All: The city I represent is wanting to provide Christmas monetary bonuses to its employees. I want to make sure they do it right. How are other cities doing this? Was this something that the City should have provided for and listed in its budget? Thanks in advance, Fera Terrell Terrell Law Firm, PLLC P.O. Box 268 Ponca City, OK 74602 580-749-4095 580-749-4098 Fax

Fera, There are some good pointers on Turkeys, Hams, and Holiday gifts in this article on the Raising the Bar website. https://okmunicipalattorneys.org/publication-articles/turkeys-hams-and-holiday-gifts Oklahoma law prohibits elected officials from receiving gifts or emoluments in excess of what they are to receive for the office to which they are elected. For employees, as quoted in the article, public funds can only be spent for a public purpose. It has been recommended that any gift or bonus be applied uniformly and considered as part of the compensation to employees for providing public service through the work in their public employee occupations. In pertinent part, the article states: “Municipal employees may receive a Christmas Bonus or a turkey/ham as compensation, but this is a matter of policy. A Christmas bonus or free turkey/ham is not a gift when they are used as payment in exchange for service to the public as a whole. The value of the compensation must be figured as income for reporting purposes under state and federal laws. For a non-cash item to be a true payment, it must be recorded as a real part of one's salary." I hope this information is helpful. Jeff Bryant OMAG’s COVID-19 Info Page: https://www.omag.org/covid19-faq Jeff H Bryant Director of Legal Services Associate General Counsel jbryant@omag.org<mailto:jbryant@omag.org> [OMAG Small Logo Smooth] 3650 S. Boulevard Edmond, Oklahoma 73013 Phone: 405-657-1419 Fax: 405-657-1401 www.omag.org<https://na01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.omag.org%2F&data=02%7C01%7Cksesock%40omag.org%7C7b0af7708d2145459d0008d5d005912d%7Cb13aadd514d84b918cf485be9d556ad7%7C1%7C0%7C636643644718063768&sdata=O5U4CEM0kJLxSbEQIcdB%2BtRnRqcj9gWhJquY26D8F1o%3D&reserved=0> From: Oama <oama-bounces@lists.imla.org> On Behalf Of Fera Terrell Sent: Monday, December 7, 2020 5:39 PM To: OAMA@lists.imla.org Subject: [Oama] Christmas Bonuses for city employees All: The city I represent is wanting to provide Christmas monetary bonuses to its employees. I want to make sure they do it right. How are other cities doing this? Was this something that the City should have provided for and listed in its budget? Thanks in advance, Fera Terrell Terrell Law Firm, PLLC P.O. Box 268 Ponca City, OK 74602 580-749-4095 580-749-4098 Fax

Thank you so much, Jeff! Sent from my iPhone > On Dec 7, 2020, at 8:52 PM, Jeff Bryant <jbryant@omag.org> wrote: > >  > Fera, > > There are some good pointers on Turkeys, Hams, and Holiday gifts in this article on the Raising the Bar website. https://okmunicipalattorneys.org/publication-articles/turkeys-hams-and-holiday-gifts > > Oklahoma law prohibits elected officials from receiving gifts or emoluments in excess of what they are to receive for the office to which they are elected. For employees, as quoted in the article, public funds can only be spent for a public purpose. It has been recommended that any gift or bonus be applied uniformly and considered as part of the compensation to employees for providing public service through the work in their public employee occupations. In pertinent part, the article states: > > “Municipal employees may receive a Christmas Bonus or a turkey/ham as compensation, but this is a matter of policy. A Christmas bonus or free turkey/ham is not a gift when they are used as payment in exchange for service to the public as a whole. The value of the compensation must be figured as income for reporting purposes under state and federal laws. For a non-cash item to be a true payment, it must be recorded as a real part of one's salary." > > I hope this information is helpful. > Jeff Bryant > > OMAG’s COVID-19 Info Page: https://www.omag.org/covid19-faq > > Jeff H Bryant > Director of Legal Services > Associate General Counsel > jbryant@omag.org > > <image001.png> > > 3650 S. Boulevard > Edmond, Oklahoma 73013 > Phone: 405-657-1419 > Fax: 405-657-1401 > www.omag.org > > > From: Oama <oama-bounces@lists.imla.org> On Behalf Of Fera Terrell > Sent: Monday, December 7, 2020 5:39 PM > To: OAMA@lists.imla.org > Subject: [Oama] Christmas Bonuses for city employees > > All: > > The city I represent is wanting to provide Christmas monetary bonuses to its employees. I want to make sure they do it right. How are other cities doing this? Was this something that the City should have provided for and listed in its budget? > > Thanks in advance, > > Fera Terrell > Terrell Law Firm, PLLC > P.O. Box 268 > Ponca City, OK 74602 > 580-749-4095 > 580-749-4098 Fax