To amend section 3318.032 and to enact section 3318.033 of the Revised Code to calculate an alternate equity list for fiscal year 2008 for purposes of determining school districts' eligibility for assistance under the Classroom Facilities Assistance Program and their local shares in fiscal year 2009, to calculate an alternative equity list for fiscal year 2009 funding under the Classroom Facilities Assistance Program and the Exceptional Needs School Facilities Assistance Program for certain school districts with large one-year reductions in valuation, to recalculate the local share of a current classroom facilities project for certain school districts that had a net gain in interdistrict open enrollment students when they became eligible for state facilities assistance, to specify the local share of new projects for certain school districts that previously received assistance, and to increase the percentage of classroom facilities appropriations that may be used for joint vocational school districts in fiscal year 2008.

Section 1. That section 3318.032 be amended and section 3318.033 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 3318.032.  (A) The Except as otherwise provided in divisions (C) and (D) of this section, the portion of the basic project cost supplied by the school district shall be the greater of:

(1) The required percentage of the basic project costs;

(2) An amount necessary to raise the school district's net bonded indebtedness, as of the date the controlling board approved the project, to within five thousand dollars of the required level of indebtedness.

(B) The amount of the district's share determined under this section shall be calculated only as of the date the controlling board approved the project, and that amount applies throughout the one-year period permitted under section 3318.05 of the Revised Code for the district's electors to approve the propositions described in that section. If the amount reserved and encumbered for a project is released because the electors do not approve those propositions within that year, and the school district later receives the controlling board's approval for the project, the district's portion shall be recalculated in accordance with this section as of the date of the controlling board's subsequent approval.

(C) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in division (A) or (B) of this section, at At no time shall a school district's portion of the basic project cost be greater than ninety-five per cent of the total basic project cost.

(D) If the controlling board approves a project under sections 3318.01 to 3318.20 of the Revised Code for a school district that previously received assistance under those sections or section 3318.37 of the Revised Code within the twenty-year period prior to the date on which the controlling board approves the new project, the district's portion of the basic project cost for the new project shall be the lesser of the following:

(1) The portion calculated under division (A) of this section;

(2) The greater of the following:

(a) The required percentage of the basic project costs for the new project;

(b) The percentage of the basic project cost paid by the district for the previous project.

Sec. 3318.033. (A) As used in this section:

(1) "Formula ADM" has the same meaning as in section 3317.02 of the Revised Code.

(2) "Open enrollment net gain" has the same meaning as in section 3318.011 of the Revised Code.

(B) This section applies to each school district that meets the following criteria:

(1) The Ohio school facilities commission certified its conditional approval of the district's project under sections 3318.01 to 3318.20 of the Revised Code after July 1, 2006, and prior to September 29, 2007, and the project had not been completed as of September 29, 2007.

(2) Within one year after the date of the commission's certification of its conditional approval, the district's electors approved a bond issue to pay the district's portion of the basic project cost or the district board of education complied with section 3318.052 of the Revised Code.

(3) In the fiscal year prior to the fiscal year in which the district's project was conditionally approved, the district had an open enrollment net gain that was ten per cent or more of its formula ADM.

(C) For each school district to which this section applies, the department of education shall recalculate the district's percentile ranking under section 3318.011 of the Revised Code for the fiscal year prior to the fiscal year in which the district's project was conditionally approved and shall report the recalculated percentile ranking to the commission. For this purpose, the department shall recalculate every school district's percentile ranking for that fiscal year using the district's "valuation per pupil" as that term is defined in section 3318.011 of the Revised Code on and after September 29, 2007.

(D) For each school district to which this section applies, the commission shall use the recalculated percentile ranking reported under division (C) of this section to determine the district's portion of the basic project cost under section 3318.032 of the Revised Code. The commission shall not use the recalculated percentile ranking for any other purpose, and the recalculated ranking shall not affect any other district's portion of the basic project cost under section 3318.032 of the Revised Code or any district's eligibility for assistance under sections 3318.01 to 3318.20 of the Revised Code. The commission shall revise the agreement entered into under section 3318.08 of the Revised Code to reflect the district's new portion of the basic project cost as determined under this division.

Section 2. That existing section 3318.032 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.

Section 3. (A) As used in this section, "equity list" means the school district percentile rankings calculated under section 3318.011 of the Revised Code.

