Terms Used In South Carolina Code > Title 9 > Chapter 13 - Firemen's Pension Funds in Cities

• Annuity: A periodic (usually annual) payment of a fixed sum of money for either the life of the recipient or for a fixed number of years. A series of payments under a contract from an insurance company, a trust company, or an individual. Annuity payments are made at regular intervals over a period of more than one full year.
• Appropriate supervisory office: means :
  
  (a) the State Ethics Commission for all candidates for public office in this State except for members or staff, including staff elected to serve as officers of or candidates for the office of State Senator or State Representative;
  
  (b) the Senate Ethics Committee for members or staff, including staff elected to serve as officers, of or candidates for the office of State Senator, and the House of Representatives Ethics Committee for members or staff, including staff elected to serve as officers, of or candidates for the office of State Representative;
  
  (c) the State Ethics Commission for all committees, except legislative caucus committees, supporting or opposing a ballot measure or supporting or opposing a candidate;
  
  (d) the Senate Ethics Committee for all legislative caucus committees and legislative special interest caucuses affiliated with the Senate, the House of Representatives Ethics Committee for all legislative caucus committees and legislative special interest caucuses affiliated with the House of Representatives, and both ethics committees for all legislative caucus committees and legislative special interest caucuses affiliated with both houses. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
• Assets: (1) The property comprising the estate of a deceased person, or (2) the property in a trust account.
• Attachment: A procedure by which a person's property is seized to pay judgments levied by the court.
• Ballot measure: means a referendum, proposition, or measure submitted to voters for their approval. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Ballot measure committee: means :
  
  (a) an association, club, an organization, or a group of persons which, to influence the outcome of a ballot measure, receives contributions or makes expenditures in excess of two thousand five hundred dollars in the aggregate during an election cycle;
  
  (b) a person, other than an individual, who, to influence the outcome of a ballot measure, makes contributions aggregating at least fifty thousand dollars during an election cycle to or at the request of a ballot measure committee; or
  
  (c) a person, other than an individual, who, to influence the outcome of a ballot measure, makes independent expenditures aggregating two thousand five hundred dollars or more during an election cycle. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• 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}
• Bequest: Property gifted by will.
• Business: means a corporation, partnership, proprietorship, firm, an enterprise, a franchise, an association, organization, or a self-employed individual. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Candidate: means : (a) a person who seeks appointment, nomination for election, or election to a statewide or local office, or authorizes or knowingly permits the collection or disbursement of money for the promotion of his candidacy or election; (b) a person who is exploring whether or not to seek election at the state or local level; or (c) a person on whose behalf write-in votes are solicited if the person has knowledge of such solicitation. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Caucus: From the Algonquian Indian language, a caucus meant "to meet together." An informal organization of members of the legislature that exists to discuss issues of mutual concern and possibly to perform legislative research and policy planning for its members. There are regional, political or ideological, ethnic, and economic-based caucuses.
• Clerk of court: An officer appointed by the court to work with the chief judge in overseeing the court's administration, especially to assist in managing the flow of cases through the court and to maintain court records.
• Committee: includes a party committee, a legislative caucus committee, a noncandidate committee, or a committee that is not a campaign committee for a candidate but that is organized for the purpose of influencing an election. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• communication: means (i) any paid advertisement or purchased program time broadcast over television or radio; (ii) any paid message conveyed through telephone banks, direct mail, or electronic mail; or (iii) any paid advertisement that costs more than five thousand dollars that is conveyed through a communication medium other than those set forth in subsections (i) or (ii) of this paragraph. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Contract: A legal written agreement that becomes binding when signed.
• Contribution: means a gift, subscription, loan, guarantee upon which collection is made, forgiveness of a loan, an advance, in-kind contribution or expenditure, a deposit of money, or anything of value made to a candidate or committee to influence an election; or payment or compensation for the personal service of another person which is rendered for any purpose to a candidate or committee without charge, whether any of the above are made or offered directly or indirectly. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Coordinated with: means discussion or negotiation between a candidate or a candidate's agent and:
  
  (a) a person;
  
  (b) an agent of a person;
  
  (c) any other agent of a candidate; or
  
  (d) any combination of these concerning, but not limited to, a political communication's:
  
  (1) contents, including the specific wording of print, broadcast, or telephone communications; appearance of print or broadcast communications; the message or theme of print or broadcast communications;
  
  (2) timing, including the proximity to general or primary elections, proximity to other political communications, and proximity to other campaign events;
  
  (3) location, including the proximity to other political communications, or geographical targeting, or both;
  
  (4) mode, including the medium (phone, broadcast, print, etc. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Corporation: means an entity organized in the corporate form under federal law or the laws of any state. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• 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.
• Dependent: A person dependent for support upon another.
• Devise: To gift property by will.
• Donor: The person who makes a gift.
• Election: means :
  
  (a) a general, special, primary, or runoff election;
  
