To amend sections 6115.04, 6115.05, 6115.06, 6115.08, 6115.16, 6115.46, and 6115.69 and to enact sections 6115.051, 6115.081, 6115.082, 6115.091, 6115.092, 6115.093, 6115.094, 6115.095, 6115.096, and 6115.321 of the Revised Code to revise the law governing sanitary districts that are organized wholly for the reduction of populations of biting arthropods.

Section 1. That sections 6115.04, 6115.05, 6115.06, 6115.08, 6115.16, 6115.46, and 6115.69 be amended and sections 6115.051, 6115.081, 6115.082, 6115.091, 6115.092, 6115.093, 6115.094, 6115.095, 6115.096, and 6115.321 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 6115.04.  The court of common pleas of any county in this state, when the conditions stated in section 6115.05 or 6115.051 of the Revised Code, as applicable, are found to exist, may establish sanitary districts within the county in which the court is located. Districts partly within and partly without such county may also be established by a court comprised of one judge of the court of common pleas from each county having area within the district, as provided in section 6115.08 or 6115.081 of the Revised Code, as applicable.

If there are but two judges who sit as a court under this section, and the judges are unable to agree as to the establishment of such district or upon any other question left for their decision, then a third judge from a disinterested county shall be appointed by the chief justice of the supreme court, which judge shall sit with the other two judges, and the decisions of a majority of the judges shall be final. Compensation for such judge shall be fixed by the chief justice.

Sanitary districts may be established for any of the following purposes:

(A) To prevent and correct the pollution of streams;

(B) To clean and improve stream channels for sanitary purposes;

(C) To regulate the flow of streams for sanitary purposes;

(D) To provide for the collection and disposal of sewage and other liquid wastes produced within the district;

(E) To provide a water supply for domestic, municipal, and public use within the district, and incident to those purposes and to enable their accomplishment to construct reservoirs, trunk sewers, intercepting sewers, siphons, pumping stations, wells, intakes, pipe lines, purification works, and treatment and disposal works, to maintain, operate, and repair the same, to acquire additional water supplies by purchase, and to do all other things necessary for the fulfillment of the purposes of sections 6115.01 to 6115.79 of the Revised Code;

(F) To reduce populations of biting arthropods and abate their breeding places, and incident to those purposes to purchase supplies, materials, and equipment, to employ technicians and laborers, to build, construct, maintain, and repair such structures, devices, and improvements, to conduct studies and surveys of the populations of biting arthropods and of the incidence or spread within or among human or animal populations of diseases transmitted by biting arthropods, and to do such other things as are necessary or desirable to accomplish those purposes;

(G) To collect and dispose of garbage;

(H) To collect and dispose of any other refuse that may become a menace to health.

Sec. 6115.05.  Before any court establishes a sanitary district as outlined in section 6115.04 of the Revised Code, a petition shall be filed in the office of the clerk of said the court, signed by five hundred freeholders, or by a majority of the freeholders, or by the owners of more than half of the property, in either acreage or value, within the limits of the territory proposed to be organized into a district. Such a petition may be signed by the governing body of any public corporation lying wholly or partly within the proposed district, in such manner as it prescribes, and when so signed by such governing body such a petition on the part of said the governing body shall fill all the requirements of representation upon such petition of the freeholders of such public corporation, as they appear upon the tax duplicate; and thereafter it is not necessary for individuals within said the public corporation to sign such a petition. Such a petition may also be signed by railroads and other corporations owning lands.

Such petition may be filed by any city interested in some degree in the improvement, upon proper action by its governing body. Property in each political subdivision wholly or partly included in the proposed district shall be represented by the signers of the petition provided for by this section.

The petition for the establishment of a district to provide a water supply for domestic, municipal, and public use shall be signed by the governing body of each municipal corporation, or part thereof included in the proposed district, or by a majority of the freeholders of political subdivisions or parts thereof included in the proposed district and lying outside municipal corporations, and shall also be signed by the public service corporation which that may be supplying water to the inhabitants of such political subdivisions under franchise granted by the governing bodies thereof.

