In addition, the city will require employees to disclose any relationship they have with developers looking to do business in the city.

The ownership interest disclosure policy comes out of recent revelations that the city twice unknowingly admitted companies into the city that included James Dvorak, a felon convicted of bribery and income tax evasion in the 1980s.

"After further discussion with the U.S. Attorney's representative, it became clear to us that the best step to take to protect Des Plaines interests and reputation was to continue with the new efforts to require full disclosure of ownership, business, or personal relationships before entering into any contract," City Attorney Dave Wiltse said Monday in a statement.

City staff plan to attach a disclosure statement to each new developer's application packet, Wiltse said.

"The U.S. Attorney agreed this is a step in the right direction," Wiltse said.

City staff started discussing a separate city employee disclosure agreement three to four weeks ago, requiring employees to divulge all business and personal connections to incoming developers.

Wiltse said he is intentionally using a broad definition of "relationship," to encourage the most disclosure possible.

"We want people to err on the side of disclosure," Wiltse said.

He said he plans to recommend that city employees also divulge all relationships with developers currently in Des Plaines.

Des Plaines is modeling its policies after the City of Chicago's disclosure requirements.

Chicago's policy differs from Des Plaines' proposed policy in that Chicago city staff must disclose all of their business or financial interests up front, updating their disclosure forms on an annual basis. In addition, Chicago employees do not need to disclose personal relationships with developers applying for city projects.

"In no place do they tell employees they have to disclose [a connection] if someone is considering doing business with the city," said Jennifer Hoyle, public information officer for the Chicago Dept. of Law.

Only employees paid $66,300 or more are required to disclose their financial interests, which are defined as entitling the employee to more than $2500 per year, a cost or present value of $5,000 or more, or representing more than 10% of a corporation or business organization.

A Chicago city employee's failure to file the statement or truthfully disclose all financial interests could mean termination.