To amend sections 323.152, 323.153, and 323.156 of the Revised Code to require county auditors to make reasonable efforts to identify property owners wrongfully receiving the 2.5% property tax rollback, to limit the monetary charge against violators to five years' worth of reductions plus interest, to require 10% of monetary charge collections to be credited to the rollback enforcement fund, and to provide amnesty for persons who report their illegal receipt of the rollback.

Section 1. That sections 323.152, 323.153, and 323.156 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec. 323.152.  In addition to the reduction in taxes required under section 319.302 of the Revised Code, taxes shall be reduced as provided in divisions (A) and (B) of this section.

(A)(1) Division (A) of this section applies to any of the following:

(a) A person who is permanently and totally disabled;

(b) A person who is sixty-five years of age or older;

(c) A person who is the surviving spouse of a deceased person who was permanently and totally disabled or sixty-five years of age or older and who applied and qualified for a reduction in taxes under this division in the year of death, provided the surviving spouse is at least fifty-nine but not sixty-five or more years of age on the date the deceased spouse dies.

(2) Real property taxes on a homestead owned and occupied, or a homestead in a housing cooperative occupied, by a person to whom division (A) of this section applies shall be reduced for each year for which the owner obtains a certificate of reduction from the county auditor under section 323.154 of the Revised Code or for which the occupant obtains a certificate of reduction in accordance with section 323.159 of the Revised Code. The reduction shall equal the greater of the reduction granted for the tax year preceding the first tax year to which this section applies pursuant to Section 803.06 of Am. Sub. H.B. 119 of the 127th general assembly, if the taxpayer received a reduction for that preceding tax year, or the product of the following:

(a) Twenty-five thousand dollars of the true value of the property in money;

(b) The assessment percentage established by the tax commissioner under division (B) of section 5715.01 of the Revised Code, not to exceed thirty-five per cent;

(c) The effective tax rate used to calculate the taxes charged against the property for the current year, where "effective tax rate" is defined as in section 323.08 of the Revised Code;

(d) The quantity equal to one minus the sum of the percentage reductions in taxes received by the property for the current tax year under section 319.302 of the Revised Code and division (B) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code.

(B) To provide a partial exemption, real property taxes on any homestead, and manufactured home taxes on any manufactured or mobile home on which a manufactured home tax is assessed pursuant to division (D)(2) of section 4503.06 of the Revised Code, shall be reduced for each year for which the owner obtains a certificate of reduction from the county auditor under section 323.154 of the Revised Code. The amount of the reduction shall equal two and one-half per cent of the amount of taxes to be levied on the homestead or the manufactured or mobile home after applying section 319.301 of the Revised Code.

(C) The reductions granted by this section do not apply to special assessments or respread of assessments levied against the homestead, and if there is a transfer of ownership subsequent to the filing of an application for a reduction in taxes, such reductions are not forfeited for such year by virtue of such transfer.

(D) The reductions in taxable value referred to in this section shall be applied solely as a factor for the purpose of computing the reduction of taxes under this section and shall not affect the total value of property in any subdivision or taxing district as listed and assessed for taxation on the tax lists and duplicates, or any direct or indirect limitations on indebtedness of a subdivision or taxing district. If after application of sections 5705.31 and 5705.32 of the Revised Code, including the allocation of all levies within the ten-mill limitation to debt charges to the extent therein provided, there would be insufficient funds for payment of debt charges not provided for by levies in excess of the ten-mill limitation, the reduction of taxes provided for in sections 323.151 to 323.159 of the Revised Code shall be proportionately adjusted to the extent necessary to provide such funds from levies within the ten-mill limitation.

(E) No reduction shall be made on the taxes due on the homestead of any person convicted of violating division (C) or (D) or (E) of section 323.153 of the Revised Code for a period of three years following the conviction.

Sec. 323.153.  (A) To obtain a reduction in real property taxes under division (A) or (B) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code or in manufactured home taxes under division (B) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code, the owner shall file an application with the county auditor of the county in which the owner's homestead is located.