  (b) a convention or caucus of a political party held to nominate a candidate; or
  
  (c) the election of delegates to a constitutional convention for proposing amendments to the Constitution of the United States or the Constitution of this State. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Election cycle: means the period of a term of office beginning on the day after the general election for the office, up to and including the following general election for the same office, including a primary, special primary, or special election; however, the contribution limits under §§ 8-13-1314 and 8-13-1316 apply only to elections occurring on or after January 1, 1992, and are for each primary, runoff, or special election in which a candidate has opposition and for each general election. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Elective office: includes the office of probate judge. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Ex officio: Literally, by virtue of one's office.
• Expenditure: means a purchase, payment, loan, forgiveness of a loan, an advance, in-kind contribution or expenditure, a deposit, transfer of funds, gift of money, or anything of value for any purpose. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• 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.
• Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
• Gift: A voluntary transfer or conveyance of property without consideration, or for less than full and adequate consideration based on fair market value.
• Gift: means anything of value, including entertainment, food, beverage, travel, and lodging given for pay to a public official or public employee to the extent that consideration of equal or greater value is not received. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Immediate family: means :
  
  (a) a child residing in a candidate's, public official's, public member's, or public employee's household;
  
  (b) a spouse of a candidate, public official, public member, or public employee; or
  
  (c) an individual claimed by the candidate, public official, public member, or public employee or the candidate's, public official's, public member's, or public employee's spouse as a dependent for income tax purposes. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• In-kind contribution or expenditure: means goods or services which are provided to or by a person at no charge or for less than their fair market value. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Independent expenditure: means :
  
  (a) an expenditure made directly or indirectly by a person to advocate the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate or ballot measure; and
  
  (b) when taken as a whole and in context, the expenditure made by a person to influence the outcome of an elective office or ballot measure but which is not:
  
  (i) made to;
  
  (ii) controlled by;
  
  (iii) coordinated with;
  
  (iv) requested by; or
  
  (v) made upon consultation with a candidate or an agent of a candidate; or a committee or agent of a committee; or a ballot measure committee or an agent of a ballot measure committee. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Individual: means one human being. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Influence the outcome of an elective office: means :
  
  (a) expressly advocating the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate using words including or substantially similar to "vote for" "elect" "cast your ballot for" "Smith for Governor" "vote against" " defeat" or "reject";
  
  (b) communicating campaign slogans or individual words that, taken in context, have no other reasonable meaning other than to urge the election or defeat of a clearly identified candidate including or substantially similar to slogans or words such as "Smith's the One" "Jones 2000" "Smith/Jones" "Jones!" or "Smith-A man for the People!"; or
  
  (c) any communication made, not more than forty-five days before an election, which promotes or supports a candidate or attacks or opposes a candidate, regardless of whether the communication expressly advocates a vote for or against a candidate. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Injunction: An order of the court prohibiting (or compelling) the performance of a specific act to prevent irreparable damage or injury.
• Joint committee: Committees including membership from both houses of teh legislature. Joint committees are usually established with narrow jurisdictions and normally lack authority to report legislation.
• Lease: A contract transferring the use of property or occupancy of land, space, structures, or equipment in consideration of a payment (e.g., rent). ^{Source: OCC}
• Legislative caucus committee: means :
  
  (a) a committee of either house of the General Assembly controlled by the caucus of a political party or a caucus based upon racial or ethnic affinity, or gender; however, each house may establish only one committee for each political, racial, ethnic, or gender-based affinity;
  
  (b) a party or group of either house of the General Assembly based upon racial or ethnic affinity, or gender;
  
  (c) "legislative caucus committee" does not include a "legislative special interest caucus" as defined in § 2-17-10(21). See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Liabilities: The aggregate of all debts and other legal obligations of a particular person or legal entity.
• Loan: means a transfer of money, property, guarantee, or anything of value in exchange for an obligation, conditional or not, to repay in whole or in part. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Mortgage: The written agreement pledging property to a creditor as collateral for a loan.
• Noncandidate committee: means a committee that is not a campaign committee for a candidate but is organized to influence an election or to support or oppose a candidate or public official, which receives contributions or makes expenditures in excess of five hundred dollars in the aggregate during an election cycle. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Oath: A promise to tell the truth.
• Operation expenses: means expenditures for salaries and/or fringe benefits for part-time, full-time, temporary and/or contract employees; meeting expenses, travel, utilities, communications and/or communications equipment whether leased or purchased, printing or printing services, postage, food and/or beverage, advertising, consulting services, and/or any other expenditures which are not an authorized contribution to a candidate, committee, or ballot measure committee. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• 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.
• Party committee: means a committee established by a political party. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Person: means an individual, a proprietorship, firm, partnership, joint venture, joint stock company, syndicate, business trust, an estate, a company, committee, an association, a corporation, club, labor organization, or any other organization or group of persons acting in concert. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Personal property: All property that is not real property.
• Political party: means an association, a committee, or an organization which nominates a candidate whose name appears on the election ballot as the candidate of that association, committee, or organization. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Probate: Proving a will
• Public employee: means a person employed by the State, a county, a municipality, or a political subdivision thereof. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Public official: means an elected or appointed official of the State, a county, a municipality or a political subdivision thereof, including candidates for the office. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Real property: Land, and all immovable fixtures erected on, growing on, or affixed to the land.
• Statewide office: means an elective office other than a federal office eligible to be voted upon by all electors of the State. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Transfer: means the movement or exchange of funds or anything of value between committees and candidates except the disposition of surplus funds or material assets by a candidate to a party committee, as provided in this article. See South Carolina Code 8-13-1300
• Writ: A formal written command, issued from the court, requiring the performance of a specific act.