To amend sections 133.20 and 307.041 of the Revised Code to require that the amount spent by counties on energy conservation measures be unlikely to exceed the amount saved in energy and operating costs over the average system life of the measures, and to require that financed measures be paid for within the lesser of their average system life or thirty years.
SECTION 1. That sections 133.20 and 307.041 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec. 133.20. (A) This section applies to bonds that are general obligation Chapter 133. securities. If the bonds are payable as to principal by provision for annual installments, the period of limitations on their last maturity, referred to as their maximum maturity, shall be measured from a date twelve months prior to the first date on which provision for payment of principal is made. If the bonds are payable as to principal by provision for semiannual installments, the period of limitations on their last maturity shall be measured from a date six months prior to the first date on which provision for payment of principal is made.
(B) Bonds issued for the following permanent improvements or for permanent improvements for the following purposes shall have maximum maturities not exceeding the number of years stated:
(1) Fifty years:
(a) The clearance and preparation of real property for redevelopment as an urban redevelopment project;
(b) Acquiring, constructing, widening, relocating, enlarging, extending, and improving a publicly owned railroad or line of railway or a light or heavy rail rapid transit system, including related bridges, overpasses, underpasses, and tunnels, but not including rolling stock or equipment;
(c) Pursuant to section 307.675 of the Revised Code, constructing or repairing a bridge using long life expectancy material for the bridge deck, and purchasing, installing, and maintaining any performance equipment to monitor the physical condition of a bridge so constructed or repaired. Additionally, the average maturity of the bonds shall not exceed the expected useful life of the bridge deck as determined by the county engineer under that section.
(2) Forty years:
(a) General waterworks or water system permanent improvements, including buildings, water mains, or other structures and facilities in connection therewith;
(b) Sewers or sewage treatment or disposal works or facilities, including fireproof buildings or other structures in connection therewith;
(c) Storm water drainage, surface water, and flood prevention facilities.
(3) Thirty-five years:
(a) An arena, a convention center, or a combination of an arena and convention center under section 307.695 of the Revised Code;
(b) Sports facilities.
(4) Thirty years:
(a) Municipal recreation, excluding recreational equipment;
(b) Urban redevelopment projects;
(c) Acquisition of real property;
(d) Street or alley lighting purposes or relocating overhead wires, cables, and appurtenant equipment underground.
(5) Twenty years: constructing, reconstructing, widening, opening, improving, grading, draining, paving, extending, or changing the line of roads, highways, expressways, freeways, streets, sidewalks, alleys, or curbs and gutters, and related bridges, viaducts, overpasses, underpasses, grade crossing eliminations, service and access highways, and tunnels.
(6) Fifteen years:
(a) Resurfacing roads, highways, streets, or alleys;
(b) Alarm, telegraph, or other communications systems for police or fire departments or other emergency services;
(c) Passenger buses used for mass transportation;
(d) Energy conservation measures as authorized by section 133.06 of the Revised Code.
(7) Ten years:
(a) Water meters;
(b) Fire department apparatus and equipment;
(c) Road rollers and other road construction and servicing vehicles;
(d) Furniture, equipment, and furnishings;
(e) Landscape planting and other site improvements;
(f) Playground, athletic, and recreational equipment and apparatus;
(g) Energy conservation measures as authorized by section
307.041, 505.264, or 717.02 of the Revised Code.
(8) Five years: New motor vehicles other than those described in any other division of this section and those for which provision is made in other provisions of the Revised Code.
(C) Bonds issued for any permanent improvements not within the categories set forth in division (B) of this section shall have maximum maturities of from five to thirty years as the fiscal officer estimates is the estimated life or period of usefulness of those permanent improvements. Bonds issued under section 133.51 of the Revised Code for purposes other than permanent improvements shall have the maturities, not to exceed forty years, that the taxing authority shall specify. Bonds issued for energy conservation measures under section 307.041 of the Revised Code shall have maximum maturities not exceeding the lesser of the average life of the energy conservation measures as detailed in the energy conservation report prepared under that section or thirty years.