The petition shall set forth the proposed name of said the district, the necessity for the proposed work and that it will be conducive to the public health, safety, comfort, convenience, or welfare, and a general description of the purpose of the contemplated improvement, and of the territory to be included in the proposed district. Said The description need not be given by metes and bounds or by legal subdivisions, but it is sufficient if a generally accurate description is given of the territory to be organized as a district. Said The territory shall include two or more political subdivisions or portions thereof, and, except as a subdistrict provided for by section 6115.69 of the Revised Code, shall not be included wholly within the limits of a single municipal corporation. Said The territory need not be contiguous, provided that it is so situated that the public health, safety, comfort, convenience, or welfare will be promoted by the organization as a single district of the territory described. Said The petition shall pray for the organization of the district by the name proposed.

No petition with the requisite signatures shall be declared void because of alleged defects, but the court may at any time permit the petition to be amended in form and substance to conform to the facts by correcting any errors in the description of the territory, or in any other particular. Several similar petitions or duplicate copies of the same petition for the organization of the same district may be filed and shall together be regarded as one petition. All such petitions filed prior to the hearing on said the petition shall be considered by the court as though they had been filed with the first petition placed on file.

In determining when a majority of landowners has signed the petition, the court shall be governed by the names as they appear upon the tax duplicate, which shall be prima-facie evidence of such ownership.

This section does not apply to a sanitary district that is proposed to be organized wholly for the reduction of populations of biting arthropods. Instead, section 6115.051 of the Revised Code applies to such a sanitary district.

Sec. 6115.051.  (A) Before a court establishes a sanitary district that is to be organized wholly for the reduction of populations of biting arthropods as outlined in section 6115.04 of the Revised Code, a petition shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the court, signed by the lesser of five hundred registered voters or ten per cent of the electors who voted for the office of governor within the political subdivision in the most recent gubernatorial election in each political subdivision in which any portion of the sanitary district is proposed to be located.

(B)(1) The petition shall set forth the proposed name of the sanitary district, the purpose for the creation of the sanitary district, and a general description of the territory to be included in the proposed sanitary district. The description need not be given by metes and bounds or by legal subdivisions, but it is sufficient if a generally accurate description is given of the territory to be organized as a sanitary district. The territory shall include two or more political subdivisions or portions thereof and shall not be included wholly within the limits of a single municipal corporation. The territory need not be contiguous, provided that it is so situated that the public health, safety, comfort, convenience, or welfare will be promoted by the organization as a single sanitary district of the territory described.

(2) The petition shall request the organization of the sanitary district by the name proposed.

(C) No petition with the requisite signatures shall be declared void because of alleged defects, but the court at any time may permit the petition to be amended in form and substance to conform to the facts by correcting any errors in the description of the territory or in any other particular. Several similar petitions or duplicate copies of the same petition for the organization of the same sanitary district may be filed and shall together be regarded as one petition. All such petitions that are filed prior to the election on the petition shall be considered by the court as though they had been filed with the first petition placed on file.

(D) After receiving the petition with the requisite number of signatures, the court shall submit the names and signatures of the petitioners to the appropriate boards of elections of the counties in which the petitioners reside for verification of the petition signatures. The boards of elections shall notify the court of the sufficiency or insufficiency of the petition. If the petition contains a sufficient number of valid signatures, the court shall follow the procedures established in section 6115.081 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 6115.06.  At the time of filing the petition provided for in section 6115.05 of the Revised Code, or at any time subsequent thereto and prior to the time of the hearing on said the petition, a bond shall be filed, with security approved by the court, sufficient to pay all the expenses connected with the proceedings in case the court refuses to organize the sanitary district. If at any time during the proceeding the court is satisfied that the bond first executed is insufficient in amount, it may require the execution of an additional bond within a time to be fixed, which shall be not less than ten days distant, and upon failure of the petitioners to execute such additional bond the petition shall be dismissed.

This section does not apply to a sanitary district that is proposed to be organized wholly for the reduction of populations of biting arthropods. Instead, section 6115.082 of the Revised Code applies to such a sanitary district.

Sec. 6115.08.  Any owner of real property in a proposed sanitary district who individually has not signed a petition under section 6115.05 of the Revised Code, and who wishes to object to the organization and incorporation of said the district shall, on or before the date set for the cause to be heard, file his the owner's objections to the organization and incorporation of such district. Such objections shall be limited to a denial of the statements in the petition, and shall be heard by the court as an advanced case without unnecessary delay.

