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As Introduced
123rd General Assembly
Regular Session
1999-2000 | H. B. No. 701 |
REPRESENTATIVES PETERSON-GOODMAN-AUSTRIA-TRAKAS-ALLEN-
HOLLISTER-BUEHRER-HOOPS-HARRIS-KRUPINSKI-PRINGLE-CLANCY-
FLANNERY-EVANS-TERWILLEGER-DAMSCHRODER-A. CORE-TAYLOR
A BILL
To amend section 301.28 and to enact section 955.013 of the Revised Code to
authorize county auditors to allow for the registration of dogs via the
Internet and to accept the payment of dog registration fees by financial
transaction devices.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 301.28 be amended and section 955.013 of the Revised
Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 301.28. (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Financial transaction device" includes a credit
card, debit card, charge card, or prepaid or stored value card.
(2) "County expenses" includes fees, costs, taxes,
assessments, fines, penalties, payments, or any other expense a
person owes to a county office under the authority of a county
elected official OTHER THAN DOG REGISTRATION FEES REQUIRED TO BE PAID UNDER
CHAPTER 955. OF THE REVISED CODE.
(3) "County elected official" includes the county
auditor, county treasurer, county engineer, county recorder,
county prosecuting attorney, county sheriff, and county coroner, and the
clerk of the court of common pleas, the clerk of a
county-operated municipal court, and the clerk of a county
court.
(B) Notwithstanding any other section of the Revised Code and except as
provided
in division (D) of this section, a board of county
commissioners may adopt a resolution authorizing the acceptance
of payments by financial transaction devices for county
expenses. The resolution shall include the following:
(1) A specification of those county elected officials who are authorized
to accept payments by financial transaction devices;
(2) A list of county expenses that may be paid for
through the use of a financial transaction device;
(3) Specific identification of financial transaction
devices that the board authorizes
as acceptable means of payment for county expenses. Uniform
acceptance of financial transaction devices among different
types of county expenses is not required.
(4) The amount, if any, authorized as a surcharge or
convenience fee under division (E) of this section for persons using
a financial transaction
device. Uniform application of surcharges or convenience fees
among different types of county expenses is not required.
(5) A specific provision as provided in division (G) of this
section requiring the payment of a penalty if a payment made by means of a
financial transaction device is returned or dishonored for any reason.
The board's resolution shall also designate the county treasurer as an
administrative agent to solicit proposals, within guidelines established by
the board in the resolution and in compliance with the procedures provided in
division (C) of this section, from financial institutions, issuers of
financial
transaction devices, and processors of financial transaction devices, to make
recommendations about those proposals to the board, and to
assist county offices in implementing the county's financial transaction
devices program. The county treasurer may decline this responsibility within
thirty days after receiving a copy of the board's resolution by notifying the
board in writing within that period. If the treasurer so notifies the board,
the board shall perform the duties of the administrative agent.
If the county treasurer is the administrative agent and fails to administer
the county financial transaction devices program in accordance with the
guidelines in the board's resolution, the board shall notify the treasurer in
writing of the board's findings, explain the failures, and give the treasurer
six months to correct the failures. If the treasurer fails to make the
appropriate corrections within that six-month period, the board may pass a
resolution declaring the board to be the administrative agent. The board may
later rescind that resolution at its discretion.
(C) The county shall follow the procedures provided in this division
whenever it plans to contract with financial
institutions, issuers of financial transaction devices, or processors of
financial transaction devices for the purposes of this section. The
administrative agent shall request proposals from at least three financial
institutions, issuers of financial transaction devices, or processors of
financial transaction devices, as appropriate in accordance with the
resolution
adopted under division (B) of this section. Prior to sending any
financial institution, issuer, or processor a copy of any such request, the
county shall advertise its intent to request proposals 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; specify the
purpose of the request; indicate the date, which shall be at least ten days
after the second publication, on which the request for proposals will be
mailed
to financial institutions, issuers, or processors; and require that any
financial institution, issuer, or processor, whichever is appropriate,
interested in receiving the request for proposals submit written notice of
this
interest to the county not later than noon of the day on which the request for
proposals will be mailed.
Upon receiving the proposals, the administrative agent shall review them and
make a recommendation to the board of county commissioners on which proposals
to accept. The board of county commissioners shall consider the agent's
recommendation and review all proposals submitted, and then may choose to
contract
with any or all of the entities submitting proposals, as appropriate. The
board shall provide any financial institution, issuer, or processor that
submitted a proposal, but with which the board does not enter into a
contract,
notice that its proposal is rejected. The notice shall state the reasons for
the rejection, indicate whose proposals were accepted, and provide a copy of
the terms and conditions of the successful bids.
(D) A board of county commissioners adopting a resolution
under this section shall send a copy of the
resolution to each county elected official in the county who is authorized by
the resolution to
accept payments by financial transaction devices. After receiving the
resolution and before accepting payments by financial
transaction devices, a county elected official shall provide written
notification to the board of county commissioners of the official's intent to
implement the resolution within the official's office. Each county office
subject to the
board's resolution adopted under division (B) of this section may use
only the financial institutions, issuers of financial transaction devices, and
processors of financial transaction devices with which the board of county
commissioners contracts, and each such office is subject to the terms of those
contracts.
