To amend section 511.34 and to enact section 5.2213 of the Revised Code to designate the first day of February of each year as Ohio Township Day and to permit an island township to levy a property tax, with voter approval, to acquire additional park land.

SECTION 1 .  That section 511.34 be amended and section 5.2213 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 5.2213. The first day of February is designated as "Ohio Township Day," in recognition of township officials and employees and the Ohio township association and its officers. Township officials are encouraged to use this day to visit the schools to explain their duties and qualifications.

Sec. 511.34.  In townships composed of islands, and on one of which islands lands have been conveyed, in trust, for the benefit of the inhabitants thereof of the island for use as a park purpose, and a board of park trustees has been provided for the control of such the park, the board of township trustees may create a tax district of such the island, for the purpose of raising to raise funds by taxation for as provided under divisions (A) and (B) of this section.

(A) For the care and maintenance of the park, and it may, for such purposes, parks on the island, the board of township trustees annually may levy a tax, not to exceed one mill, upon all the taxable property in such the district. Such The tax shall be in addition to all other levies authorized by law, and subject to no limitation on tax rates except as provided in this section division.

The proceeds of such the tax levy shall be expended by the board of township trustees as provided by this section for the purpose of the care and maintenance of the parks, and shall be paid out of the township treasury upon the orders of the board of park trustees.

(B) For the purpose of acquiring additional land for use as a park, the board of township trustees may levy a tax in excess of the ten-mill limitation on all taxable property in the district. The tax shall be proposed by resolution adopted by two-thirds of the members of the board of township trustees. The resolution shall specify the purpose and rate of the tax and the number of years the tax will be levied, which shall not exceed five years, and which may include a levy on the current tax list and duplicate. 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. The board of township trustees shall certify a copy of the resolution to the proper board of elections not later than seventy-five days before the primary or general election in the township, and the board of elections shall submit the question of the tax to the voters of the district at the succeeding primary or general election. The board of elections shall make the necessary arrangements for the submission of the question to the electors of the district, and the election shall be conducted, canvassed, and certified in the same manner as regular elections in the township for the election of officers. Notice of the election shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the township once a week for four consecutive weeks prior to the election, stating the purpose of the tax, the proposed rate of the tax, expressed in dollars and cents for each one hundred dollars of valuation and mills for each one dollar of valuation, the number of years the tax will be in effect and the first year the tax will be levied, and the time and place of the election.

The form of the ballots cast at an election held under this division shall be as follows:

"An additional tax for the benefit of ......... (name of the township) for the purpose of acquiring additional park land at a rate of ......... mills for each one dollar of valuation, which amounts to ........ (rate expressed in dollars and cents) for each one hundred dollars of valuation, for ......... (number of years the levy is to run) beginning in ........... (first year the tax will be levied).

The question shall be submitted as a separate proposition but may be printed on the same ballot with any other proposition submitted at the same election other than the election of officers. More than one such question may be submitted at the same election.

If the levy is approved by a majority of electors voting on the question, the board of elections shall certify the result of the election to the tax commissioner. In the first year of the levy, the tax shall be extended on the tax lists after the February settlement following the election. If the tax is to be placed on the tax lists of the current year as specified in the resolution, the board of elections shall certify the result of the election immediately after the canvass to the board of township trustees, which shall forthwith make the necessary levy and certify the levy to the county auditor, who shall extend the levy on the tax lists for collection. After the first year of the levy, the levy shall be included in the annual tax budget that is certified to the county budget commission.

SECTION 2 .  That existing section 511.34 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.