Upon the hearing, if it appears that the purposes of sections 6115.01 to 6115.79, inclusive, of the Revised Code, would be subserved served by the creation of a district, the court, after disposing of all objections as justice and equity require, shall by its findings, duly entered of record, adjudicate all questions of jurisdiction, declare the district organized, and give it a corporate name by which in all proceedings it shall thereafter be known. A district so organized shall be a political subdivision of the state and a body corporate with all the powers of a corporation, and shall have perpetual existence, with power to sue and be sued, to incur debts, liabilities, and obligations, to exercise the right of eminent domain and of taxation and assessment as provided in such sections, to issue bonds, and to do all acts necessary and proper for the carrying out of the purposes for which the district was created and for executing the powers with which it is invested.

In such decree, the court shall designate the place where the office or principal place of business of the district shall be located, which shall be within the corporate limits of the district if practicable, and which may be changed by order of court. The regular meetings of the board of directors of the district shall be held at such office or place of business, but for cause may be adjourned to any other convenient place. The official records and files of the district shall be kept at the office so established.

If the court finds that the property set out in said the petition should not be incorporated into a district, it shall dismiss said the proceedings, and adjudge the costs against the signers of the petition in the proportion of the interest represented by them.

After an order is entered establishing the district, such order is final and binding upon the real property within the district and finally and conclusively establishes the regular organization of such district against all persons except the state upon suit commenced by the attorney general. Any such suit must shall be commenced within three months after said the decree declaring such district organized. The organization of said the district shall not be directly or collaterally questioned in any suit, action, or proceeding except as expressly authorized in sections 6115.01 to 6115.79, inclusive, of the Revised Code.

In the case of a district lying in more than one county, one judge of the court of common pleas of each of the counties having land in the district shall sit as a court in the courthouse where the original petition was filed to make the findings required by this section and by section 6115.16 of the Revised Code. A majority of said the judges shall be necessary to render a decision.

This section does not apply to a sanitary district that is proposed to be organized wholly for the reduction of populations of biting arthropods unless the board of health of a health district having jurisdiction within the territory in which the sanitary district is proposed to be located issues an order under section 3709.20 or 3709.21 of the Revised Code, as applicable, declaring a health emergency that requires the reduction of populations of biting arthropods.

Sec. 6115.081. (A) If it appears that the purposes of this chapter would be served by the creation of a sanitary district that is to be organized wholly for the reduction of populations of biting arthropods, the court shall submit the question of whether such a sanitary district shall be created to the electors residing within the territory in which the sanitary district is proposed to be located.

(B) The court shall certify a copy of the court order proposing to create the sanitary district to the board of elections of each county in which any territory of the proposed sanitary district is located. The board of elections of each such county shall make the necessary arrangements for the submission of the question to the electors of the proposed sanitary district on the day specified in the order and occurring not less than seventy-five days after the order is certified to the board of elections. The election shall be held, canvassed, and certified in the same manner as regular elections for the election of county officers.

(C) Notice of the election shall be published in one or more newspapers that, in the aggregate, are of general circulation in the territory of the proposed sanitary district. The notice of the election shall be published once a week for two consecutive weeks prior to the election. If an applicable board of elections operates and maintains a web site, notice of the election also shall be posted on that web site for thirty days prior to the election. The notice shall state the purpose for the creation of the sanitary district and the time and place of the election.

(D) The form of the ballot cast at the election shall be as follows:

"Shall a sanitary district organized wholly for the reduction of populations of biting arthropods be created encompassing property located within the ........ (name of political subdivisions)?

(E)(1) If a majority of the electors voting on the question of creating the sanitary district vote in favor of the creation, the court shall declare the sanitary district organized and give it a corporate name by which it shall thereafter be known in all proceedings. A sanitary district so organized is a political subdivision of the state and a body corporate with all the powers of a corporation and shall have perpetual existence, with power to sue and be sued, to incur debts, liabilities, and obligations, to exercise the right of eminent domain and of taxation and assessment as provided in this chapter, to issue bonds, and to perform all acts that are necessary and proper for carrying out the purposes for which the sanitary district was created and for executing the powers with which it is invested.

(2) In its decree, the court shall designate the place where the office or principal place of business of the sanitary district shall be located, which shall be within the corporate limits of the sanitary district if practicable and which may be changed by order of the court. The regular meetings of the board of directors of the sanitary district shall be held at that office or place of business, but for cause may be adjourned to any other convenient place. The official records and files of the sanitary district shall be kept at the office so established.