If a county office
under the authority of a county elected official
is directly responsible for collecting one or more county expenses and the
county elected
official determines not to accept payments by financial
transaction devices for one or more of those expenses, the
office shall not be required to accept payments by financial
transaction devices, notwithstanding the adoption of a
resolution by the board of county commissioners under this section.
Any office of a clerk of the court of common pleas that accepts financial
transaction devices on or before July 1, 1999, and any other county
office that accepted such devices before January 1, 1998,
may continue to accept such devices without being subject to any resolution
passed by the board of county commissioners under division (B) of
this section, or any other oversight by the board of the office's financial
transaction devices program. Any such office may use surcharges or
convenience fees in any manner the county elected official in charge of the
office determines to be appropriate, and, if the county treasurer consents,
may appoint the county treasurer to be the office's administrative agent for
purposes of accepting financial transaction devices. In order not to be
subject to the resolution of the board of county commissioners adopted under
division (B) of this section, a county office shall notify the board
in writing within thirty days after the effective date of this section
MARCH 30, 1999, that it
accepted financial transaction devices prior to
January 1, 1998, or, in the case of the office of a clerk of the
court
of common pleas, the clerk has accepted or will accept such devices on or
before July
1, 1999. Each such notification shall explain how processing costs associated
with financial transaction devices are being paid and shall indicate whether
surcharge or convenience fees are being passed on to consumers.
(E) A board of county
commissioners may establish a surcharge or convenience fee that may be imposed
upon a person making payment by a financial transaction device.
The surcharge or convenience fee shall not be
imposed unless authorized or otherwise permitted by the rules
prescribed by an agreement governing the use and acceptance of
the financial transaction device.
If a surcharge or convenience fee is imposed, every county office accepting
payment by a financial transaction device, regardless of whether that office
is subject to a resolution adopted by a board of county commissioners, shall
clearly post a notice in that office and shall notify each person making a
payment by such a device about the surcharge or fee. Notice to each person
making a payment shall be provided regardless of the medium used to make the
payment and in a manner appropriate to that medium. Each notice
shall include all of the following:
(1) A statement that there is a surcharge or convenience fee for using a
financial transaction device;
(2) The total amount of the charge or fee expressed in dollars and cents for
each transaction, or the rate of the charge or fee expressed as a
percentage of the total amount of the transaction, whichever is
applicable;
(3) A clear statement that the surcharge or convenience fee is nonrefundable.
(F) If a person elects
to make a payment to the county by a financial transaction
device and a surcharge or convenience fee is imposed, the
payment of the surcharge or fee shall be considered voluntary
and the surcharge or fee is not refundable.
(G) If a person makes
payment by financial transaction device and the payment is
returned or dishonored for any reason, the person is liable to
the county for payment of a penalty over and above the amount of
the expense due. The board of county commissioners shall
determine the amount of the penalty, which may be either a fee
not to exceed twenty dollars or payment of the amount necessary to reimburse
the county for banking charges, legal fees, or other expenses
incurred by the county in collecting the returned or dishonored
payment. The remedies and
procedures provided in this section are in addition to any other
available civil or criminal remedies provided by law.
(H) No person making any
payment by financial transaction device to a county office shall be relieved
from liability for the underlying obligation except to the extent
that the county realizes final payment of the underlying
obligation in cash or its equivalent. If final payment is not
made by the financial transaction device issuer or other guarantor of payment
in the transaction, the underlying obligation shall
survive and the county shall retain all remedies for enforcement
that would have applied if the transaction had not
occurred.
(I) A county elected
official or employee who accepts a financial transaction device payment in
accordance with this section and any applicable state or local
policies or rules is immune from personal
liability for the final collection of such payments.
Sec. 955.013. (A) AS USED IN THIS SECTION:
(1) "FINANCIAL TRANSACTION DEVICE" HAS THE SAME MEANING AS IN SECTION
301.28 OF THE REVISED CODE.
(2) "INTERNET" MEANS THE INTERNATIONAL COMPUTER NETWORK OF BOTH FEDERAL
AND NONFEDERAL INTEROPERABLE PACKET SWITCHED DATA NETWORKS, INCLUDING THE
GRAPHICAL SUBNETWORK CALLED THE WORLD WIDE WEB.
(B) A COUNTY AUDITOR MAY ESTABLISH PROCEDURES AND TAKE ACTIONS
THAT ARE NECESSARY TO ALLOW FOR EITHER OR BOTH OF THE FOLLOWING:
(1) THE REGISTRATION OF DOGS UNDER THIS CHAPTER VIA THE
INTERNET;
(2) THE PAYMENT OF DOG REGISTRATION FEES UNDER THIS CHAPTER BY
FINANCIAL TRANSACTION DEVICES, INCLUDING PAYMENT BY FINANCIAL TRANSACTION
DEVICES VIA THE INTERNET. THE PROCEDURES ESTABLISHED UNDER DIVISION
(B)(2) OF THIS SECTION MAY BE SUBSTANTIALLY SIMILAR TO
PROCEDURES ESTABLISHED BY THE APPLICABLE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS FOR THE
ACCEPTANCE OF PAYMENT OF OTHER
COUNTY EXPENSES BY FINANCIAL TRANSACTION DEVICES UNDER SECTION 301.28 OF
THE REVISED CODE.
Section 2. That existing section 301.28 of the Revised Code is hereby
repealed.
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