But now, Salt Lake County leaders are poised to rewrite their campaign-finance disclosure rules, reversing a prohibition on cash from contractors, while establishing a $2,500 cap from all donors.

The new ordinance - the County Council will debate the changes today - is the brainchild of a bipartisan ethics committee established in January. If passed, it would wipe out the fundamental tenet of former-Acting Mayor Alan Dayton's ethics-reform package, adopted late last year.

"County officials have figured out that's where all the money is," Dayton said Monday. "They want to make sure it keeps flowing."

Dayton notes former Mayor Nancy Workman - and one council candidate - received single contributions as high as $10,000. His ethics plan marked the first time the county adopted a cap - $5,000 - on campaign contributions.

But council Democrats Joe Hatch and Jenny Wilson say the contractor ban is unworkable, and say the lower cap should eliminate undue influence.

"Make that a campaign issue and let the voters decide," said Hatch, who nonetheless worries that the limit does not include the loophole of in-kind contributions.

Mayor Peter Corroon isn't so certain.

"Politically, it could be dangerous to take that out," he said.

Still, Corroon agrees that defining "contractor" has proved difficult.

"Is it someone you buy a pizza from for lunch, or is it someone who has an actual written contract with the county?"

Ideally, the mayor says, contractors should be clearly defined and listed on the county Web site.

Wilson notes the committee toyed with lowering the cap to $1,000, but says there never was much debate about stripping Dayton's contractor ban.

"Alan had a good first step," she said, "but the administration of that is problematic."

Dayton worries the new crop of council members could be motivated by self-interest. "These rules are being promulgated by incumbents," he said. "Everybody should be skeptical of what they do."

Yet Wilson - an at-large member - is quick to say the rules set a uniform donor limit for both district and county-wide races. Before, at-large candidates could accept up to $5,000, while those in district seats had to settle for $2,000. District representatives Michael Jensen and David Wilde - both Republicans - pushed for the equal portions.

And in the interest of transparency, Wilson wants to move the date to disclose contributions closer to the election. Those filings, she says, could influence the electorate.

Even so, the county clerk worries a later deadline would be untenable.

Dayton also takes issue with a final provision: removing the requirement to submit campaign account bank statements.

"The whole idea of having a bank statement was to increase the transparency," he said. "It was there to prevent any shenanigans."

djensen@sltrib.com

Proposed ethics changes

Salt Lake County's latest batch of ethics proposals would:

* Eliminate the prohibition against contributions from county contractors, but lower the contribution cap per donor to $2,500.

* Add an exemption for political-party contributions to allow the use of campaign funds for charitable purposes.

* Remove the requirement to submit campaign-account bank

statements.

* Lower the contribution threshold for reporting donor occupation and employer to $200.

* Require campaign disclosure reports to be filed closer to the primary and general elections.

* Call for a complete recusal when elected leaders, employees and even volunteers have a financial interest or a restricted connection to county business.

* Restrict former county employees - elected officials excluded - for one year from lobbying the county for compensation.