(3) After an order is entered establishing the sanitary district, the order is final and binding on the real property within the sanitary district. The organization of the sanitary district shall not be directly or collaterally questioned in any suit, action, or proceeding except as expressly authorized in this chapter.

(4) In the case of a sanitary district lying in more than one county, one judge of the court of common pleas of each of the counties having land in the sanitary district shall sit as a court in the courthouse where the original petition was filed for the purposes of this section and to make the findings required by section 6115.16 of the Revised Code. A majority of the judges shall be necessary to render a decision.

(F)(1) If the creation of a sanitary district is approved in an election that is held under this section, the court may charge the sanitary district for any applicable election costs that the court incurs under section 3501.17 of the Revised Code.

(2) If the creation of a sanitary district is not approved in an election that is held under this section, the court may seek reimbursement from the signers of the petition to create the sanitary district in the proportion of the interest represented by them for any applicable election costs that the court incurs under section 3501.17 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 6115.082.  At the time of filing the petition provided for in section 6115.051 of the Revised Code, or at any time subsequent to the filing and prior to the election on the petition, a bond shall be filed, with security approved by the court, sufficient to pay all of the expenses connected with the proceedings in case the electors voting on the question of creating a sanitary district in accordance with section 6115.081 of the Revised Code vote against the creation of the sanitary district. If at any time during the proceeding the court is satisfied that the bond first executed is insufficient in amount, it may require the execution of an additional bond within a time to be fixed, which shall be not less than ten days distant, and upon failure of the petitioners to execute the additional bond, the petition shall be dismissed.

Sec. 6115.091. (A) If the board of directors of a sanitary district that is organized wholly for the reduction of populations of biting arthropods wishes to expand the sanitary district beyond its existing territory, the board shall file a petition in the office of the clerk of the court, signed by the lesser of five hundred registered voters or ten per cent of the electors who voted for the office of governor within the political subdivision in the most recent gubernatorial election in each political subdivision in which any portion of the sanitary district is located and in each political subdivision in which any territory is located that is proposed to be included in the sanitary district by expansion.

(B)(1) The petition shall set forth the reason for the expansion of the sanitary district and a general description of the territory that is proposed to be included in the sanitary district. The description need not be given by metes and bounds or by legal subdivisions, but it is sufficient if a generally accurate description is given of the territory that is proposed to be included in the sanitary district. The territory in the proposed expansion need not be contiguous to the territory that is located in the sanitary district, provided that the expanded territory is so situated that the public health, safety, comfort, convenience, or welfare will be promoted by the inclusion of the territory described.

(2) The petition shall request that the sanitary district be expanded to include the territory described in the petition.

(C) No petition with the requisite signatures shall be declared void because of alleged defects, but the court at any time may permit the petition to be amended in form and substance to conform to the facts by correcting any errors in the description of the territory or in any other particular. Several similar petitions or duplicate copies of the same petition for the expansion of the sanitary district may be filed and shall together be regarded as one petition. All such petitions that are filed prior to the election on the petition shall be considered by the court as though they had been filed with the first petition placed on file.

(D) After receiving the petition with the requisite number of signatures, the court shall submit the names and signatures of the petitioners to the appropriate boards of elections of the counties in which the petitioners reside for verification of the petition signatures. The boards of elections shall notify the court of the sufficiency or insufficiency of the petition. If the petition contains a sufficient number of valid signatures, the court shall follow the procedures established in section 6115.092 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 6115.092.  (A) If it appears that the purposes of this chapter would be served by the expansion of a sanitary district that is organized wholly for the reduction of populations of biting arthropods, the court shall submit the question of whether such a sanitary district shall be expanded to the electors residing in the sanitary district and in the territory that is proposed to be included in the sanitary district by expansion.

(B) The court shall certify a copy of the court order proposing to expand the sanitary district to the board of elections of each county in which any territory that is included in the sanitary district or that is proposed to be included in the sanitary district is located. The board of elections of each such county shall make the necessary arrangements for the submission of the question to the electors of the sanitary district or of the proposed expansion of the sanitary district, as applicable, on the day specified in the order and occurring not less than seventy-five days after the order is certified to the board of elections. The election shall be held, canvassed, and certified in the same manner as regular elections for the election of county officers.

