New ‘official’ financial disclosure requirements suspended

Elected officials’ concerns about financial disclosure requirements can be quelled — for now.

Form 6 financial disclosure requirements approved in 2023 were suspended following a June 10 temporary injunction ordered by Judge Melissa Damian of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.

Senate Bill 774, which was signed into law in May 2023 and went into effect Jan. 1, requires municipal officials — mayors and city commissioners — to file annual Form 6 financial disclosure forms instead of simplified Form 1 disclosure forms.

Form 1 requires officials to disclose income sources, business interests, major debts and real estate holdings. The form does not require officials to provide specific amounts for income, debts and holdings.

Form 6 requires government officials to disclose their net worth, income sources and amounts, bank accounts and year-end balances, stock and investment accounts, as well as land and real estate holdings.

Form 6 also requires elected officials to disclose all assets worth more than $1,000, as well as a lump sum value of other household goods and personal effects.

Form 6 has long applied to other officials, such as the governor, state legislators and attorneys, as well as county commissioners, but its implementation on the municipal level has proven controversial.

Before SB 774 could take effect, it made an impact on island politics.

In Anna Maria, three of five applicants vying for two vacant city commission seats last December withdrew their candidacy due to their concerns with the new financial disclosure requirements.

Around the same time, Bradenton Beach City Commissioner Jake Spooner, a business owner and developer on AMI, resigned from the commission. He identified the Form 6 disclosure requirements as the primary reason for his departure.

SB 774 also sparked litigation led by Fort Lauderdale-based attorney Jamie Cole and his law firm, Weiss-Serota, with numerous elected officials from across Florida as plaintiffs.

Florida Commission on Ethics Chair Ashley Lukis and six other FCE members are listed as defendants.

The law firm filed a motion for a preliminary injunction in March that Damian found warranted in her June 10 ruling.

Holmes Beach city attorney Erica Augello told The Islander June 21 that Damian’s ruling found SB 774 violates officials’ First Amendment rights by compelling content-based speech.

“Case law heard in the past … says that disclosures are considered speech, and that if you’re going to regulate speech, you must do so within a certain framework,” Augello said. “They didn’t provide any analytical data or anything else to support the contention that the way it had been done with Form 1 over the last 40 years somehow needed to be changed.”

The temporary injunction prohibits the state from enforcing Form 6 requirements against municipal officials, less than a month before the financial disclosure forms were due on July 1.

So municipal officials must file Form 1 until the court changes its position or the Legislature changes the law and provides the necessary documentation needed to overcome a First Amendment challenge.

Those who have filed Form 6 cannot withdraw that information.

Anna Maria resident John Kolojeski, one of the three city commission applicants who withdrew due to Form 6, spoke with The Islander June 20 about the temporary injunction.

Kolojeski said that news of the injunction initially encouraged him to once more run for elected office since two city commission seats are up for grabs in November’s election.

However, he said his enthusiasm once more died down upon learning the Legislature’s errors were curable.

Kolojeski said he expected the same legislator who sponsored the bill to bring it back to the next session, so the threat remains.

“I don’t think it’s in the interest of voters to care about knowing the value of every candidate’s net worth down to $1,000 per item,” he added. “That can only help a thief!”

Anna Maria Commission Chair Mark Short told The Islander June 21 that he also opposes Form 6 requirements for local officials.

Short called them “intrusive” and said such requirements act as a deterrent for public participation in municipal governments.

“I just hope that the state comes to its senses and says, ‘You know what? At the local level, Form 1 is sufficient,’” Short said. “Leave it at that and move on.”