As Introduced* 1
123rd General Assembly 4
Regular Session H. B. No. 268 5
1999-2000 6
REPRESENTATIVES KREBS-BENDER-BOYD-DePIERO-EVANS-GARDNER- 8
GRENDELL-HAINES-HARTNETT-JOLIVETTE-JONES-MOTTLEY-O'BRIEN-OLMAN- 9
OPFER-PADGETT-PETERSON-PRINGLE-SULLIVAN-TAYLOR-TERWILLEGER- 11
VAN VYVEN
_________________________________________________________________ 12
A B I L L
To amend sections 5748.02 and 5748.03 of the Revised 14
Code to clarify that the ballot language 15
concerning renewal of a school district income
tax include a statement that the proposed tax is 16
a renewal.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO: 17
Section 1. That sections 5748.02 and 5748.03 of the 19
Revised Code be amended to read as follows: 20
Sec. 5748.02. (A) The board of education of any school 29
district, except a joint vocational school district, may declare, 31
by resolution, the necessity of raising annually a specified 32
amount of money for school district purposes. A copy of the 33
resolution shall be certified to the tax commissioner no later 34
than eighty-five days prior to the date of the election at which 35
the board intends to propose a levy under this section. Upon 36
receipt of the copy of the resolution, the tax commissioner shall 37
estimate both of the following:
(1) The property tax rate that would have to be imposed in 39
the current year by the district to produce an equivalent amount 40
of money; 41
(2) The income tax rate that would have had to have been 43
in effect for the current year to produce an equivalent amount of 44
money from a school district income tax. 45
2
Within ten days of receiving the copy of the board's 47
resolution, the commissioner shall prepare these estimates and 48
certify them to the board. Upon receipt of the certification, 49
the board may adopt a resolution proposing an income tax under 50
division (B) of this section at the estimated rate contained in 51
the certification rounded to the nearest one-fourth of one per 52
cent. The commissioner's certification applies only to the 53
board's proposal to levy an income tax at the election for which 54
the board requested the certification. If the board intends to 55
submit a proposal to levy an income tax at any other election, it 56
shall request another certification for that election in the 57
manner prescribed in this division. 58
(B)(1) Upon the receipt of a certification from the tax 60
commissioner under division (A) of this section, a majority of 61
the members of a board of education may adopt a resolution 62
proposing the levy of an annual tax for school district purposes 63
on the school district income of individuals and of estates. The 64
proposed levy may be for a continuing period of time or for a 65
specified number of years. The resolution shall set forth the 66
purpose for which the tax is to be imposed, the rate of the tax, 67
which shall be the rate set forth in the commissioner's 68
certification rounded to the nearest one-fourth of one per cent, 69
the number of years the tax will be levied or that it will be 70
levied for a continuing period of time, the date on which the tax 71
shall take effect, which shall be the first day of January of any 72
year following the year in which the question is submitted, and 73
the date of the election at which the proposal shall be submitted 74
to the electors of the district, which shall be on the date of a 75
primary, general, or special election the date of which is 76
consistent with section 3501.01 of the Revised Code. IF THE 78
BOARD OF EDUCATION CURRENTLY IMPOSES AN INCOME TAX PURSUANT TO 79
THIS CHAPTER THAT EXPIRES AT THE END OF THE YEAR IN WHICH A 80
QUESTION IS SUBMITTED UNDER THIS SECTION, THE BOARD MAY SPECIFY 81
IN THE RESOLUTION THAT THE PROPOSED TAX RENEWS THE EXPIRING TAX, 82
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AND IS NOT AN ADDITIONAL INCOME TAX.
