum in November 2014, the City of Tallahassee’s Charter was amended to include a seven-member independent Ethics Board and associated staff. The Ethics Board and independent Ethics Office provide the following services:

 

Enact an ethics or conflict of interest code with jurisdiction over the officers and employees of the City of Tallahassee.

• Assist the City Commission in the development of the ethics code.

• Adopt bylaws and due process procedures for the administration of the Ethics Board.

• Manage a citywide ethics hotline to receive allegations of local corruption and ethics violations.

• Manage and coordinate the mandatory training of local officials, officers, employees, and board members in state and local ethics requirements.

• Refer ethics and corruption matters to appropriate enforcement agencies.

• Recommend proposed ordinances, resolutions, or charter amendments to the City Commission in all areas of ethics and corruption, including but not limited to conflicts of interests, financial disclosure, voting conflicts, ethics hotline, policies, ethics education, ethics in procurement, campaign ethics and financing, and lobbying.

• Investigate complaints and levy civil penalties as may be authorized by the City Commission for violations of the City’s ethics code.

• Employ staff serving in the Ethics Office.

FY25

• In FY25, the Ethics Board will continue to provide outstanding services to the community at their current staffing level.

•There are no significant changes expected in the FY25 budget.

Click here to go to the Ethic's Office website.

 

Click here to return to the budget presentation.