(C) Notice of the election shall be published in one or more newspapers that, in the aggregate, are of general circulation in the sanitary district and in the territory that is proposed to be included in the sanitary district. The notice of the election shall be published once a week for two consecutive weeks prior to the election. If an applicable board of elections operates and maintains a web site, notice of the election also shall be posted on that web site for thirty days prior to the election. The notice shall state the purpose for the expansion of the sanitary district and the time and place of the election.

(D) The form of the ballot cast at the election shall be as follows:

"Shall the .......... (name of sanitary district) be expanded to include property located within the .......... (name of political subdivisions)?

(E) If a majority of the electors voting on the question of expanding the sanitary district vote in favor of the expansion, the court shall declare that the territory that is proposed to be included in the expansion is part of the sanitary district. The court may give the sanitary district a new corporate name that includes the expanded territory by which it shall thereafter be known in all proceedings.

(F) Whether the expansion of a sanitary district is approved or not approved in an election that is held under this section, the court may charge the sanitary district for any applicable election costs that the court incurs under section 3501.17 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 6115.093. (A) If the board of directors of a sanitary district that is organized wholly for the reduction of populations of biting arthropods receives a petition for the withdrawal of a political subdivision from the sanitary district, signed by the lesser of five hundred registered voters or ten per cent of the electors who voted for the office of governor within the political subdivision in the most recent gubernatorial election in the political subdivision, the board shall file the petition in the office of the clerk of the court.

(B) The petition shall set forth the reason for the withdrawal of the political subdivision from the sanitary district and shall request the withdrawal of the political subdivision from the sanitary district.

(C) No petition with the requisite signatures shall be declared void because of alleged defects, but the court at any time may permit the petition to be amended in form and substance to conform to the facts by correcting any errors in the description of the territory or in any other particular. Several similar petitions or duplicate copies of the same petition for the withdrawal of a political subdivision from the sanitary district may be filed and shall together be regarded as one petition. All such petitions that are filed prior to the election on the petition shall be considered by the court as though they had been filed with the first petition placed on file.

(D) After receiving the petition with the requisite number of signatures, the court shall submit the names and signatures of the petitioners to the appropriate boards of elections of the counties in which the petitioners reside for verification of the petition signatures. The boards of elections shall notify the court of the sufficiency or insufficiency of the petition. If the petition contains a sufficient number of valid signatures, the court shall follow the procedures established in section 6115.094 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 6115.094.  (A) If the applicable boards of elections notify the court that a petition to withdraw a political subdivision from a sanitary district that is organized wholly for the reduction of populations of biting arthropods contains a sufficient number of valid signatures as provided in section 6115.093 of the Revised Code, the court shall submit the question of whether the political subdivision shall withdraw from the sanitary district to the electors residing in the political subdivision.

(B) The court shall certify a copy of the court order proposing the withdrawal of the political subdivision from the sanitary district to the board of elections of each county in which any territory of the political subdivision is located. The board of elections of each such county shall make the necessary arrangements for the submission of the question to the electors of the proposed withdrawal of the political subdivision from the sanitary district on the day specified in the order and occurring not less than seventy-five days after the order is certified to the board of elections. The election shall be held, canvassed, and certified in the same manner as regular elections for the election of county officers.

(C) Notice of the election shall be published in one or more newspapers that, in the aggregate, are of general circulation in the political subdivision that is proposed to be withdrawn from the sanitary district. The notice of the election shall be published once a week for two consecutive weeks prior to the election. If an applicable board of elections operates and maintains a web site, notice of the election also shall be posted on that web site for thirty days prior to the election. The notice shall state the reason for the withdrawal of the political subdivision from the sanitary district and the time and place of the election.

(D) The form of the ballot cast at the election shall be as follows:

"Shall the .......... (name of the political subdivision) be withdrawn from the .......... (name of sanitary district)?

(E) If a majority of the electors voting on the question of withdrawing the political subdivision from the sanitary district vote in favor of the withdrawal, the court shall declare the political subdivision withdrawn from the sanitary district. The withdrawal shall take effect one year after the electors vote in favor of the withdrawal. The court shall conclude the affairs of the political subdivision with regard to the sanitary district. For that purpose, all the claims, demands, or interests of creditors or claimants shall be determined as of the day on which the court declares the political subdivision withdrawn from the sanitary district.