(D) Securities issued under section 505.265 or 717.07 of the Revised Code shall mature not later than December 31, 2035.
(E) A securities issue for one purpose may include permanent improvements within two or more categories under divisions (B) and (C) of this section. The maximum maturity of such a bond issue shall not exceed the average number of years of life or period of usefulness of the permanent improvements as measured by the weighted average of the amounts expended or proposed to be expended for the categories of permanent improvements.
Sec. 307.041. (A) As used in this section, "energy
conservation measure" means an installation or modification of an
installation in, or remodeling of, an existing building, to
reduce
energy consumption. It "Energy conservation measure" includes the
following:
(1) Insulation of the building structure and of systems within the building;
(2) Storm windows and doors, multiglazed windows and doors, heat-absorbing or heat-reflective glazed and coated window and door systems, additional glazing, reductions in glass area, and other window and door system modifications that reduce energy consumption;
(3) Automatic energy control systems;
(4) Heating, ventilating, or air conditioning system modifications or replacements;
(5) Caulking and weatherstripping;
(6) Replacement or modification of lighting fixtures to increase the energy efficiency of the system without increasing the overall illumination of a facility, unless such an increase in illumination is necessary to conform to the applicable state or local building code for the proposed lighting system;
(7) Energy recovery systems;
(8) Cogeneration systems that produce steam or forms of energy such as heat, as well as electricity, for use primarily within a building or complex of buildings;
(9) Acquiring, constructing, furnishing, equipping, improving the site of, and otherwise improving a central utility plant to provide heating and cooling services to a building or buildings together with distribution piping and ancillary distribution controls, equipment, and related facilities from the central utility plant to the building or buildings;
(10) Any other modification, installation, or remodeling approved by the board of county commissioners as an energy conservation measure.
(B) For the purpose of evaluating county buildings for
energy
conservation measures, a county may contract with an
architect,
professional engineer, energy services company,
contractor, or
other person experienced in the design and
implementation of
energy conservation measures for a an energy conservation report
that
analyzes. The report shall include all of the following:
(1) Analyses of the buildings' energy needs and presents
recommendations
for building installations, modifications of
existing
installations, or building remodeling that would
significantly
reduce energy consumption in the buildings owned by
that county.
The report shall include estimates;
(2) Estimates of all costs of such those
installations, those
modifications, or that remodeling, including costs of
design,
engineering, installation, maintenance, and repairs, and
estimates;
(3) Estimates of the amounts by which energy consumption could be reduced;
(4) The interest rate used to estimate the costs of any energy conservation measures that are to be financed;
(5) The average system life of the energy conservation measures;
(6) Estimates of the likely savings that will result from the reduction in energy consumption over the average system life of the energy conservation measure, including the methods used to estimate the savings;
(7) A certification under the seal of a registered professional engineer that the energy conservation report uses reasonable methods of analysis and estimation.
(C)(1) A county desiring to implement energy conservation measures may proceed under either of the following methods:
(1)(a) Using a report or any part of a an energy conservation
report prepared under
division (B) of this section, advertise for
bids and, except as otherwise provided in this section, comply
with
sections 307.86 to 307.92 of the Revised Code;
(2)(b) Notwithstanding sections 307.86 to 307.92 of the
Revised Code, request proposals from at least three vendors for
the implementation of energy conservation measures. A request for
proposals shall require the installer that is awarded a contract
under division (C)(2)(b) of this section to prepare an energy
conservation report in accordance with division (B) of this
section. Prior to
sending any installer of energy conservation
measures a copy of
any such request for proposals, the county
shall advertise its intent to
request proposals for the
installation of energy conservation
measures in a newspaper of
general circulation in the county once
a week for two consecutive
weeks. The notice shall state that
the county intends to request
proposals for the installation of
energy conservation measures;
indicate the date, which shall be
at least ten days after the
second publication, on which the
request for proposals will be
mailed to installers of energy
conservation measures; and state
that any installer of energy
conservation measures interested in
receiving the request for
proposal proposals shall submit written
notice to the county not later than
noon of the day on which the
request for proposal proposals will be mailed.
