Michigan Laws 15.707 – Financial disclosure report; required contents; blind trust exception; certification
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Terms Used In Michigan Laws 15.707
- Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Blind trust: means a qualified blind trust or qualified diversified trust as those terms are defined in 5 C. See Michigan Laws 15.703
- Charity: An agency, institution, or organization in existence and operating for the benefit of an indefinite number of persons and conducted for educational, religious, scientific, medical, or other beneficent purposes.
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Earned income: means salaries, wages, tips, bonuses, commissions, or other compensation or earnings from employment earned during the reporting period. See Michigan Laws 15.703
- Fair market value: The price at which an asset would change hands in a transaction between a willing, informed buyer and a willing, informed seller.
- Form: means the financial disclosure form created by the department in accordance with section 11. See Michigan Laws 15.703
- Lobbyist: means that term as defined in section 5 of 1978 PA 472, MCL 4. See Michigan Laws 15.703
- Lobbyist agent: means that term as defined in section 5 of 1978 PA 472, MCL 4. See Michigan Laws 15.703
- Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
- Public officer: means all of the following:
(i) A state representative. See Michigan Laws 15.703Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land. Report: means the financial disclosure report required under section 10 of article IV of the state constitution of 1963. See Michigan Laws 15.703 Reporting period: means the preceding calendar year. See Michigan Laws 15.703 Spouse: means an individual who is lawfully married to a public officer as described under 26 C. See Michigan Laws 15.703 state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, shall be construed to extend to and include the District of Columbia and the several territories belonging to the United States; and the words "United States" shall be construed to include the district and territories. See Michigan Laws 8.3o Trustee: A person or institution holding and administering property in trust. Unearned income: means income that is not earned from employment, including, but not limited to, financial prize, unemployment benefits, annuities, stock dividends, deferred compensation, pension, profit sharing, or retirement income. See Michigan Laws 15.703
(1) A report required under section 5 must include a complete statement of all of the following:
(a) The full name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address of the public officer.
(b) The name and address of the public officer’s employer and the positions held during the reporting period, if the public officer receives $1,000.00 or more in annual income from each position.
(c) The name of the spouse of the public officer, the occupation of the public officer’s spouse, and the name of the employer or employers of the public officer’s spouse.
(d) Whether the public officer’s spouse was registered as a lobbyist or lobbyist agent under 1978 PA 472, MCL 4.411 to 4.431, during the reporting period.
(e) A list of all positions currently held as an officer, director, trustee, partner, proprietor, representative, employee, or consultant of any organization, corporation, firm, partnership, or other business enterprise, nonprofit organization, labor organization, or educational or other institution other than this state. If this subdivision applies, the public officer shall include the name of the organization. For purposes of this subdivision, positions held in any religious, social, fraternal, or political entity, or positions that are solely of an honorary nature, are excluded.
(f) The source of earned income received during the reporting period by the public officer. For purposes of this subdivision, the public officer must report each source of income received during the reporting period that is $1,000.00 or more.
(g) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, a list of each asset, excluding a business asset, held for investment or production of income with a fair market value of $1,000.00 or more during the reporting period and any sources of unearned income that exceed $200.00 during the reporting period. The fair market value for the purpose of listing each asset, excluding a business asset, held for investment or production of income under this subdivision must be adjusted for inflation every 4 years using the Detroit Consumer Price Index, and rounded up to the nearest $1,000.00.
(h) A list of all liabilities that exceed $10,000.00 owed by the public officer to a creditor at any time during the reporting period.
(i) Except as otherwise provided in this subdivision, a list of any stocks, bonds, or other forms of securities held by the public officer or held jointly with the public officer’s spouse during the reporting period, if the security has a total aggregate fair market value of $1,000.00 or more. The fair market value for the purpose of listing stocks, bonds, or other forms of securities under this subdivision must be adjusted for inflation every 4 years using the Detroit Consumer Price Index, and rounded up to the nearest $1,000.00. For purposes of this act, a public officer is not required to disclose a stock in a widely held investment fund, including, but not limited to, a mutual fund, regulated investment company, pension or deferred compensation plan, or other investment fund, if both of the following apply:
(i) Either the fund is publicly traded or the assets of the fund are widely diversified.
(ii) The public officer or the public officer’s spouse does not exercise control over or have the ability to exercise control over the financial interests held by the fund.
(j) A list of any real property in which the public officer holds an ownership or other financial interest. For purposes of this subdivision, the public officer is required to include a real property in the report only if that real property has a fair market value of $1,000.00 or more during the reporting period. A public officer filing a report may exclude the street number of a parcel of real property under this subdivision.
(k) The date, identity of parties to, and general terms of any agreements or arrangements with respect to future employment, a leave of absence while serving as a public officer, continuation or deferral of payments by a former or current employer other than this state, or continuing participation in an employee welfare or benefit plan maintained by a former employer. As provided in section 8, there is an ongoing duty to report any agreement or arrangement entered into by a public officer after the filing deadline described in section 5(2).
(l) A list of all gifts received and reported by a lobbyist or lobbyist agent under state law.
(m) A list of all travel payments received and reported by a lobbyist or lobbyist agent under state law.
(n) A list of each payment made by a lobbyist or lobbyist agent to a charity in lieu of honoraria.
(o) If applicable, a statement indicating that the public officer or the public officer’s spouse is a registered vendor with this state, has a majority interest in a company that is a registered vendor with this state, or is employed by a company that is a registered vendor with this state. If the public officer or the public officer’s spouse is a registered vendor with this state or has a majority interest in a company that is a registered vendor with this state, the public officer shall include the name of the company and a description of all contracts entered into with this state by the public officer, public officer’s spouse, or company in which the public officer or public officer’s spouse has a majority interest during the reporting period. If the public officer or public officer’s spouse is employed by a company that is a registered vendor with this state, the public officer shall include the name of the company and a description of all contracts entered into with this state that the public officer or the public officer’s spouse worked on directly during the reporting period.
(2) A public officer is not required to disclose the value of any real property or property disclosed under subsection (1).
(3) If a public officer required to file a report under this section holds a beneficial interest in a blind trust, the public officer is not required to include the interests or assets of the blind trust in the report. However, the public officer must indicate in the public officer’s report that the public officer holds a beneficial interest in a blind trust. For purposes of this subsection, beneficial includes, but is not limited to, the interest in a trust of a qualified trust beneficiary or trust beneficiary as those terms are defined under section 7103 of the estates and protected individuals code, 1998 PA 386, MCL 700.7103.
(4) A report required under section 5 must include the following certification: “I certify that the statements I have made on this financial disclosure form are true, complete, and correct to the best of my knowledge and belief, and that I have not moved assets during the reporting period for the purpose of avoiding disclosure under the public officers financial disclosure act”.