The new ordinance will apply to the current City Council and mayor, who will have until Oct. 10 this year to report contributions and expenditures from when they took office through Sept. 30.

Currently, candidates for city office follow the state code regarding financial disclosures, which requires reports from candidates multiple times in an election year. State code allows for municipalities to create more strident campaign financial laws for their candidates and officials.

“This is just a way to be transparent and, kind of, in between those elections, allow the public to see what the contributions are,” Assistant City Attorney Gary McGinn told the Daily Herald on Wednesday.

Going forward, elected leaders will have to submit a disclosure by Aug. 1 each year that will include contributions and expenditures prior to June 15 of the previous reporting cycle.

Officials who fail to meet the deadline will have five business days to submit their report to the city recorder with a late fee of $50. After that, it’s considered an infraction with a continuing fee of $250 a week until the disclosure is made.

The ordinance originally would have imposed a single fine of up to $750 for noncompliance, but Mayor David Young proposed to make the fine $250 per week as an incentive to comply with the new regulation. The rest of the council agreed.

McGinn said other cities in Utah have also passed similar requirements, saying it wasn’t a new idea.

McGinn said he doesn’t know if elected officials receive many contributions while they aren’t campaigning, but he guessed that they don’t have many.

“I think the council is just trying to be as open and transparent with the public as possible,” he said.

This ordinance doesn’t change the requirements for elected officials if they are running for reelection, as they will be considered candidates. Any elected official who is running for office again will still have to follow the state statute on financial disclosures regarding candidates in a municipal election.

New transportation master plan

Also on Tuesday, City Council members discussed a new transportation master plan to update the current one from 2015.

Council members requested a few changes from the city, which led to approval of the plan being pushed back to a later date, likely the next council meeting.

The council asked city representatives to remove or amend a few proposed projects, such as overpasses on 800 South and 1200 North. The original master plan also included widening projects for 800 East and 800 West, but council members chose to remove the 800 East plan altogether and further study 800 West.

Council member Terry Peterson raised concerns about road widening projects, noting that doing so would require the city to buy out homes and displace families.

“I would be more interested in a pedestrian overpass on a major road in Orem where you can ride your bike over State Street or some other place than I would sticking an overpass on 12th North and taking out families,” he said during the meeting.

Council members also expressed the need to address safety for pedestrians and cyclists. This echoed concerns citizens brought forward during public comment Tuesday night regarding road safety and a lack of designated bike lanes in the city, particularly near schools.

The draft transportation plan also includes potential projects for increased public transit, including light rail and a bus rapid transit on State Street.