Commission adopts advisory opinion: auction proceeds to be disclosed as individual gifts on Form 9

The Florida Commission on Ethics adopted a formal advisory opinion clarifying how a reporting official should disclose monetary donations received as the proceeds of a charitable auction.

Staff described a factual scenario in which a property appraiser and family were injured in a vehicle accident and acquaintances set up an auction that raised approximately $101,590 to help offset the appraiser’s expenses. Staff advised the appraiser may accept proceeds so long as neither an item donor nor a winning bidder is a prohibited source (lobbyist, vendor, principal of a lobbyist, or political committee). Staff recommended treating the proceeds of each auctioned item as a separate gift valued at the winning bid amount and disclosing each gift on Form 9 with the description “cash,” the monetary value, and the name and address of the donor(s) and winning bidder, as required by Rule 34‑13.400(3), F.A.C.

Staff noted the particular facts here — an auction initiated without the appraiser’s request, spreadsheets listing donors and winning bidders, and six anonymous winning bids each below $100 — and said attaching the spreadsheets to Form 9 would satisfy the rule’s required information. Staff also recommended using the date the appraiser accepted funds from the auction account (not the auction date) for disclosure timing.

A member asked whether, after a reasonable inquiry, unnamed donors should be reported only as the winning bidder; staff replied that if donor information is unknown the form must so state. The commission adopted the draft opinion and authorized staff to make small edits to reflect that the appraiser had already accepted the funds.