Oxnard attorney proposes ordinance to codify $25 candidate filing fee and permit refunds

Assistant City Attorney Jason Zaragoza told the Oxnard City Council that staff recommends the council introduce and waive further reading of an ordinance to add a section to the city code establishing a $25 candidate processing fee for filing nomination papers and to authorize refunds for candidates who paid that fee since 2018.

"Any such fee has to be proportionate to the cost of processing those nomination papers, cannot exceed $25 and must be established by ordinance," Zaragoza said. He told the council that in April the city adopted a resolution listing the $25 fee but that state law requires the fee be set by ordinance rather than by resolution.

Zaragoza said the city has collected $900 total from 36 candidates since 2018. Under the recommendation, the city clerk would be authorized to process refunds for candidates who paid the $25 fee, provided a written refund request is submitted to the city clerk within one year of the ordinance's effective date.

The presentation framed the proposed ordinance as a compliance measure: staff said the Elections Code expressly authorizes cities to impose a filing fee for processing nomination papers but that the fee must be adopted by ordinance and be proportionate to processing costs. Zaragoza offered the two specific recommendations—introduce and waive further reading of the ordinance and authorize clerical processing of refunds—and then took questions, according to the transcript.

No formal council vote or decision was recorded in the provided transcript excerpt.