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H. B. No. 454As Reported by the House Local Government and Townships CommitteeAs Reported by the House Local Government and Townships Committee
124th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2001-2002 |
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REPRESENTATIVES Coates, Otterman, Allen, Carano, Driehaus, McGregor, Strahorn, Setzer, Wolpert, Flowers, Schmidt, Salerno
A BILL
To amend section 5705.41 of the Revised Code to raise
the threshold amount below which the fiscal officer
of a political subdivision can approve expenditures
made without a certificate of available funds.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That section 5705.41 of the Revised Code be
amended to read as follows:
Sec. 5705.41. No subdivision or taxing unit shall: (A) Make any appropriation of money except as provided in
Chapter 5705. of the Revised Code; provided, that the
authorization of a bond issue shall be deemed to be an
appropriation of the proceeds of the bond issue for the purpose
for which such bonds were issued, but no expenditure shall be
made
from any bond fund until first authorized by the taxing
authority; (B) Make any expenditure of money unless it has been
appropriated as provided in such chapter; (C) Make any expenditure of money except by a proper
warrant
drawn against an appropriate fund; (D)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (D)(2) of
this section and section 5705.44 of the Revised Code, make any
contract or give any order involving the
expenditure of money
unless there is attached thereto a
certificate of the fiscal
officer of the subdivision that the
amount required to meet the
obligation or, in the case of a
continuing contract to be
performed in whole or in part in an
ensuing fiscal year, the
amount required to meet the obligation
in
the fiscal year in which
the contract is made, has been
lawfully
appropriated for such
purpose and is in the treasury or
in process
of collection to the
credit of an appropriate fund
free from any
previous encumbrances.
This certificate need be
signed only by
the subdivision's fiscal
officer. Every such
contract made
without such a certificate
shall be void, and no
warrant shall be
issued in payment of any
amount due thereon. If
no certificate is
furnished as required,
upon receipt by the
taxing authority of the
subdivision or taxing
unit of a
certificate of the fiscal officer
stating that there was
at the
time of the making of such contract
or order and at the
time of
the execution of such certificate a
sufficient sum
appropriated
for the purpose of such contract and
in the treasury
or in
process of collection to the credit of an
appropriate fund
free
from any previous encumbrances, such taxing
authority may
authorize the drawing of a warrant in payment of
amounts due upon
such contract, but such resolution or ordinance
shall be passed
within thirty days
after the
taxing authority
receives such
certificate; provided
that, if the
amount involved
is less than
one hundred dollars in
the case of
counties or
one
three
thousand
dollars in the case of all
other
subdivisions or taxing
units, the
fiscal officer may
authorize it
to be paid without such
affirmation of the taxing
authority of the
subdivision or taxing
unit, if such expenditure
is otherwise
valid. (2) Annually, the board of county commissioners may adopt
a
resolution exempting for the current fiscal year county
purchases
of seven hundred fifty dollars or less from the
requirement of
division (D)(1) of this section that a certificate
be attached to
any contract or order involving the expenditure of
money. The
resolution shall state the dollar amount that is
exempted from the
certificate requirement and whether the
exemption applies to all
purchases, to one or more specific
classes of purchases, or to the
purchase of one or more specific
items. Prior to the adoption of
the resolution, the board shall
give written notice to the county
auditor that it intends to
adopt the resolution. The notice shall
state the dollar amount
that is proposed to be exempted and
whether the exemption would
apply to all purchases, to one or more
specific classes of
purchases, or to the purchase of one or more
specific items. The
county auditor may review and comment on the
proposal, and shall
send any comments to the board within fifteen
days after
receiving the notice. The board shall wait at least
fifteen days
after giving the notice to the auditor before
adopting the
resolution. A person authorized to make a county
purchase in a
county that has adopted such a resolution shall
prepare and file
with the county auditor, within three business
days after
incurring an obligation not requiring a certificate, a
written
document specifying the purpose and amount of the
expenditure,
the date of the purchase, the name of the vendor, and
such
additional information as the auditor of state may prescribe. (3) Upon certification by the auditor or other chief
fiscal
officer that a certain sum of money, not in excess of five
thousand dollars, has been lawfully appropriated, authorized, or
directed for a certain purpose and is in the treasury or in the
process of collection to the credit of a specific line-item
appropriation account in a certain fund free from previous and
then outstanding obligations or certifications, then for such
purpose and from such line-item appropriation account in such
fund, over a period not exceeding three months and not extending
beyond the end of the fiscal year, expenditures may be made,
orders for payment issued, and contracts or obligations calling
for or requiring the payment of money made and assumed; provided,
that the aggregate sum of money included in and called for by
such
expenditures, orders, contracts, and obligations shall not
exceed
the sum so certified. Such a certification need be signed
only by
the fiscal officer of the subdivision or the taxing
district and
may, but need not, be limited to a specific vendor.
