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As Reported by the House Agriculture and
Natural Resources Committee*
122nd General Assembly
Regular Session
1997-1998 | Sub. H. B. No. 117 |
REPRESENTATIVES TERWILLEGER-BRADING-FOX-OPFER-OGG-VESPER-
BUCHY-HARRIS-METZGER-HAINES-HOUSEHOLDER-WESTON-PADGETT
A BILL
To amend sections 1711.081, 1711.15, 1711.16, 1711.17, and 5705.19 of the
Revised
Code to remove the requirement that, in certain counties
in which there exists a county agricultural society
or an independent agricultural society and in which the board of county
commissioners appropriates more than fifty thousand dollars to be expended in
one year for
certain expenses
related to fairs, the question of a tax levy be put on the ballot in the
county before the expenditure can be made, and to authorize the board of any
county to put on the ballot the question of a tax levy for purchasing,
maintaining, or improving real estate on which to hold fairs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 1711.081, 1711.15, 1711.16, 1711.17, and 5705.19 of
the Revised Code be
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 1711.081. The positions of members of the board of directors, officers,
and employees of a county or independent agricultural society are not public
offices, and persons holding such THOSE positions are eligible
to hold any public
office except for the office of county commissioner. A member of the
county
budget commission is eligible to be a member of the board of directors of a
county or independent agricultural society unless a tax is
levied in the county pursuant to section 1711.15 or 1711.17 of the
Revised Code.
Sec. 1711.15. In any county in which there is a duly
organized county agricultural society, the board of county
commissioners may purchase or lease, for a term of not less than
twenty years, real estate on which to hold fairs under the
management and control of the county agricultural society, and
may erect thereon suitable buildings and otherwise improve it.
In counties in which there is a county agricultural society
which THAT has purchased, or leased, for a term of not less than
twenty years, real estate as a site on which to hold fairs or in
which the title to such THE site is vested in fee in the county,
the board may erect or repair buildings or otherwise improve such
THE site and pay the rental thereof, or contribute to or pay any
other form of indebtedness of the society, if the director of
agriculture has certified to the board that the county
agricultural society is complying with all laws and rules
governing the operation of county agricultural societies. The
board may appropriate from the general fund such an ANY amount
as THAT it deems CONSIDERS necessary for any of
those purposes. If the amount
appropriated to be expended in the purchase of such real estate
or in the erection of buildings or other improvements or payments
of rent or other forms of indebtedness of the society exceeds
fifty thousand dollars in any one year, such expenditure shall
not be made unless the question of a levy of the tax therefor is
submitted to the qualified electors of the county at a general
election, a notice of which, specifying the amount to be levied,
has been given at least thirty days previous to such election.
This notice shall be given either by publishing it in one or more
newspapers published and of general circulation in the county, or
by mailing or otherwise distributing it to each elector in the
county as far as is reasonably possible. The board shall pass a
resolution authorizing the submission of the question to the
electors and certify their action to the board of elections of
the county which shall prepare and furnish the necessary ballots
and other supplies. Such certification shall be made to the
board of elections not later than four p.m. of the seventy-fifth
day before the day of election. The form of the ballots cast at
such election shall be:
"Agricultural tax--Yes."
"Agricultural tax--No."
If the majority of the vote cast is in favor of such tax,
it may be levied and collected as other taxes.
The requirement that the question of a tax levy be
submitted to the electors shall not apply where the funds to be
expended have been received as reparation for damage to the
fairground caused by use thereof for military purposes, or as
insurance proceeds received in payment for property damaged or
destroyed by fire or any other cause.
Sec. 1711.16. When the control and management of a fairground is in a county
agricultural society, and the board of county commissioners has appropriated
an amount or levied a tax for the aid of such THE society
as provided in section
1711.15 of the Revised Code, the society, with the consent of the board, may
contract for the erection or repair of buildings or otherwise improve said
site THE FAIRGROUND, to the extent that the payment for said
THE improvement is provided by said THE board.
When such THE appropriation is made by the board or when such
tax is collected by the county treasurer, the county auditor shall place
the proceeds in a special
fund, designated the "county agricultural society fund," indicating the
purpose for which it is available, and on. ON
application of the treasurer of the society, said THE auditor
shall issue his AN order for the amount of such
THE appropriation or tax to said THE treasurer of
the society, if the society has
secured the certificate required under section 1711.05 of the Revised Code, on
said THE treasurer's filing with said THE auditor
a bond in double the amount
collected, with good and sufficient sureties approved by said
THE auditor,
conditioned for the satisfactory paying over and accounting of such
THE funds for
the purposes for which they were provided. Said THE funds shall
remain in the
special fund in which they are placed by said THE auditor until
they are applied
or by the treasurer of the society and such THE bond is given,
or until they are
expended by the board for the purposes for which said THE fund
was created. If such THE society ceases to exist or releases
said THE fund as not required for the
purposes for which the fund was created, the board may by resolution transfer
said THE fund to the general fund of the county.
