Doing Business Contributions - Frequently Asked Questions

Legislation enacted in 2007 called for restrictions on contributions from individuals who have business dealings with the city, and the creation of a database containing the names of those individuals and the entities with which they are associated. The Doing Business Database (“DBDB”) is available to the public, and campaigns can check whether their contributors are listed.

This law affects all candidates running for local office (mayor, public advocate, comptroller, borough president, and City Council member) because contributions from individuals listed in the database are subject to lower contribution limits. In addition, for participants in the Campaign Finance Program, these contributions are not eligible to be matched with public funds, nor do they count toward meeting the threshold to receive public funds.

The purpose is to reduce the potential for, and appearance of, corruption. Another term for "doing business" contributions is "pay-to-play," which suggests that those wanting to do business with the city could use, or could appear to be using, campaign contributions to get city business.

• Contracts
• Franchises
• Concessions
• Proposals to obtain contracts, franchises, and concession
• Lobbying
• Grants
• Pension fund investment contracts
• Economic development agreements
• Real property transactions
• Land use actions

The law covers the chief executive officer, the chief operating officer, and the chief financial officer (or their equivalents), anyone who owns or controls more than 10% of the entity, and senior managers. Lobbyists who are required to register with the City Clerk are also covered.

A senior manager is someone who, whether by title or duties, has high level supervisory capacity in which substantial discretion and oversight is exercised in business transactions with the city.

Contributions from anyone in the DBDB will not be matched with public funds. In addition, individuals in the database are subject to lower contribution limits, which vary by office:

Yes. In-kind contributions of goods or services are subject to the same contribution limits as monetary contributions.

No. A contribution must be valid for matching purposes to count toward the threshold.

As long as the political action committee registers with the CFB, it can make contributions to city candidates subject to the regular applicable contribution limits. However, political committees may not make contributions with money received from prohibited sources (corporations, partnerships, limited liability companies). As part of the CFB registration process, the political action committee must indicate that it agrees not to use money from prohibited sources to make contributions to city candidates.

A union that negotiates a collective bargaining agreement with the city on behalf of its members would not be in the DBDB, as those transactions are not covered by the current law. If a union is a registered lobbyist or enters into a real property transaction with the city, however, it would appear in the DBDB.

The law is not retroactive. If the person was not considered to be doing business at the time of the contribution, the campaign may keep the contribution, provided that keeping it doesn't violate any other part of the law.

An individual will not be considered doing business with the city merely because he or she: pays real estate, income, or business taxes or receives a refund or rebate; works for the city; pays into or receives a city pension; drives a city taxi; hires a lobbyist; seeks permits for his or her 1, 2, or 3 family home; applies for street permits, including parades, processionals, or street fairs; or other kinds of similar individual activities with the city.

Please keep in mind that someone may be in the DBDB as a result of a relationship that is not paid employment. If the contributor is in the DBDB in connection with any category of doing business except lobbying, s/he should contact the Doing Business Accountability Project of the Mayor's Office of Contract Services by calling 212-788-8104 or email at DoingBusiness@cityhall.nyc.gov. The request for removal form, including instructions, can be accessed here. These forms must be completed in their entirety and submitted to the Doing Business Accountability Project, not to the CFB. The CFB will be notified when a removal occurs. If the contributor is in the DBDB as a lobbyist and thinks that s/he should not be, s/he should contact the Office of the City Clerk at 212-699-8171

The contributor should contact the Doing Business Accountability Project at 212-788-8104 or DoingBusiness@cityhall.nyc.gov. Under very limited circumstances, waivers may be granted when it is determined “that it is in the best interests of the city.” Even if a waiver for the inclusion of all or some data is granted, the contributor is still doing business with the city, so any applicable contribution limits will still be in effect.

Once a campaign files its disclosure statement, the CFB will quickly notify it (within 20 days of the filing or within three business days when the filing is within the six weeks preceding the election) about any contributions found to be from individuals doing business with the city that exceed the applicable contribution limits. The campaign will then have 20 days to return the excess portion to the contributor. Failure to refund the over-the-limit portion of the contribution within 20 days following CFB notification will result in a reduction in the amount of public funds otherwise due and may result in the assessment of a penalty. Any contributions from doing business contributors, even those within the applicable limits, will not be matched with public funds and will not count toward the threshold.

Campaigns will only receive a notification if the CFB finds one or more contributions over the doing business limit during the review of the campaigns’ filings. Otherwise, campaigns will not receive a doing business notification.

The notification will consist of the Aggregate Contributions Over the Doing Business Office Limit report. This report will inform the campaign of each case where it received a contribution over the doing business limit, who the contributor in question is, how much the contribution was for, and how much must be refunded. Sometimes the report shows multiple smaller contributions that, when added together, exceed the limit.