(F) Whether the withdrawal of a political subdivision from a sanitary district is approved or not approved in an election that is held under this section, the court may charge the political subdivision for any applicable election costs that the court incurs under section 3501.17 of the Revised Code.

(G) If a political subdivision withdraws from a sanitary district that is organized wholly for the reduction of populations of biting arthropods under this section and the sanitary district then consists of only one political subdivision, the requirement in section 6115.051 of the Revised Code that the territory in such a sanitary district include two or more political subdivisions or portions thereof does not apply to that sanitary district.

Sec. 6115.095. (A) If the board of directors of a sanitary district that is organized wholly for the reduction of populations of biting arthropods receives a petition for the dissolution of the sanitary district, signed by the lesser of five hundred registered voters or ten per cent of the electors who voted for the office of governor within the political subdivision in the most recent gubernatorial election in each political subdivision that has territory that is included in the sanitary district, the board shall file the petition in the office of the clerk of the court.

(B) The petition shall set forth the reason for the dissolution of the sanitary district and shall request the dissolution of the sanitary district.

(C) No petition with the requisite signatures shall be declared void because of alleged defects, but the court at any time may permit the petition to be amended in form and substance to conform to the facts by correcting any errors in the description of the territory or in any other particular. Several similar petitions or duplicate copies of the same petition for the dissolution of the sanitary district may be filed and shall together be regarded as one petition. All such petitions that are filed prior to the election on the petition shall be considered by the court as though they had been filed with the first petition placed on file.

(D) After receiving the petition with the requisite number of signatures, the court shall submit the names and signatures of the petitioners to the appropriate boards of elections of the counties in which the petitioners reside for verification of the petition signatures. The boards of elections shall notify the court of the sufficiency or insufficiency of the petition. If the petition contains a sufficient number of valid signatures, the court shall follow the procedures established in section 6115.096 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 6115.096.  (A) If the applicable boards of elections notify the court that a petition to dissolve a sanitary district that is organized wholly for the reduction of populations of biting arthropods contains a sufficient number of valid signatures as provided in section 6115.095 of the Revised Code, the court shall submit the question of whether such a sanitary district shall be dissolved to the electors residing in the sanitary district.

(B) The court shall certify a copy of the court order proposing to dissolve the sanitary district to the board of elections of each county in which any territory of the sanitary district is located. The board of elections of each such county shall make the necessary arrangements for the submission of the question to the electors of the proposed dissolution of the sanitary district on the day specified in the order and occurring not less than seventy-five days after the order is certified to the board of elections. The election shall be held, canvassed, and certified in the same manner as regular elections for the election of county officers.

(C) Notice of the election shall be published in one or more newspapers that, in the aggregate, are of general circulation in the sanitary district. The notice of the election shall be published once a week for two consecutive weeks prior to the election. If an applicable board of elections operates and maintains a web site, notice of the election also shall be posted on that web site for thirty days prior to the election. The notice shall state the reason for the dissolution of the sanitary district and the time and place of the election.

(D) The form of the ballot cast at the election shall be as follows:

"Shall the .......... (name of sanitary district) be dissolved?

(E) If a majority of the electors voting on the question of dissolving the sanitary district vote in favor of the dissolution, the court shall declare the sanitary district dissolved. The dissolution shall take effect one year after the electors vote in favor of the dissolution. The court shall conclude the affairs of the sanitary district. For that purpose, all the claims, demands, or interests of creditors or claimants shall be determined as of the day on which the court declares the sanitary district dissolved.

(F) Whether the dissolution of a sanitary district is approved or not approved in an election that is held under this section, the court may charge the sanitary district for any applicable election costs that the court incurs under section 3501.17 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 6115.16.  Upon its qualification, the board of directors of a sanitary district shall prepare a plan for the improvement for which the district was created. The plan shall include such maps, profiles, plans, and other data and descriptions as are necessary to set forth properly the location and character of the work, and of the property benefited or taken or damaged, with estimates of cost. In the case of a district organized wholly or partly for the reduction of populations of biting arthropods, the plan is sufficient if it includes a description, in general terms, of the methods of reducing such populations to be utilized, and it shall not be necessary to indicate in the plan the particular parcels of land in the district where the physical structures, devices, or improvements incident to the reduction of such populations are to be constructed or where the labor incident to the reduction of biting arthropod populations will be employed.