To obtain a reduction in real property taxes under division (A) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code, the occupant of a homestead in a housing cooperative shall file an application with the nonprofit corporation that owns and operates the housing cooperative, in accordance with this paragraph. Not later than the first day of March each year, the corporation shall obtain applications from the county auditor's office and provide one to each new occupant. Not later than the first day of May, any occupant who may be eligible for a reduction in taxes under division (A) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code shall submit the completed application to the corporation. Not later than the fifteenth day of May, the corporation shall file all completed applications, and the information required by division (B) of section 323.159 of the Revised Code, with the county auditor of the county in which the occupants' homesteads are located. Continuing applications shall be furnished to an occupant in the manner provided in division (C)(4) of this section.

(1) An application for reduction based upon a physical disability shall be accompanied by a certificate signed by a physician, and an application for reduction based upon a mental disability shall be accompanied by a certificate signed by a physician or psychologist licensed to practice in this state, attesting to the fact that the applicant is permanently and totally disabled. The certificate shall be in a form that the tax commissioner requires and shall include the definition of permanently and totally disabled as set forth in section 323.151 of the Revised Code. An application for reduction based upon a disability certified as permanent and total by a state or federal agency having the function of so classifying persons shall be accompanied by a certificate from that agency.

An application for a reduction under division (A) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code constitutes a continuing application for a reduction in taxes for each year in which the dwelling is the applicant's homestead.

(2) An application for a reduction in taxes under division (B) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code shall be filed only if the homestead or manufactured or mobile home was transferred in the preceding year or did not qualify for and receive the reduction in taxes under that division for the preceding tax year. The application for homesteads transferred in the preceding year shall be incorporated into any form used by the county auditor to administer the tax law in respect to the conveyance of real property pursuant to section 319.20 of the Revised Code or of used manufactured homes or used mobile homes as defined in section 5739.0210 of the Revised Code. The owner of a manufactured or mobile home who has elected under division (D)(4) of section 4503.06 of the Revised Code to be taxed under division (D)(2) of that section for the ensuing year may file the application at the time of making that election. The application shall contain a statement that failure by the applicant to affirm on the application that the dwelling on the property conveyed is the applicant's homestead prohibits the owner from receiving the reduction in taxes until a proper application is filed within the period prescribed by division (A)(3) of this section. Such an application constitutes a continuing application for a reduction in taxes for each year in which the dwelling is the applicant's homestead.

(3) Failure to receive a new application filed under division (A)(1) or (2) or notification under division (C) of this section after a certificate of reduction has been issued under section 323.154 of the Revised Code, or failure to receive a new application filed under division (A)(1) or notification under division (C) of this section after a certificate of reduction has been issued under section 323.159 of the Revised Code, is prima-facie evidence that the original applicant is entitled to the reduction in taxes calculated on the basis of the information contained in the original application. The original application and any subsequent application, including any late application, shall be in the form of a signed statement and shall be filed after the first Monday in January and not later than the first Monday in June. The original application and any subsequent application for a reduction in real property taxes shall be filed in the year for which the reduction is sought. The original application and any subsequent application for a reduction in manufactured home taxes shall be filed in the year preceding the year for which the reduction is sought. The statement shall be on a form, devised and supplied by the tax commissioner, which shall require no more information than is necessary to establish the applicant's eligibility for the reduction in taxes and the amount of the reduction, and, for a certificate of reduction issued under section 323.154 of the Revised Code, shall include an affirmation by the applicant that ownership of the homestead was not acquired from a person, other than the applicant's spouse, related to the owner by consanguinity or affinity for the purpose of qualifying for the real property or manufactured home tax reduction provided for in division (A) or (B) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code. The form shall contain a statement that conviction of willfully falsifying information to obtain a reduction in taxes or failing to comply with division (C) of this section results in the revocation of the right to the reduction for a period of three years.

(B) A late application for a tax reduction for the year preceding the year in which an original application is filed, or for a reduction in manufactured home taxes for the year in which an original application is filed, may be filed with the original application. If the county auditor determines the information contained in the late application is correct, the auditor shall determine the amount of the reduction in taxes to which the applicant would have been entitled for the preceding tax year had the applicant's application been timely filed and approved in that year.

The amount of such reduction shall be treated by the auditor as an overpayment of taxes by the applicant and shall be refunded in the manner prescribed in section 5715.22 of the Revised Code for making refunds of overpayments. On the first day of July of each year, the county auditor shall certify the total amount of the reductions in taxes made in the current year under this division to the tax commissioner, who shall treat the full amount thereof as a reduction in taxes for the preceding tax year and shall make reimbursement to the county therefor in the manner prescribed by section 323.156 of the Revised Code, from money appropriated for that purpose.