The notification will also contain a message explaining the report and the response requirements, including the 20-day deadline.

No. The law requires the CFB to notify campaigns about exceeding the doing business limits on an expedited schedule, so campaigns will continue to receive regular statement reviews, separate and apart from the doing business notifications.

The CFB uses an automated system to identify potential matches of contributors to individuals in the DBDB based on names and dates. Each potential match is then individually assessed, using information about the contributor reported by the campaign and the information in the DBDB. If a match is unclear based on this data, the individual is researched further so that the CFB can be as certain as possible that the contributor is in the DBDB before a match is made.

If the campaign fails to provide sufficient information about a contributor for the CFB to form a conclusion about whether s/he matches a DBDB entity, the CFB will assume a match and the burden of proof will fall on the campaign. An example of this would be if John Smith is in the DBDB and a campaign reported John Smith as a contributor with no address or employment information. The CFB in this case would assume John Smith the contributor is the one doing business. If the campaign then reports additional information about John Smith, the CFB may then be able to determine that they are not the same person.

In the case of an undeclared candidate, the lowest doing business contribution limit, $250, is used for purposes of the doing business notification. The CFB will notify any undeclared campaigns of doing business contributions that exceed $250.

The CFB recommends that the campaign refund the over the limit contributions to $250 within twenty days of the notification. This saves the campaign from having to issue a further refund in the event the candidate chooses not to run for a higher office. However, campaigns can choose to refund to $400 without penalty, as long as they refund the additional overage within twenty days of declaring an office with a lower limit.

As with all refunds of prohibited contributions, the refund must be issued by bank or certified check. If the refund is issued using a check from the campaign’s account, the contributor might not deposit the check until after the deadline has passed, causing the prohibited funds to still be in the campaign's account at the time of the deadline.

You can provide the Board with proof by scanning the refund check and emailing the image to CFBDoingBusiness@NYCCFB.info, or by fax to 212-306-7143, or by mailing a copy of any refund checks to the CFB. Responses should be marked Attention: Doing Business.

If a campaign cannot find a contributor that has been identified by the CFB as doing business in the DBDB, it should contact the CFB. There are several possible reasons. The public interface of the DBDB only shows individuals who are currently in the database. If a contributor was in the DBDB at the time of his/her contribution but is no longer doing business at the time of notification, s/he will not appear in the public DBDB but is subject to the doing business limits because s/he was doing business at the time of the contribution.

In some cases, the campaign may look for contributors in the DBDB at the time of the contribution and not find them, only to be later notified by the CFB that they were doing business at the time. This may occur because the DBDB is updated once a month and always reflects data as of a closing date some days prior to the update. Occasionally, there are cases in which the contribution was made after the individual had begun doing business with the city, but before the monthly update to the DBDB occurred.

If a campaign believes a contributor has been incorrectly matched with a person in the DBDB, it must provide the CFB with proof that this is the case. The campaign can bring to the CFB's attention any other records or data that would indicate that the contributor is a different individual than the one in the DBDB. The more complete and accurate the campaign’s reporting is, the less likely a mismatch is to occur. The campaign could also send the CFB a signed statement from the contributor, asserting that s/he is not the individual in the DBDB and is not associated with the doing business entity in any capacity. Such a statement would only cause the CFB to reevaluate the match but cannot function as a request for removal.

Because people may be in the DBDB in connection with organizations which do not employ them, simply saying that the contributor has been reported with a different employer than the entity doing business with the city is not sufficient. An example of a possible mismatch is a case where two individuals have the same name but different suffixes (e.g., junior and senior) and are reported without the suffix in either the DBDB or the campaign’s reporting.

Campaigns are required to ask contributors who give contributions in amounts greater than the doing business limits to complete a Doing Business Contributor Form, either as part of their contribution cards or as a separate document, about whether they have business dealings with the city. Campaigns can also refer to the Doing Business Database as an additional resource to see whether their contributors are listed, but this does not fulfill the requirement that campaigns make this inquiry directly of their contributors.

Yes. The CFB’s sample contribution card includes space for the contributors to provide the required information regarding their doing business status, as well as detailed instructions about the doing business regulations.

If the campaign chooses to design its own contribution card, it must contain the phrase “If a contributor has business dealings with the city as defined in the Campaign Finance Act, such contributor may contribute only up to $250 for City Council, $320 for Borough President and $400 for Mayor, Comptroller or Public Advocate.” It must also include space for the contributor to provide information about its doing business status, as in the sample.

If the contribution is made by check and the campaign would not otherwise have the contributor complete a CFB contribution card, the Campaign should follow up with the contributor to attempt to obtain the required information from contributors whose contributions have exceeded the doing business limit. The campaign can send the contributor a form with only the doing business section and maintain a record of having sent it, and/or the campaign can send an e-mail or make a phone call. The campaign should keep records of all attempts to get the information from the contributor. The campaign is also advised to take advantage of the public DBDB to avoid accepting a contribution in excess of what is permitted from a doing business contributor.

