Aurora adopts ethics ordinance with $1,500 contractor-donation cap
Aurora City Council approved a comprehensive ethics ordinance on July 15, 2026, creating a $1,500 cap on campaign donations from businesses and other entities doing business with the city.
The ordinance also expands economic-interest disclosure requirements, regulates lobbyist donations and requires annual electronic filings by June 1. It affects local city officers, candidates, political committees and entities that do business with Aurora.
Campaign donations and lobbyists
Under the new ordinance, an entity doing business with Aurora may not make campaign donations above $1,500. The city describes the measure as regulating campaign-finance rules involving those entities, city officers, candidates and political committees.
The ordinance also regulates donations by lobbyists to city officers, candidates or committees. The approved source does not specify additional dollar limits or other details of those lobbyist-donation rules.
The council’s action is an adopted ordinance, not a proposed policy. However, the city’s announcement does not provide an effective date, so the available source does not establish when individual requirements take effect.
Broader financial-interest disclosures
The ordinance expands the information covered by economic-interest disclosures. Required disclosures include outside employment, political committee affiliation, real-estate assets, ownership in entities and membership in City-funded organizations.
It also covers gifts valued at more than $150. That amount is the reporting threshold identified in the city’s announcement; the source does not provide further detail about how the value of a gift is determined.
These disclosure provisions apply alongside the campaign-donation rules, making the ordinance relevant both to people seeking or holding local office and to organizations with business before the city.
Annual deadline and reporting penalties
Annual disclosures must be filed electronically by June 1. The ordinance provides for penalties when reporting is late, incomplete or false.
The next recurring compliance date identified by the city is therefore June 1 for annual electronic disclosures. The source does not identify the personnel responsible for enforcement or state the amount of any penalty.
The city also did not provide a City Council vote tally in its announcement. Nothing in the approved source indicates that the ordinance has been applied to a particular campaign or official, or whether its provisions apply retroactively.
Sources
- City Council Approves Ethics Ordinance, City of Aurora, Illinois
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