A revamped gift-ban policy fueled more questions than answers Tuesday as Salt Lake County leaders waded through ethical gray areas.

The proposal, one of the first in a series of ethics reforms by the County Council, adds specific exemptions to the county's gift ban and lowers the gift limit to $20 from a $50 maximum.

But some council members are concerned those explicit instructions may impede their official duties and end up in rigid standards rather than any true ethical make-over.

"It's all nickel and dime stuff. I like to believe any elected official isn't going to be taken by nickels and dimes," Councilman Jim Bradley said. "I wonder if we're just kind of pretending that this is going to work."

One of Bradley's biggest concerns is the $20 limit on gifts that county officials could receive up to four times a year from any single entity. Anything larger than that would have to fall beneath a specifically identified exception, such as conventions for educational purposes or meals given at a widely attended reception where the official represents Salt Lake County.

That monetary limit, Bradley said, is just an arbitrary number that could put county officials in awkward and even offensive positions.

"I can go to lunch with a lobbyist but have to order a hamburger instead of a steak," Bradley said. "And I can take tickets to a game, but I have to sit in the end-zone instead of mid-field. Come on."

But Councilwoman Jenny Wilson, who headed the committee that crafted the proposed gift ban, said there are obvious gray areas in any ethics policy, but that the gift ban would at least create more solid boundaries.

Wilson also noted that she had purposely kept the $20 allowance and built in exceptions for work lunches, seminars and other work-related activities that would be impaired by a complete ban.

"Without those parameters would we, as the public, feel comfortable with the trips and gifts?" she said. "As much as I agree ethics is up to me, the parameters are really key."

As council members questioned the various loopholes to the gift ban — such as whether gifts related to non-county business were also banned and how to determine what defines a county-related trip — Councilman Mark Crockett advocated for an absolute ban to squelch any of those gray areas.

Any gifts, no matter how small, could result in favoritism or special attention by county officers that is inappropriate, he said. Instead, Crockett suggested council members should use discretionary funds to pay for lunches or trips rather than be "beholden to people."

"Even if it's just a token gesture, it's proven to have a disproportionate effect on a subconscious level whether we are going to respond," he said. "If someone hands you a free sample, you're more likely to buy the $5 pizza."