(B) Not later than thirty days after the effective date of this section, the Department of Education shall create an alternate equity list for fiscal year 2008 by recalculating each school district's percentile ranking under section 3318.011 of the Revised Code and shall certify the alternate equity list to the Ohio School Facilities Commission. For this purpose, the Department shall recalculate every school district's percentile ranking using the district's "valuation per pupil" as that term is defined in the version of section 3318.011 of the Revised Code in effect on and after September 29, 2007. When recalculating the percentile rankings, the Department shall use the same values for "average taxable value," "formula ADM," and "income factor," as those terms are defined in section 3318.011 of the Revised Code, that it used in calculating the original equity list for fiscal year 2008 certified to the Commission on September 5, 2007, and shall not use any updated values for those variables.

(C) The Commission shall use the alternate equity list certified under division (B) of this section to determine the priority for assistance under sections 3318.01 to 3318.20 of the Revised Code in fiscal year 2009 for each school district that has not previously been offered funding under those sections. The alternate equity list shall not affect any school district's eligibility for the Exceptional Needs School Facilities Assistance Program under section 3318.37 of the Revised Code.

(D) Notwithstanding any provision of Chapter 3318. of the Revised Code to the contrary, for each school district that receives the Commission's conditional approval of the district's project under sections 3318.01 to 3318.20 or section 3318.37 of the Revised Code in fiscal year 2009, the district's portion of the basic project cost shall be the lesser of the following:

(1) The amount required under section 3318.032 of the Revised Code calculated using the percentile in which the district ranks on the alternate equity list certified under division (B) of this section;

(2) The amount required under section 3318.032 of the Revised Code calculated using the percentile in which the district ranks on the original equity list for fiscal year 2008.

Section 4. (A) As used in this section:

(1) "Alternative equity list" means a rank order of all city, exempted village, and local school districts into percentiles according to the one-year adjusted valuation per pupil of each district from lowest to higher adjusted valuation per pupil, computed as follows:

(The district's total taxable value for tax year 2006 / the district's formula ADM for fiscal year 2007) - [$30,000 x (1 -the district's income factor for fiscal year 2007)]

(2) "Original equity list" means the school district percentile ranking according to the three-year average adjusted valuation per pupil of all city, exempted village, and local school districts calculated under section 3318.011 of the Revised Code and certified to the Ohio School Facilities Commission on September 5, 2007.

(3) "Project" has the same meaning as in section 3318.01 of the Revised Code.

(4) "School district's portion of the basic project cost" means the portion of the basic project cost computed under section 3318.032 of the Revised Code.

(5) "Total taxable value," "formula ADM," and "income factor" have the same meanings as in section 3317.02 of the Revised Code.

(B) Not later than thirty days after the effective date of this section, the Department of Education shall create the alternative equity list defined in this section and shall certify that list to the Ohio School Facilities Commission for its use in determining funding of school district projects for fiscal year 2009, in the manner prescribed in division (C) of this section.

(C) Notwithstanding any provision to the contrary in Chapter 3318. of the Revised Code, for fiscal year 2009 only, in the case of any school district that has not received funding under sections 3318.01 to 3318.20 of the Revised Code in any fiscal year prior to fiscal year 2009 and for which the district's rank on the alternative equity list is at least fifteen percentiles lower than the district's rank on the original equity list:

(1) The Commission shall use the district's percentile on the alternative equity list to determine the district's priority for assistance and the school district's portion of the basic project cost for a project under sections 3318.01 to 3318.20 of the Revised Code, rather than the district's percentile on the original equity list as otherwise provided under those sections;

(2) The Commission shall use the district's percentile on the alternative equity list to determine the school district's portion of the basic project cost for a project under section 3318.37 of the Revised Code, rather than the district's percentile on the original equity list as otherwise provided under that section. The alternative equity list shall not affect any school district's eligibility and priority for assistance under that section.

The Commission shall not use the alternative equity list to determine the priority for funding or a school district's portion of the basic project cost for any other school district or for any other program administered by the Commission.

(D) If a school district is offered funding under sections 3318.01 to 3318.20 or section 3318.37 of the Revised Code for fiscal year 2009 based on this section, the district's project shall proceed as specified in those sections, except as otherwise provided in this section.

Section 5. Notwithstanding division (B) of section 3318.40 of the Revised Code, the Ohio School Facilities Commission may set aside up to three per cent of the aggregate amount appropriated to it in fiscal year 2008 for classroom facilities assistance projects in the Education Facilities Trust Fund established under section 183.26 of the Revised Code, the Public School Building Fund established under section 3318.15 of the Revised Code, and the School Building Program Assistance Fund established under section 3318.25 of the Revised Code to provide assistance to joint vocational school districts for the acquisition of classroom facilities in accordance with sections 3318.40 to 3318.45 of the Revised Code.