An itemized
statement of obligations incurred and expenditures
made under such
certificate shall be rendered to the auditor or
other chief fiscal
officer before another such certificate may be
issued, and not
more than one such certificate shall be
outstanding at a time. In addition to providing the certification for expenditures
of five thousand dollars or less as provided in this division, a
subdivision also may make expenditures, issue orders for
payment,
and
make contracts or obligations calling for or requiring the
payment of money made and assumed for specified permitted
purposes
from a specific line-item appropriation account in a
specified
fund for a sum of money
upon the
certification by the fiscal
officer of the
subdivision that this
sum of
money has been
lawfully appropriated, authorized, or
directed for
a permitted
purpose and is in the treasury or in the
process of
collection to
the credit of the specific line-item
appropriation
account in the
specified fund free from previous and
then-outstanding obligations
or certifications; provided that the
aggregate sum of money
included in and called for by the
expenditures, orders, and
obligations shall not exceed the
certified sum. The purposes for
which a subdivision may
lawfully
appropriate, authorize, or issue
such a certificate are the
services of an accountant, architect,
attorney at law, physician,
professional engineer, construction
project manager, consultant,
surveyor, or appraiser by or on
behalf of the subdivision or
contracting authority; fuel oil,
gasoline, food items, roadway
materials, and utilities; and any
purchases exempt from
competitive bidding under section 125.04 of
the Revised Code and
any other specific expenditure that is a
recurring and reasonably
predictable operating expense. Such a
certification shall not
extend beyond the end of the fiscal year
or, in the case of
a
board of
county commissioners that has
established a quarterly
spending plan
under section 5705.392 of
the Revised Code, beyond
the quarter to
which the plan applies.
Such a certificate shall
be signed by
the fiscal officer and may,
but need not, be
limited
to a
specific vendor. An itemized
statement of obligations
incurred
and expenditures made under such
a certificate shall be
rendered
to the fiscal officer for each
certificate
issued. More
than one
such certificate may be
outstanding at any time. In any case in which a contract is entered into upon a per
unit basis, the head of the department, board, or commission for
the benefit of which the contract is made shall make an estimate
of the total amount to become due upon such contract, which
estimate shall be certified in writing to the fiscal officer of
the subdivision. Such a contract may be entered into if the
appropriation covers such estimate, or so much thereof as may be
due during the current year. In such a case the certificate of
the fiscal officer based upon the estimate shall be a sufficient
compliance with the law requiring a certificate. Any certificate of the fiscal officer attached to a
contract
shall be binding upon the political subdivision as to
the facts
set forth therein. Upon request of any person
receiving an order
or entering into a contract with any political
subdivision, the
certificate of the fiscal officer shall be
attached to such order
or contract. "Contract" as used in this
section excludes current
payrolls of regular employees and
officers. Taxes and other revenue in process of collection, or the
proceeds to be derived from authorized bonds, notes, or
certificates of indebtedness sold and in process of delivery,
shall for the purpose of this section be deemed in the treasury
or
in process of collection and in the appropriate fund. This
section applies neither to the investment of sinking funds by the
trustees of such funds, nor to investments made under sections
731.56 to 731.59 of the Revised Code. No district authority shall, in transacting its own
affairs,
do any of the things prohibited to a subdivision by this
section,
but the appropriation referred to shall become the
appropriation
by the district authority, and the fiscal officer
referred to
shall mean the fiscal officer of the district
authority.
Section 2. That existing section 5705.41 of the Revised Code
is hereby repealed.
Section 3. Section 5705.41 of the Revised Code is
presented
in
this act as a composite of the section as amended by
both Am.
H.B. 21 and Am. Sub. H.B. 94 of
the 124th General
Assembly. The
General Assembly, applying the
principle stated in
division (B) of
section 1.52 of the Revised
Code that amendments
are to be
harmonized if reasonably capable of
simultaneous
operation, finds
that the composite is the resulting
version of
the section in
effect prior to the effective date of
the section
as presented in
this act.
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