(C)(1) If, in any year after an application has been filed under division (A)(1) or (2) of this section, the owner does not qualify for a reduction in taxes on the homestead or on the manufactured or mobile home set forth on such application, the owner shall notify the county auditor that the owner is not qualified for a reduction in taxes.

(2) If, in any year after an application has been filed under division (A) of this section, the occupant of a homestead in a housing cooperative does not qualify for a reduction in taxes on the homestead, the occupant shall notify the county auditor that the occupant is not qualified for a reduction in taxes or file a new application under division (A) of this section.

(3) The county auditor shall make reasonable attempts to identify owners of property receiving the reduction in taxes under division (B) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code that are not entitled to the reduction. If the county auditor or county treasurer discovers that the owner of property not entitled to the reduction in taxes under that division (B) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code failed to notify the county auditor as required by division (C)(1) of this section, a charge shall be imposed against the property in the amount by which taxes were reduced under that division for each tax year the county auditor ascertains that the property was not entitled to the reduction and was owned by the current owner, but not for more than the five most recent such years. Interest shall accrue in the manner prescribed by division (B) of section 323.121 or division (G)(2) of section 4503.06 of the Revised Code on the amount by which taxes were reduced for each such tax year as if the reduction became delinquent taxes at the close of the last day the second installment of taxes for that tax year could be paid without penalty. The county auditor shall notify the owner, by ordinary mail, of the charge, of the owner's right to appeal the charge, and of the manner in which the owner may appeal. The owner may appeal the imposition of the charge and interest by filing an appeal with the county board of revision not later than the last day prescribed for payment of real and public utility property taxes under section 323.12 of the Revised Code following receipt of the notice and occurring at least ninety days after receipt of the notice. The appeal shall be treated in the same manner as a complaint relating to the valuation or assessment of real property under Chapter 5715. of the Revised Code. The charge and any interest shall be collected as other delinquent taxes. Ten per cent of the amount collected shall be credited to the county rollback enforcement fund, which shall be created in the county treasury, for use by the county auditor to enforce compliance with this section. The remainder shall be credited to the county undivided income tax fund and distributed to taxing districts in the county in the same manner as provided in section 323.156 of the Revised Code.

(4) Each year during January, the county auditor shall furnish by ordinary mail a continuing application to each person issued a certificate of reduction under section 323.154 or 323.159 of the Revised Code with respect to a reduction in taxes under division (A) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code. The continuing application shall be used to report changes in ownership or occupancy of the homestead, including changes in or revocation of a revocable inter vivos trust, changes in disability, and other changes in the information earlier furnished the auditor relative to the reduction in taxes on the property. The continuing application shall be returned to the auditor not later than the first Monday in June; provided, that if such changes do not affect the status of the homestead exemption or the amount of the reduction to which the owner is entitled under division (A) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code or to which the occupant is entitled under section 323.159 of the Revised Code, the application does not need to be returned.

(5) Each year during February, the county auditor, except as otherwise provided in this paragraph, shall furnish by ordinary mail an original application to the owner, as of the first day of January of that year, of a homestead or a manufactured or mobile home that transferred during the preceding calendar year and that qualified for and received a reduction in taxes under division (B) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code for the preceding tax year. In order to receive the reduction under that division, the owner shall file the application with the county auditor not later than the first Monday in June. If the application is not timely filed, the auditor shall not grant a reduction in taxes for the homestead for the current year, and shall notify the owner that the reduction in taxes has not been granted, in the same manner prescribed under section 323.154 of the Revised Code for notification of denial of an application. Failure of an owner to receive an application does not excuse the failure of the owner to file an original application. The county auditor is not required to furnish an application under this paragraph for any homestead for which application has previously been made on a form incorporated into any form used by the county auditor to administer the tax law in respect to the conveyance of real property or of used manufactured homes or used mobile homes, and an owner who previously has applied on such a form is not required to return an application furnished under this paragraph.

(D) No person shall knowingly make a false statement for the purpose of obtaining a reduction in the person's real property or manufactured home taxes under section 323.152 of the Revised Code.