Sec. 1711.17. In any counties in which there is a duly
organized independent agricultural society, the respective boards
of county commissioners may purchase or lease jointly, for a term
of not less than twenty years, real estate on which to hold fairs
under the management and control of the society, and may erect
suitable buildings and otherwise improve the property, and pay
the rental thereof, or contribute to or pay any other form of
indebtedness of the society, if the director of agriculture has
certified to the board that the independent agricultural society
is complying with all laws and rules governing the operation of
county agricultural societies. The boards may appropriate from
their respective general funds such an amount as they consider
necessary for any of those purposes. If the total amount
appropriated from one or more boards of county commissioners for
the joint purchase of such real estate, for the erection of
buildings or other improvements, or for the payment of rent or
other forms of indebtedness of the society exceeds fifty thousand
dollars in any one year, such expenditure shall not be made
unless the question of a levy of a tax for that purpose is
submitted to the qualified electors of the counties at a general
election, a notice of which, specifying the amount to be levied,
has been given at least thirty days previous to such election, in
one or more newspapers published and of general circulation in
the counties. The boards shall pass resolutions authorizing the
submission of the question to the electors and certify their
action to the boards of elections of the counties, which shall
prepare and furnish the necessary ballots and other supplies.
Such certification shall be made to the board of elections not
later than four p.m. of the seventy-fifth day before the day of
the election. The form of the ballots cast at such election
shall be as follows: "Shall the board of commissioners of
.......... County be authorized to levy a tax for the benefit of
the .......... independent agricultural society for the purpose
of ........ (here state the purpose of the tax), at a rate not
exceeding .......... mills for each one dollar of valuation,
which amounts to .......... dollars for each one hundred dollars
of valuation, for .......... (here state the number of years the
tax will be levied)?
______________________________________
For the tax levy
______________________________________
Against the tax levy
______________________________________ "
If the majority of the votes cast is in favor of such tax
in each county, it may be levied and collected as other taxes.
Sec. 5705.19. This section does not apply to school
districts or county school financing districts.
The taxing authority of any subdivision at any time and in
any year, by vote of two-thirds of all the members of the taxing
authority, may declare by resolution and certify the resolution
to the board of elections not less than seventy-five days before
the election upon which it will be voted that the amount of taxes
that may be raised within the ten-mill limitation will be
insufficient to provide for the necessary requirements of the
subdivision and that it is necessary to levy a tax in excess of
that limitation for any of the following purposes:
(A) For current expenses of the subdivision, except that
the total levy for current expenses of a detention home district
or district organized under section 2151.65 of the Revised Code
shall not exceed two mills and that the total levy for current
expenses of a combined district organized under sections 2151.34
and 2151.65 of the Revised Code shall not exceed four mills;
(B) For the payment of debt charges on certain described
bonds, notes, or certificates of indebtedness of the subdivision
issued subsequent to January 1, 1925;
(C) For the debt charges on all bonds, notes, and
certificates of indebtedness issued and authorized to be issued
prior to January 1, 1925;
(D) For a public library of, or supported by, the
subdivision under whatever law organized or authorized to be
supported;
(E) For a municipal university, not to exceed two mills
over the limitation of one mill prescribed in section 3349.13 of
the Revised Code;
(F) For the construction or acquisition of any specific
permanent improvement or class of improvements that the taxing
authority of the subdivision may include in a single bond issue;
(G) For the general construction, reconstruction,
resurfacing, and repair of streets, roads, and bridges in
municipal corporations, counties, or townships;
(H) For recreational purposes;
(I) For the purpose of providing and maintaining fire
apparatus, appliances, buildings, or sites therefor, or sources
of water supply and materials therefor, or the establishment and
maintenance of lines of fire alarm telegraph, or the payment of
permanent, part-time, or volunteer fire fighters or fire-fighting
companies to operate the same, including the payment of the
firemen employer's contribution required under section 742.34 of
the Revised Code, or to purchase ambulance equipment, or to
provide ambulance, paramedic, or other emergency medical services
operated by a fire department or fire-fighting company;
(J) For the purpose of providing and maintaining motor
