The Law Requires:

F-1 filers must disclose:

  • Every public or private office, directorship, and position held as trustee, and
  • The name of any corporation, partnership, joint venture, association, union, or other entity in which is held any office, directorship, or any general partnership interest, or an ownership interest of ten percent or more; the name or title of that office, directorship, or partnership; the nature of ownership interest;
  • Payments made by the governmental unit in which the filer holds or seeks office to the business entities reported, and the purpose and actual amount of each payment;
  • The name of each governmental unit, corporation, partnership, joint venture, sole proprietorship, association, union, or other business or commercial entity from which the entities reported by the filer has received compensation in any form in the amount of $12,000 or more during the preceding twelve months and the consideration given or performed in exchange for the compensation. "Compensation" does not include payment for water and other utility services at rates approved by the Washington state utilities and transportation commission or the legislative authority of the public entity providing the service. With respect to any bank or commercial lending institution in which is held any office, directorship, partnership interest, or ownership interest, it shall only be necessary to report either the name, address, and occupation of every director and officer of the bank or commercial lending institution and the average monthly balance of each account held during the preceding twelve months by the bank or commercial lending institution from the governmental entity for which the individual is an official or candidate or professional staff member, or all interest paid by a borrower on loans from and all interest paid to a depositor by the bank or commercial lending institution if the interest exceeds $2,400.; and
  • A list, including legal or other sufficient descriptions as prescribed by the commission, of all real property in the state of Washington, the assessed valuation of which exceeds $24,000, in which a corporation, partnership, firm, enterprise, or other entity had a direct financial interest, in which corporation, partnership, firm, or enterprise a ten percent or greater ownership interest was held

RCW 42.17A.710(1)(d), (g), and (k).

Explanation:

The first step is to write down the names of every trusteeship held and of every corporation, limited liability company, business, partnership, limited partnership, limited liability partnership, club, labor union, association, government body and the like that you or your immediate family members were officers or directors of, general partners in, or had a 10% or more financial interest in, during the reporting period. You will have to complete an entry in the Business Owned or Other Relationships section for each name on your list.

When you're making your list, keep in mind that:

  • This disclosure requirement applies to both public and private entities, including "for profit" and "not for profit" organizations;
  • If you or a family member were an officer, director or trustee of an organization (entity), include it even if you did not have an ownership interest in it (see discussion of "corporate officer" below);
  • Membership in an organization does not trigger reporting unless you also held an office or had an ownership interest of 10% or more;
  • You will not include on your list an elected public office you held during the reporting period; however, you will include an elected office held by your spouse or registered domestic partner (or other immediate family member);
  • An elected official's service on a board or commission that is a legal requirement of office need not be separately reported, unless the official received compensation in excess of $2,400 from that board or commission, in which case the service would be reported on the F-1 under income.

Corporate Officer: Some corporations, including banks and other financial institutions, use various titles (particularly vice president) to denote managerial positions. These "titled" managers have no corporate officer status within the organization and do not need to be reported on the F-1.

A filer would only have to report as a corporate officer -- and disclose financial information about the corporation -- if he or she held one of the offices described in the corporation's bylaws. However, if the officer was excluded, by resolution of the board of directors or by the bylaws, from participation in the corporation's major policy making functions and the officer did not actually participate in these functions, then he or she does not have to report the corporation's activity.

Listed below are some of the more common entities for which you'll have to report:

  • Sole proprietor business
  • Limited liability company
  • General partnerships
  • Limited partnerships and limited liability partnerships
  • Corporations (if corporate officer, on board of directors or 10% or more owner)
  • Real estate partnerships (if officer, general partner or 10% or more owner)

Once you determine which entities you have a legal obligation to disclose information about, the discussion below will help you fill out the section.

Businesses owned

The initial information requested under Businesses owned is straightforward. You are asked to state:

  • Whether you, your spouse, or dependent (or a combination thereof) had the relationship with the entity that triggers this report;
  • The business' legal name (as found on legal documents establishing the entity business);
  • The business' operating or "doing business as" name if different from the legal name;
  • A description of the business
  • The address of the business

Affiliated government agency payments (no minimum)

List business payments received during the reporting period from the governmental unit in which you hold office. Include the actual amount paid. "Compensation" means payment in any form for any real or personal property or services. The following items are typically reported:

  • Retail goods and other supplies sold to government agencies
  • Goods sold through open competitive bids
  • Repair and maintenance contracts
  • Gasoline or fuel sales
  • Interest or service payments on bonds or loans,
  • Contracts, retainers
  • Temporary services
  • Insurance purchases by government unit
  • Commission payments received by entity because of sale of goods or services to government unit

Payments Received From Other Government Customers (>$12,000)

List any other government agency which made a payment of $12,000 or more to the business during the F-1 reporting period, and the purpose of the payment.

Payments Received From Business Customers (>$12,000)

Identify all business and government customers that, during the reporting period, paid $12,000 or more in the aggregate for services or products provided by the entity you're reporting about. Include the names of any government agency (other than the one in which you seek or hold office), corporation, partnership, joint venture, sole proprietorship, association, union or other business if they meet or exceed the $12,000 reporting threshold and a brief description of the service or product provided. The amount paid is not required to be listed in these sections.

Be sure to report the name and address of each business or government agency for which a service was rendered or to which a product was sold that resulted in a commission of $12,000 or more in the aggregate to the entity for which you are reporting.

Do not list payments received from individuals acting in a private rather than a business capacity. A doctor, for example, would not disclose the names of individual patients who paid his or her medical corporation $12,000 or more; nor would this doctor include the names of insurance companies paying on behalf of patients. He or she would, however, report the names of employers that paid fees for employee medical services and the names of hospitals that compensated the medical corporation. Similarly, lawyers, farmers and other business people would not list "individual" customers, but would disclose their business, corporate and government clients.

Do not include gifts or grants of $12,000 or more the entity may have received from a foundation, business or governmental agency. These charitable contributions do not constitute "compensation" and are not reportable.

 

Alternative Option for Banks and Other Lending Institutions

If you or a family member had an ownership interest in a bank or lending institution, or you were a director or corporate officer of one (see discussion of corporate officer above), the second paragraph of the statutory excerpt above applies to you.

Essentially, the law says that, for banks and other lending institutions, you don't have to supply a list of all major commercial or governmental customers.

Rather, you can do one of the following:

  • Provide the name, address and occupation of each officer or director of the institution as well as the average monthly balance of each account held during the previous year by the government body in which you hold office (whether elected or appointed) or for which you're running; OR
  • Provide the total amount of interest paid by each borrower who paid over $2,900 in interest and the total amount of interest paid to each depositor who received over $2,900 in interest during the previous year.

Washington Real Estate

If you or an immediate family member owned a 10% or more interest in the entity for which you're reporting and that entity in turn owned Washington real estate assessed at over $24,000, you need to disclose the property's street address. If there is no street address, show the assessor's parcel number, the abbreviated legal description included on property tax notices, or the complete legal description.

Examples of real estate that a business might own include:

  • Rental houses, apartment buildings
  • Store buildings, office buildings
  • Plant sites, warehouses
  • Farmland owned by family corporation
  • Property leased to others
  • Property on which the entity had an option to purchase
  • Mineral rights owned or held by the entity

If you were an officer or director of an entity, but did not own 10% or more of it or its stock, you are not required to list real estate owned by the entity.