(2) A board of education adopting a resolution under 84
division (B)(1) of this section proposing a school district 85
income tax for a continuing period of time and limited to the 86
purpose of current expenses may propose in that resolution to 87
reduce the rate or rates of one or more of the school district's 88
property taxes levied for a continuing period of time in excess 89
of the ten-mill limitation for the purpose of current expenses. 90
The reduction in the rate of a property tax may be any amount, 91
expressed in mills per one dollar in valuation, not exceeding the 92
rate at which the tax is authorized to be levied. The reduction 93
in the rate of a tax shall first take effect for the tax year 94
that includes the day on which the school district income tax 95
first takes effect, and shall continue for each tax year that 96
both the school district income tax and the property tax levy are 97
in effect. 98
In addition to the matters required to be set forth in the 100
resolution under division (B)(1) of this section, a resolution 101
containing a proposal to reduce the rate of one or more property 102
taxes shall state for each such tax the maximum rate at which it 103
currently may be levied and the maximum rate at which the tax 104
could be levied after the proposed reduction, expressed in mills 105
per one dollar in valuation, and that the tax is levied for a 106
continuing period of time. 107
If a board of education proposes to reduce the rate of one 109
or more property taxes under division (B)(2) of this section, the 110
board, when it makes the certification required under division 111
(A) of this section, shall designate the specific levy or levies 112
to be reduced, the maximum rate at which each levy currently is 113
authorized to be levied, and the rate by which each levy is 114
proposed to be reduced. The tax commissioner, when making the 115
certification to the board under division (A) of this section, 116
also shall certify the reduction in the total effective tax rate 117
for current expenses for each class of property that would have 118
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resulted if the proposed reduction in the rate or rates had been 119
in effect the previous tax year. As used in this paragraph, 120
"effective tax rate" has the same meaning as in section 323.08 of 121
the Revised Code. 122
(C) A resolution adopted under division (B) of this 124
section shall go into immediate effect upon its passage, and no 125
publication of the resolution shall be necessary other than that 126
provided for in the notice of election. Immediately after its 127
adoption and at least seventy-five days prior to the election at 128
which the question will appear on the ballot, a copy of the 129
resolution shall be certified to the board of elections of the 130
proper county, which shall submit the proposal to the electors on 131
the date specified in the resolution. The form of the ballot 132
shall be as provided in section 5748.03 of the Revised Code. 133
Publication of notice of the election shall be made in one or 134
more newspapers of general circulation in the county once a week 135
for four consecutive weeks. The notice shall contain the time 136
and place of the election and the question to be submitted to the 137
electors. The question covered by the resolution shall be 138
submitted as a separate proposition, but may be printed on the 139
same ballot with any other proposition submitted at the same 140
election, other than the election of officers. 141
(D) No board of education shall submit the question of a 143
tax on school district income to the electors of the district 144
more than twice in any calendar year. If a board submits the 145
question twice in any calendar year, one of the elections on the 146
question shall be held on the date of the general election. 147
Sec. 5748.03. The form of the ballot on a question 156
submitted to the electors under section 5748.02 of the Revised 157
Code shall be as follows: 158
"Shall an annual income tax of ....... (state the proposed 160
rate of tax) on the school district income of individuals and of 161
estates be imposed by ....... (state the name of the school 162
district), for ....... (state the number of years the tax would 163
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be levied, or that it would be levied for a continuing period of 164
time), beginning ....... (state the date the tax would first take 165
effect), for the purpose of ...... (state the purpose of the 166
tax)? 167
169
FOR THE TAX 170
171
AGAINST THE TAX 172
" 173
If the question submitted to electors PROPOSES TO RENEW AN 176
EXPIRING INCOME TAX, THE BALLOT SHALL BE MODIFIED BY ADDING THE 177
FOLLOWING LANGUAGE IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE NAME OF THE SCHOOL 178
DISTRICT THAT WOULD IMPOSE THE TAX: "TO RENEW AN INCOME TAX 179
EXPIRING AT THE END OF ........ (STATE THE LAST YEAR THE EXISTING 180
INCOME TAX MAY BE LEVIED)."
IF THE QUESTION includes a proposal under division (B)(2) 183
of section 5748.02 of the Revised Code to reduce the rate of one 184
or more school district property taxes, the ballot shall state 185
that the purpose of the school district income tax is for current 186
expenses, and the form of the ballot shall be modified by adding 187
the following language immediately after the statement of the 188
purpose of the proposed income tax: ", and shall the rate of an 189
existing tax on property, currently levied for the purpose of 190
current expenses at the rate of ....... mills, be REDUCED to 191
....... mills until any such time as the income tax is repealed." 192
In lieu of "for the tax" and "against the tax," the phrases "for 193
the issue" and "against the issue," respectively, shall be used. 194
If a board of education proposes a reduction in the rates of more 195
than one tax, the ballot language shall be modified accordingly 196
to express the rates at which those taxes currently are levied 197
and the rates to which the taxes will be reduced. 198
The board of elections shall certify the results of the 200
election to the board of education and to the tax commissioner. 201
If a majority of the electors voting on the question vote in 202
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favor of it, the income tax, the applicable provisions of Chapter 203
5747. of the Revised Code, and the reduction in the rate or rates 204
of existing property taxes if the question included such a 205
reduction shall take effect on the date specified in the 206
resolution. If the question approved by the voters includes a 207
reduction in the rate of a school district property tax, the 208
board of education shall not levy the tax at a rate greater than 209
the rate to which the tax is reduced, unless the school district 210
income tax is repealed in an election under section 5748.04 of 211
the Revised Code. 212
If the rate at which a property tax is levied and collected 214
is reduced pursuant to a question approved under this section, 215
the tax commissioner shall compute the percentage required to be 216
computed for that tax under division (D) of section 319.301 of 217
the Revised Code each year the rate is reduced as if the tax had 218
been levied in the preceding year at the rate at which it has 219
been reduced. If the rate of a property tax increases due to the 220
repeal of the school district income tax pursuant to section 221
5748.04 of the Revised Code, the tax commissioner, for the first 222
year for which the rate increases, shall compute the percentage 223
as if the tax in the preceding year had been levied at the rate 224
at which the tax was authorized to be levied prior to any rate 225
reduction. 226
Section 2. That existing sections 5748.02 and 5748.03 of 228
the Revised Code are hereby repealed. 229