vehicles, communications, and other equipment used directly in
the operation of a police department, or the payment of salaries
of permanent police personnel, including the payment of the
policemen POLICE employer's contribution required under section
742.33
of the Revised Code, or the payment of the costs incurred by
townships as a result of contracts made with other political
subdivisions in order to obtain police protection, or to provide
ambulance or emergency medical services operated by a police
department;
(K) For the maintenance and operation of a county home;
(L) For community mental retardation and developmental
disabilities programs and services pursuant to Chapter 5126. of
the Revised Code, except that the procedure for such levies shall
be as provided in section 5705.222 of the Revised Code;
(M) For regional planning;
(N) For a county's share of the cost of maintaining and
operating schools, district detention homes, forestry camps, or
other facilities, or any combination thereof established under
section 2151.34 or 2151.65 of the Revised Code or both of those
sections;
(O) For providing for flood defense, providing and
maintaining a flood wall or pumps, and other purposes to prevent
floods;
(P) For maintaining and operating sewage disposal plants
and facilities;
(Q) For the purpose of purchasing, acquiring,
constructing, enlarging, improving, equipping, repairing,
maintaining, or operating, or any combination of the foregoing, a
county transit system pursuant to sections 306.01 to 306.13 of
the Revised Code, or to make any payment to a board of county commissioners
operating a transit system or a county transit
board pursuant to section 306.06 of the Revised Code;
(R) For the subdivision's share of the cost of acquiring
or constructing any schools, forestry camps, detention homes, or
other facilities, or any combination thereof under section
2151.34 or 2151.65 of the Revised Code or both of those sections;
(S) For the prevention, control, and abatement of air
pollution;
(T) For maintaining and operating cemeteries;
(U) For providing ambulance service, emergency medical
service, or both;
(V) For providing for the collection and disposal of
garbage or refuse;
(W) For the payment of the policemen POLICE employer's
contribution or the firemen FIREFIGHTERS employer's contribution
required
under sections 742.33 and 742.34 of the Revised Code;
(X) For the construction and maintenance of a drainage
improvement pursuant to section 6131.52 of the Revised Code;
(Y) For providing or maintaining senior citizens services
or facilities as authorized by section 307.694, 307.85, 505.70,
505.706, or division (EE) of section 717.01 of the Revised Code;
(Z) For the provision and maintenance of zoological park
services and facilities as authorized under section 307.76 of the
Revised Code;
(AA) For the maintenance and operation of a free public
museum of art, science, or history;
(BB) For the establishment and operation of a 9-1-1
system, as defined in section 4931.40 of the Revised Code;
(CC) For the purpose of acquiring, rehabilitating, or
developing rail property or rail service. As used in this
division, "rail property" and "rail service" have the same
meanings as in section 4981.01 of the Revised Code. This
division applies only to a county, township, or municipal
corporation.
(DD) For the purpose of acquiring property for,
constructing, operating, and maintaining community centers as
provided for in section 755.16 of the Revised Code;
(EE) For the creation and operation of an office or joint
office of economic development, for any economic development
purpose of the office, and to otherwise provide for the
establishment and operation of a program of economic development
pursuant to sections 307.07 and 307.64 of the Revised Code;
(FF) For the purpose of acquiring, establishing,
constructing, improving, equipping, maintaining, or operating, or
any combination of the foregoing, a township airport, landing
field, or other air navigation facility pursuant to section
505.15 of the Revised Code;
(GG) For the payment of costs incurred by a township as a
result of a contract made with a county pursuant to section
505.263 of the Revised Code in order to pay all or any part of
the cost of constructing, maintaining, repairing, or operating a
water supply improvement;
(HH) For a board of township trustees to acquire, other
than by appropriation, an ownership interest in land, water, or
wetlands, or to restore or maintain land, water, or wetlands in
which the board has such an interest, not for purposes of
recreation, but for the purposes of protecting and preserving the
natural, scenic, open, or wooded condition of the land, water, or
wetlands against modification or encroachment resulting from
occupation, development, or other use;
(II) For the support by a county of a crime victim
assistance program that is provided and maintained by a county
agency or a private, nonprofit corporation or association under
section 307.62 of the Revised Code;
(JJ) For any or all of the purposes set forth in division
(I) or (J) of this section. This division applies only to a
township.
(KK) For a countywide public safety communications system
under section 307.63 of the Revised Code. This division applies
only to counties.
