§ 14-208 — Audits and repayments

§ 14-208. Audits and repayments. 1. Audits. (a) The PCFB shall audit\nand examine all matters relating to the proper administration of this\ntitle and shall complete all such audits no later than one and one-half\nyears after the election in question. This deadline shall not apply in\ncases involving potential campaign-related fraud, knowing and willful\nviolations of this article, or criminal activity; provided, however, the\nPCFB may at any time audit any participating candidate for which it\nreceives credible reports involving potential campaign-related fraud,\nknowing and willful violations of this article, or criminal activity, if\nsuch reports are related to the receipt or use of program funds.\n (b) Every participating candidate for statewide office who receives\npublic funds as provided in this title, and every candidate for any\nother office who receives five hundred thousand dollars or greater in\npublic funds as provided in this title, shall be audited by the PCFB\nalong with all other candidates in each such race. Such audits shall be\ncompleted within one and one-half years of the election in question.\nParticipating candidates who do not receive public matching funds as\nprovided in this title shall not be audited by the PCFB pursuant to this\nparagraph.\n (c) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this subdivision, the PCFB\nshall select not more than one-third of all participating candidates in\ncovered elections for audit through a lottery which shall be completed\nwithin one year of the election in question. A separate lottery shall be\nconducted for each office. The PCFB shall select senate and assembly\ndistricts to be audited, auditing every candidate in each selected\ndistrict, while ensuring that the number of audited candidates within\nthose districts does not exceed fifty percent of all participating\ncandidates for the relevant office. The lottery for senate and assembly\nelections shall be weighted to increase the likelihood that a district\nfor the relevant office is audited based on how frequently it has not\nbeen selected for auditing during the past three election cycles. The\nPCFB shall promulgate rules concerning the method of weighting the\nsenate and assembly lotteries, including provisions for the first three\nelection cycles for each office. The names of candidates selected for an\naudit shall not be disclosed unless there is a declared finding of\nwrongdoing by the PCFB.\n (d) The cost of complying with a post-election audit shall be borne by\nthe candidate's authorized committee using public funds, private funds,\nor any combination of such funds. Candidates who run in any primary or\ngeneral election must maintain a reserve of three percent of the public\nfunds received to comply with the post-election audit.\n (e) The PCFB shall issue to each campaign audited a final audit report\nthat details its findings.\n 2. Repayments. (a) If the PCFB determines that any portion of the\npayment made to a candidate's authorized committee from the fund was in\nexcess of the aggregate amount of payments that such candidate was\neligible to receive pursuant to this title, it shall notify such\ncommittee and such committee shall pay to the PCFB an amount equal to\nthe amount of excess payments. Such committee shall first utilize the\nsurplus for repayment of such sums and then such other funds as it may\nhave. Provided, however, that if the erroneous payment was the result of\nan error by the PCFB, then the erroneous payment will be deducted from\nany future payment, if any, and if no future payment is to be made then\nneither the candidate nor the committee shall be liable to repay the\nexcess amount to the PCFB. The candidate and the candidate's authorized\ncommittee are jointly and severally liable for any repayments to the\nPCFB.\n (b) If the PCFB determines that any portion of the payment made to a\ncandidate's authorized committee from the fund was used for purposes\nother than qualified campaign expenditures and such expenditures were\nnot approved by the PCFB, it shall notify such committee of the amount\nso disqualified and such committee shall pay to the PCFB an amount equal\nto such disqualified amount. The candidate, the treasurer, and the\ncandidate's authorized committee are jointly and severally liable for\nany repayments to the PCFB.\n (c) If at the end of an election cycle or following a special\nelection, surplus funds remain in a participating candidate's authorized\ncommittee after all liabilities for qualified campaign expenditures for\nsuch election cycle or special election have been paid, such candidate\nand committee shall pay to the fund an amount equal to the surplus, as\ndefined in subdivision nineteen of section 14-200-a of this title;\nprovided, however, such candidate may retain an amount of such surplus\nthat does not include any public matching funds to the extent such\namount does not exceed fifty thousand dollars. No public matching funds\nshall be eligible to be retained. The surplus repayment shall in no\nevent exceed the total amount of public matching funds received. Any\nfunds raised during any previous election cycle, as described in\nsubparagraph (iii) of paragraph (i) of subdivision one of section 14-203\nof this title, shall be excluded from the calculation of surplus funds\nrequired by this paragraph and shall not count toward the fifty thousand\ndollar limit permitted by this paragraph, and such funds may continue to\nbe retained. Participating candidates shall make such surplus payment\nnot later than twenty-seven days after all liabilities for the election\nhave been paid and in any event, not later than the day on which the\nPCFB issues its final audit report for the participating candidate's\nauthorized committee; provided, however, that all unspent public\ncampaign funds for a participating candidate shall be immediately due\nand payable to the PCFB upon a determination by the PCFB that the\nparticipant has delayed the post-election audit. A participating\ncandidate may make post-election expenditures with public funds only for\nroutine activities involving nominal costs associated with winding up a\ncampaign and responding to the post-election audit. Nothing in this\ntitle shall be construed to prevent a candidate or their authorized\ncommittee from using campaign contributions received from private\ncontributors for otherwise lawful expenditures. Any amounts retained\npursuant to this paragraph in such authorized committee after the\npayment required by this paragraph has been made, may be used for any\nlawful purpose.\n (d) Candidates shall have thirty days to cure any violations\nidentified by the PCFB in its post-election audit before there may be\nany declared findings of wrongdoing.\n 3. Rules and regulations. (a) The PCFB shall promulgate regulations\nfor the certification of the amount of funds payable by the comptroller\nfrom the fund established pursuant to section ninety-two-t of the state\nfinance law, to a participating candidate that has qualified to receive\nsuch payment. These regulations shall include the promulgation and\ndistribution of forms on which contributions and expenditures are to be\nreported, the periods during which such reports must be filed, and the\nverification required. The PCFB shall institute procedures which will\nmake possible payment by the fund within four business days after\nreceipt of the required forms and verifications.\n (b) All rules and regulations promulgated pursuant to this\nrecommendation shall be promulgated pursuant to the state administrative\nprocedure act. The PCFB's determinations pursuant to such regulations\nand these recommendations shall be deemed final.\n