(2)(a) Upon receiving the proposals bids under division
(C)(1)(a) of this section, the county shall analyze them
and
select the proposal or proposals lowest and best bid or bids most
likely to result in the
greatest energy savings considering the
cost of the project and
the county's ability to pay for the
improvements with current
revenues or by financing the
improvements. The
(b) Upon receiving proposals under division (C)(1)(b) of this section, the county shall analyze the proposals and the installers' qualifications and select the most qualified installer to prepare an energy conservation report in accordance with division (B) of this section. After receipt and review of the energy conservation report, the county may award a contract to the selected installer to install the energy conservation measures that are most likely to result in the greatest energy savings considering the cost of the project and the county's ability to pay for the improvements with current revenues or by financing the improvements.
(c) The awarding of a
contract to install energy conservation
measures under division
(C)(2)(a) or (b) of this section shall be
conditioned upon a finding by the
contracting authority that the
amount of money spent on the energy
savings conservation measures
is not likely to exceed the amount of money the
county would save
in energy and, operating, maintenance, and avoided capital costs
over ten years or
a lesser period as determined by the contracting
authority or, in
the case of contracts for cogeneration systems,
over five years
or a lesser period as determined by the
contracting authority average system life of the energy
conservation measures as specified in the energy conservation
report. In making such a finding, the contracting authority may
take into account increased costs due to inflation as shown in the
energy conservation report.
Nothing in this section division
prohibits a county from rejecting all
bids or proposals under
division (C)(1)(a) or (b) of this section or from selecting more
than one bid or proposal.
(D) A board of county commissioners may enter into an
installment payment contract for the purchase and installation of
energy conservation measures. Those provisions Provisions of such
installment payment contracts that deal with interest charges and
financing terms shall not be subject to the competitive bidding
requirements of section 307.86 of the Revised Code, and shall be
on the following terms:
(1) Not less than one-tenth a specified percentage, as
determined and approved by the board of county commissioners, of
the costs of the contract
shall be paid within two years from the
date of purchase.
(2) The remaining balance of the costs of the contract
shall
be paid within ten years from the date of purchase or, in
the case
of contracts for cogeneration systems, within five years
from the
lesser of the
date of purchase average system life of the energy
conservation
measures as specified in the energy conservation
report or thirty years.
Unless otherwise approved by a resolution of the board, an
installment payment contract entered into by a board of county
commissioners under this section shall require the board to
contract in accordance with section 307.86 of the Revised Code
for
the installation, modification, or remodeling of energy
conservation measures pursuant to this section.
(E) The board of county commissioners may issue the notes of
the county specifying
the terms of the a purchase of energy
conservation measures under this section and securing the any
deferred payments
provided for in division (D) of this section,.
The notes shall be payable at the times provided and
bearing bear
interest at a rate not exceeding the rate determined as
provided
in section 9.95 of the Revised Code. The notes may
contain an
option for prepayment and shall not be subject to
Chapter 133. of
the Revised Code. Revenues derived from local
taxes or otherwise,
for the purpose of conserving energy or for
defraying the current
operating expenses of the county, may be pledged and
applied to
the payment of interest and the retirement of such the
notes. The
notes may be sold at private sale or given to the
contractor under
the an installment payment contract authorized by
division (D) of
this section.
(F) Debt incurred under this section shall not be included in the calculation of the net indebtedness of a county under section 133.07 of the Revised Code.
SECTION 2. That existing sections 133.20 and 307.041 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
SECTION 3. The amendments to sections 133.20 and 307.041 of the Revised Code by this act apply to any proceedings commenced after the effective date of this act and, so far as the provisions thereof support the actions taken, to any proceedings pending or in progress on, or completed prior to, the effective date of this act. The authority provided by sections 133.20 and 307.041 of the Revised Code as amended by this act is supplemental to and not in derogation of any similar authority provided by, derived from, or implied by any law, the Constitution, or any charter, resolution, or ordinance, and no inference shall be drawn to negate the authority thereunder by reason of the express provisions contained in sections 133.20 and 307.041 of the Revised Code as amended by this act.