(E) No person shall knowingly fail to notify the county auditor of changes required by division (C) of this section that have the effect of maintaining or securing a reduction in taxes under section 323.152 of the Revised Code.

(F) No person shall knowingly make a false statement or certification attesting to any person's physical or mental condition for purposes of qualifying such person for tax relief pursuant to sections 323.151 to 323.159 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 323.156.  Within thirty days after a settlement of taxes under divisions (A), (C), and (H) of section 321.24 of the Revised Code, the county treasurer shall certify to the tax commissioner one-half of the total amount of taxes on real property that were reduced pursuant to section 323.152 of the Revised Code for the preceding tax year, and one-half of the total amount of taxes on manufactured and mobile homes that were reduced pursuant to division (B) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code for the current tax year, as evidenced by the certificates of reduction and the tax duplicate certified to the county treasurer by the county auditor, less ninety per cent of the amount collected pursuant to division (C)(3) of section 323.153 of the Revised Code since the treasurer's last certification under this section. The commissioner, within thirty days of the receipt of such certifications, shall provide for payment to the county treasurer, from the general revenue fund, of the net amount certified, which shall be credited upon receipt to the county's undivided income tax fund, and an amount equal to two per cent of the net amount by which taxes were reduced, which shall be credited upon receipt to the county general fund as a payment, in addition to the fees and charges authorized by sections 319.54 and 321.26 of the Revised Code, to the county auditor and treasurer for the costs of administering the exemption provided under sections 323.151 to 323.159 of the Revised Code.

Immediately upon receipt of funds into the county undivided income tax fund under this section, the auditor shall distribute the full amount thereof among the taxing districts in the county as though the total had been paid as taxes by each person for whom taxes were reduced under sections 323.151 to 323.159 of the Revised Code.

Section 2. That existing sections 323.152, 323.153, and 323.156 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.

Section 3. (A) The county auditor of each county shall determine a date, to fall within one year after the effective date of this act, by which owners of property located in the county who currently receive the reduction in taxes under division (B) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code must inform the county auditor or county treasurer that the property might not be entitled to the reduction. The property owner shall provide the auditor or treasurer with the property owner's full name, the street address of the property, and the month and year the owner last used the property as the owner's homestead.

Property owners who so notify the county auditor or treasurer on or before the date determined by the county auditor shall be immune from prosecution for violation of division (D) or (E) of section 323.153 of the Revised Code and shall not be subject to the prohibition in division (E) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code.

(B)(1) In lieu of the charges imposed in division (C)(3) of section 323.153 of the Revised Code, if the county auditor determines that property subject to the manufactured home tax in division (C) of section 4503.06 of the Revised Code has improperly received the reduction under division (B) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code for the current tax year and one or more preceding tax years, and that the owner of the property has provided proper notice to the county auditor or treasurer pursuant to division (A) of this section, the property owner shall be subject to a charge equal to the reduction in taxes the property received for the current tax year. If the property improperly received the reduction only for the current tax year, no charge shall be imposed so long as the owner provided proper notice under division (A) of this section.

(2) In lieu of the charges imposed in division (C)(3) of section 323.153 of the Revised Code, if the county auditor determines that real property has improperly received the reduction under division (B) of section 323.152 of the Revised Code for the preceding tax year and one or more preceding tax years, and that the owner of the property has provided proper notice to the county auditor or treasurer pursuant to division (A) of this section, the property owner shall be subject to a charge equal to the reduction the property received for the preceding tax year. If the property improperly received the reduction only for the preceding tax year, no charge shall be imposed so long as the owner provided proper notice under this section.

(C) A reasonable time before the date chosen by the county auditor, the auditor shall publish notice reasonably calculated to reach the property owners identified in division (A) of this section. The notice shall state the purpose of the notice, the relief available under this section, the deadline by which persons must apply for the relief, how relief is to be applied for, and the potential consequences of not doing so.

(D) Charges collected under this section shall be credited as provided in division (C)(3) of section 323.153 of the Revised Code.

Section 4.  Section 323.156 of the Revised Code is presented in this act as a composite of the section as amended by both Am. H.B. 595 and Am. Sub. H.B. 672 of the 123rd 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.