In the preparation of the plan, the board may recognize the necessity of future extensions and enlargements that may result from enlargements of the area of the district, in order that the district improvements may be designed to meet properly the increased demands. The plan for a water supply for domestic, municipal, and public use shall be prepared with recognition of an equitable apportionment of the available supply to each political subdivision within the district. If the purposes for which the district was established include both improved sanitation and improved water supply, a plan shall be prepared for each purpose.

If the board finds that any former survey made by any other district or in any other manner is useful for the purposes of the district, the board may take over the data secured by such survey, or such other proceedings as is are useful to it, and may pay therefor an amount equal to the value of such data to the district.

Upon the completion of the plan, the board shall submit it to the environmental protection agency for approval. In deciding whether to approve or reject the plan, the agency shall consider, among other factors, the protection of the public health, and compliance with air and water quality standards and regulations and solid waste disposal requirements. If the agency rejects the plan, the board shall proceed as in the first instance under this section to prepare another plan. If the agency refers the plan to the board for amendment, the board shall prepare and submit an amended plan to the agency. If the agency approves the plan, a copy of the action of the agency shall be filed with the secretary of the district and by him the secretary incorporated into the records of the district.

Upon the approval of the plan by the agency, the board shall cause notice by publication to be given in each county of the district of the completion of the plan, and shall permit the inspection of the plan at its office by all persons interested. The notice shall fix the time and place for the hearing of all objections to the plan, which shall be not less than twenty nor more than thirty days after the last publication of the notice. All objections to the plan shall be in writing and filed with the secretary at his the secretary's office not more than ten days after the last publication of the notice. After the hearing before the board, the board shall adopt the plan as the official plan of the district. If any persons object to the official plan, so adopted, then those persons may, within ten days from the adoption of the official plan, file their objections in writing, specifying the features of the plan to which they object, in the original case establishing the district in the office of the clerk of the court, who shall fix a day for the hearing of the objections before the court, which shall be not less than twenty nor more than thirty days after the time fixed for filing objections, at which time the judges, sitting as a court as provided in section 6115.08 or 6115.081 of the Revised Code, as applicable, for the organization of the district, shall meet at the courthouse of the county where the original case is pending and hear the objections and adopt, reject, or refer back the plan to the board. A majority of the judges shall control. If the court rejects the plan, the board shall proceed as in the first instance under this section to prepare another plan. If the court refers the plan to the board for amendment, then the court shall continue the hearing to a day certain without publication of notice. If the court approves the plan as the official plan of the district, a certified copy of the journal of the court shall be filed with the secretary, and by him the secretary incorporated into the records of the district.

The official plan may be altered in detail until the assessment roll is filed, and of all the alterations the board of appraisers of the sanitary district shall take notice. After the assessment roll has been filed in court, no alterations of the official plan shall be made except as provided in section 6115.40 of the Revised Code.

The board of directors of a sanitary district shall have full power and authority to devise, prepare for, execute, maintain, and operate all works or improvements necessary or desirable to complete, maintain, operate, and protect the official plan. It may secure and use men personnel and equipment under the supervision of the chief engineer or other agents, or it may let contracts for such works, either as a whole or in parts.

Sec. 6115.321.  Sections 6115.31 and 6115.32 of the Revised Code do not apply to the proposed inclusion of land in a sanitary district that is organized wholly for the reduction of populations of biting arthropods. Instead, such an inclusion is governed by sections 6115.091 and 6115.092 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 6115.46.  After the filing of a petition for the organization of a sanitary district, and before the district is organized, the costs of publication and other official costs of the proceedings, other than the costs for an election that is held under section 6115.081, 6115.092, 6115.094, or 6115.096 of the Revised Code, shall be paid out of the general funds of the county in which the petition is pending. Such payment shall be made on the warrant of the county auditor on the order of the court. If the district is organized, such cost shall be repaid to the county out of the first funds received by the district through levying of taxes or assessments or selling of bonds, or the borrowing of money. If the district is not organized, the cost shall be collected from the petitioners or their bondsmen bondspersons. Upon the organization of the district, the court shall make an order indicating a preliminary division of the preliminary expenses between the counties included in the district in approximately the proportions of interest of the various counties as estimated by the court. The court shall issue an order to the auditor of each county to issue his a warrant upon the county treasurer of his the auditor's county to reimburse the county having paid the total cost.