(LL) For the support by a county of criminal justice
services under section 307.45 of the Revised Code;
(MM) For the purpose of maintaining and operating a jail
or other detention facility as defined in section 2921.01 of the
Revised Code;
(NN) FOR PURCHASING, MAINTAINING, OR IMPROVING, OR ANY
COMBINATION OF THE FOREGOING, REAL ESTATE ON WHICH TO HOLD AGRICULTURAL FAIRS.
THIS DIVISION APPLIES ONLY TO A COUNTY.
The resolution shall be confined to the purpose or purposes
described in one division of this section, for which the revenue
derived therefrom shall be applied. The existence in any other
division of this section of authority to levy a tax for any part
or all of the same purpose or purposes does not preclude the use
of such revenues for any part of the purpose or purposes of the
division under which the resolution is adopted.
The resolution shall specify the amount of the increase in
rate that it is necessary to levy, the purpose thereof, and the
number of years during which the increase in rate shall be in
effect, which may or may not include a levy upon the duplicate of
the current year. The number of years may be any number not
exceeding five, except as follows:
(1) When the additional rate is for the payment of debt
charges, the increased rate shall be for the life of the
indebtedness.
(2) When the additional rate is any of the following, the
increased rate shall be for a continuing period of time:
(a) For the current expenses for a detention home
district, a district organized under section 2151.65 of the
Revised Code, or a combined district organized under sections
2151.34 and 2151.65 of the Revised Code;
(b) For providing a county's share of the cost of
maintaining and operating schools, district detention homes,
forestry camps, or other facilities, or any combination thereof,
established under section 2151.34 or 2151.65 of the Revised Code
or under both of those sections.
(3) When the additional rate is for any of the following,
the increased rate may be for a continuing period of time:
(a) For the purposes set forth in division (I), (J), (U),
or (KK) of this section;
(b) For the maintenance and operation of a joint
recreation district;
(c) A levy imposed by a township for the purposes set
forth in division (G) of this section.
(4) When the increase is for the purpose set forth in
division (D) or (CC) of this section, the tax levy may be for any
specified number of years or for a continuing period of time, as
set forth in the resolution.
(5) When the additional rate is for the purpose described
in division (Z) of this section, the increased rate shall be for
any number of years not exceeding ten.
A levy for the purposes set forth in division (I), (J), or
(U) of this section, and a levy imposed by a township for the
purposes set forth in division (G) of this section, may be
reduced pursuant to section 5705.261 or 5705.31 of the Revised
Code. A levy for the purposes set forth in division (I), (J), or
(U) of this section, and a levy imposed by a township for the
purposes set forth in division (G) of this section, may also be
terminated or permanently reduced by the taxing authority if it
adopts a resolution stating that the continuance of the levy is
unnecessary and the levy shall be terminated or that the millage
is excessive and the levy shall be decreased by a designated
amount.
A resolution of a detention home district, a district
organized under section 2151.65 of the Revised Code, or a
combined district organized under both sections 2151.34 and
2151.65 of the Revised Code may include both current expenses and
other purposes, provided that the resolution shall apportion the
annual rate of levy between the current expenses and other
purpose or purposes. The apportionment need not be the same for
each year of the levy, but the respective portions of the rate
actually levied each year for the current expenses and the other
purpose or purposes shall be limited by the apportionment.
Whenever a board of county commissioners, acting either as
the taxing authority of its county or as the taxing authority of
a sewer district or subdistrict created under Chapter 6117. of
the Revised Code, by resolution declares it necessary to levy a
tax in excess of the ten-mill limitation for the purpose of
constructing, improving, or extending sewage disposal plants or
sewage systems, the tax may be in effect for any number of years
not exceeding twenty, and the proceeds thereof, notwithstanding
the general provisions of this section, may be used to pay debt
charges on any obligations issued and outstanding on behalf of
the subdivision for the purposes enumerated in this paragraph,
provided that any such obligations have been specifically
described in the resolution.
The resolution shall go into immediate effect upon its
passage, and no publication of the resolution is necessary other
than that provided for in the notice of election.
When the electors of a subdivision have approved a tax levy
under this section, the taxing authority of the subdivision may
anticipate a fraction of the proceeds of the levy and issue
anticipation notes in accordance with section 5705.191 or
5705.193 of the Revised Code.
Section 2. That existing sections 1711.081, 1711.15, 1711.16, 1711.17, and
5705.19 of the
Revised Code are hereby repealed.
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