No. There is no penalty if the contributor fails to provide this information, as long as an attempt was made to obtain it. However, campaigns are required to keep records of their attempts to obtain the information, including records of instances where contributors refused to fill out the form. These records should be dated and may consist of copies of letters sent, reports of phone calls, or any other record of contact between the campaign and the contributor on this subject. The CFB will review campaign attempts to obtain this information.

No. A campaign that is only accepting small contributions is not required to ask contributors whether they are doing business with the city.

However, a campaign only accepting small contributions might want to obtain the information, although each campaign needs to decide that for itself. For one thing, even small contributions will not be matchable if a contributor is in the DBDB, which could affect a campaign's calculations of whether it has met the threshold and how much public funds it expects to receive. For another, the doing business limits are aggregate limits, so multiple small contributions could add up and exceed the doing business limits. So, a campaign might find it useful to ask small contributors to complete these forms, because they provide direct information to the campaign that allows the campaign to plan accordingly.

Contracts, bids, or proposals for the procurement of goods or services, including contracts for the underwriting of New York City debt and the retention of any bond counsel, disclosure counsel, or underwriter's counsel in connection with the underwriting, which in total exceed $100,000, or for construction which in total exceed $500,000, are included. Contracts of $5,000 or less, publically-advertised competitive sealed bids, and emergency awards do not count towards the threshold.

Generally, the entity will be in the DBDB for the term of the contract plus one year. The individuals associated with the entity will be in the DBDB for the same period.

Generally, the entity will remain in the DBDB for one year from the date of the proposal or bid submission. However, if the entity receives the award, the entity then will generally be in the DBDB for the period of the contract, plus one year. Individuals associated with the entity will be in the DBDB for the same period.

Concessions or franchises (including bids and proposals for same) which in total exceed $100,000 are included. Franchises and concessions of $5,000 or less, and competitive sealed bids do not count towards the threshold.

Generally, the entity will be in the DBDB for the term of the concession plus one year. Individuals associated with the entity will be in the DBDB for the same period.

Generally, the entity will remain in the DBDB for one year from the commencement or renewal of the franchise. Individuals associated with the entity will be in the DBDB for the same period.

The lobbyist category includes any lobbyist who is required to register with the Office of the City Clerk, including placement agents. This category does not include an entity that hires a lobbyist.

Under an earlier law, contributions from the spouse, domestic partner, unemancipated children and employees of registered lobbyists are not eligible to be matched with public funds. These individuals are required to be listed on the lobbyist registration, but they are not included in the DBDB. They are not subject to the doing business contribution limits.

Grants from the city which in total exceed $100,000 are included. Grants of $5,000 or less do not count towards the threshold.

Generally, the entity will stay in the DBDB for one year after the grant is made. Individuals associated with the entity will be in the DBDB for the same period.

An economic development agreement offers financial incentives in return for the development, attraction or retention of business, including payments in lieu of taxes and tax incentives. Incentives qualified for by operation of law are excluded.

Generally the entity will remain in the DBDB from the application date to the agreement end, plus one year. Individuals associated with the entity will stay in the DBDB for the same period.

Any contract or proposal for the investment of pension funds including any investment in a private equity firm and any contract with an investment-related consultant is included. Merely paying into or receiving a city pension is not covered.

The entity will stay in the DBDB from the earlier of the presentation of investment opportunity or the submission of a proposal through the term of the transaction plus one year. Individuals associated with the entity will stay in the DBDB for the same period.

Any purchase, sale, or lease of real property with or by New York City, including office space, or any application or proposal for same is included. Any transaction awarded by public auction or competitive sealed bid is excluded. Certain transactions including affordable housing are also covered; for more information contact the Doing Business Accountability Project by calling 212-788-8104 or email at DoingBusiness@cityhall.nyc.gov.

Generally, entities involved in a real property transaction are covered starting at the time a proposal is submitted. Entities that are lessors of the city will remain in the DBDB until the term of the lease, plus one year. Lessees of the city or entities that buy or sell real property will remain in the DBDB for one year from the date the real property agreement is finalized. Individuals associated with the entity will remain in the DBDB for the same period.

Any land use application subject to Uniform Land Use Review Procedure (“ULURP”) and any application for zoning changes or a special permit are included. Applications for zoning changes involving owner-occupants of 1, 2, or 3 family homes are excluded. Special permits for street activity, such as parades or processionals are excluded.

Generally, an entity will be in the DBDB from the date of the certification of the application to the date the City Council files its action with the Mayor, plus 120 days. Individuals associated with the entity will remain in the DBDB for the same period.