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:

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)?

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 FIREFIGHTERS or fire-fighting companies to operate the same, including the payment of the firemen FIREFIGHTERS 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.