Expenses incurred after the organization of the district and prior to the receipt of money by the district from taxes or assessments, bond sales, or otherwise, shall be paid from the general funds of the counties upon the order of the court and upon certification of the clerk of the court of such order specifying the amount and purpose of the levy to the auditor of each county, who shall thereupon at once issue his a warrant to the treasurer of his the auditor's county, said the payments to be made in proportion to the order outlined by the court. Upon receipt of funds by the district from the sale of bonds or by taxation or assessment, the funds so advanced by the counties shall be repaid.

As soon as any district has been organized, and a board of directors of the sanitary district has been appointed and qualified, such board may levy upon the property of the district not to exceed three-tenths of a mill on the assessed valuation thereof as a level rate to be used for the purpose of paying expenses of organization, for surveys and plans, and for other incidental expenses which that may be necessary up to the time money is received from the sale of bonds or otherwise. This tax shall be certified to the auditors of the various counties and by them to the respective treasurers of their counties. If such items of expense have already been paid in whole or in part from other sources, they may be repaid although the work proposed may have been found impracticable or for other reasons is abandoned. The collection of such tax levy and the procedure relating to the nonpayment of taxes shall conform in all matters to the collection of taxes and assessments for the district. The board may borrow money in any manner provided for in sections 6115.47 and 6115.50 of the Revised Code, and may pledge the receipts from such taxes or, in the case of a sanitary district organized for the purpose of providing a water supply, the proceeds of the sale of water pursuant to section 6115.62 of the Revised Code for its repayment, the information collected by the necessary surveys, the appraisal of benefits and damages, and other information and data being of real value and constituting benefits for which the tax may be levied. In case a district is disbanded for any cause before the work is constructed, the data, plans, and estimates which that have been secured shall be filed with the clerk of the court before which the district was organized and shall be matters of public record available to any person interested.

The procedures and requirements established in this section apply to the expansion of a sanitary district that is organized wholly for the reduction of populations of biting arthropods.

Sec. 6115.69.  Whenever it is desired to construct improvements wholly within or partly within and partly without any sanitary district, which improvements will affect only a part of said the district, for the purpose of accomplishing such work, subdistricts may be organized upon petition of the owners of real property within or partly within and partly without the district. Such petition shall fulfill the same requirements concerning the subdistricts as the petition outlined in section 6115.05 of the Revised Code is required to fulfill concerning the organization of the main district, shall be filed with the clerk of the same court of common pleas, and shall be accompanied by a bond as provided for in section 6115.06 of the Revised Code. All proceedings relating to the organization of such subdistricts shall conform in all things to sections 6115.01 to 6115.79, inclusive, of the Revised Code, relating to the organization of districts. Whenever the court by its order entered of record decrees such subdistricts to be organized, the clerk of said the court shall thereupon give notice of such order to the board of directors of the sanitary district, which shall thereupon act also as the board of directors of the subdistrict. Thereafter, the proceedings in reference to the subdistrict shall in all matters conform to such sections;, except that in appraisal of benefits and damages for the purposes of such subdistricts, in the issuance of bonds, in the levying of assessments or taxes, and in all other matters affecting only the subdistrict, such sections shall apply to this subdistrict as though it were an independent district, and it shall not, in these things, be amalgamated with the main district.

The board of directors, board of appraisers, chief engineer, attorney, secretary of the sanitary district, and other officers, agents, and employees of the district shall, so far as it is necessary, serve in the same capacity for such subdistricts, and contracts and agreements between the main district and the subdistrict may be made in the same manner as contracts and agreements between two districts. The distribution of administrative expense between the main district and subdistrict shall be in proportion to the interests involved and the amount of service rendered. Such division shall be made by the board of directors with an appeal to the court establishing the district. This section does not prevent the organization of independent districts for local improvements under other laws within the limits of a district organized under sections 6115.01 to 6115.79, inclusive, of the Revised Code, as provided in sections 6115.66 and 6115.67 of the Revised Code.

This section does not apply to a sanitary district that is organized wholly for the reduction of populations of biting arthropods.

Section 2. That existing sections 6115.04, 6115.05, 6115.06, 6115.08, 6115.16, 6115.46, and 6115.69 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.