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Bond counsel tells Temple Terrace council public funds cannot be used to promote referendum; elected officials may speak personally
Summary
Bryant Miller Olive bond counsel advised council May 5 that a 2009 statute—amended in 2022—permits factual dissemination about a ballot question historically but now bars use of public funds to broadcast information about a referendum; council members may speak personally and staff may provide factual information in certain public-forum settings.
Christopher Row of Bryant Miller Olive, the city's bond counsel, briefed the Temple Terrace City Council on May 5 about legal limits on what the city may say about an upcoming general-obligation bond referendum.
Row explained that the earlier statute once allowed cities to transmit factual informational materials about referenda (for example, utility-bill stuffers or public-forum presentations) so long as the material did not include express advocacy. However, he said a 2022 amendment significantly narrowed the practice: “A city may not spend any public funds on communications sent to electors even if it's limited to factual information,” Row told council.
Row outlined permissible options: elected officials may speak individually in public or to constituents; staff can post factual information on the city website, respond to public requests, and present factual material in public forums or workshops, provided no public monies are used for mass advertising (for example, paid radio or television buys, or distributed mailers). He urged caution on phrasing and offered examples of “factual” claims versus advocacy.
Councilmembers asked where presentations to membership-only organizations (golf clubs, partisan clubs) fit; Row said these can be “public forums” when the audience is effectively the public and emphasized avoiding government-paid, broad-audience media buys that could be viewed as advocacy.
What happens next: Council members are free to speak as individuals; staff will plan public forums and factual posts in compliance with counsel's guidance and will consult counsel again for any public-communications plan tied to the referendum.
