To amend sections 117.13, 1515.14, and 3734.901 of the Revised Code and to amend Section 343.40 of Am. Sub. H.B. 1 of the 128th General Assembly to require that the costs of all biennial audits of state agencies be charged to the state agency being audited, to alter the allocation of the proceeds of the existing fee on the sale of new tires in order to provide funding for the Soil and Water Conservation District Assistance Fund, and to increase the maximum amount of the annual soil and water conservation district subsidy.

Section 1. That sections 117.13, 1515.14, and 3734.901 of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec. 117.13.  (A) The costs of audits of state agencies shall be recovered by the auditor of state in the following manner:

(1) The costs of all audits of state agencies shall be paid to the auditor of state on statements rendered by the auditor of state. Money so received by the auditor of state shall be paid into the state treasury to the credit of the public audit expense fund--intrastate, which is hereby created, and shall be used to pay costs related to such audits. The costs of all annual and special audits of a state agency shall be charged to the state agency being audited. The costs of all biennial audits of a state agency shall be paid from money appropriated to the department of administrative services for that purpose. The costs of any assistant auditor, employee, or expert employed pursuant to section 117.09 of the Revised Code called upon to testify in any legal proceedings in regard to any audit, or called upon to review or discuss any matter related to any audit, may be charged to the state agency to which the audit relates.

(2) The auditor of state shall establish by rule rates to be charged to state agencies or to the department of administrative services for recovering the costs of audits of state agencies.

(B) As used in this division, "government auditing standards" means the government auditing standards published by the comptroller general of the United States general accounting office.

(1) Except as provided in divisions (B)(2) and (3) of this section, any costs of an audit of a private institution, association, board, or corporation receiving public money for its use shall be charged to the public office providing the public money in the same manner as costs of an audit of the public office.

(2) If an audit of a private child placing agency or private noncustodial agency receiving public money from a public children services agency for providing child welfare or child protection services sets forth that money has been illegally expended, converted, misappropriated, or is unaccounted for, the costs of the audit shall be charged to the agency being audited in the same manner as costs of an audit of a public office, unless the findings are inconsequential, as defined by government auditing standards.

(3) If such an audit does not set forth that money has been illegally expended, converted, misappropriated, or is unaccounted for or sets forth findings that are inconsequential, as defined by government auditing standards, the costs of the audit shall be charged as follows:

(a) One-third of the costs to the agency being audited;

(b) One-third of the costs to the public children services agency that provided the public money to the agency being audited;

(c) One-third of the costs to the department of job and family services.

(C) The costs of audits of local public offices shall be recovered by the auditor of state in the following manner:

(1) The total amount of compensation paid assistant auditors of state, their expenses, the cost of employees assigned to assist the assistant auditors of state, the cost of experts employed pursuant to section 117.09 of the Revised Code, and the cost of typing, reviewing, and copying reports shall be borne by the public office to which such assistant auditors of state are so assigned, except that annual vacation and sick leave of assistant auditors of state, employees, and typists shall be financed from the general revenue fund. The necessary traveling and hotel expenses of the deputy inspectors and supervisors of public offices shall be paid from the state treasury. Assistant auditors of state shall be compensated by the taxing district or other public office audited for activities undertaken pursuant to division (B) of section 117.18 and section 117.24 of the Revised Code. The costs of any assistant auditor, employee, or expert employed pursuant to section 117.09 of the Revised Code called upon to testify in any legal proceedings in regard to any audit, or called upon to review or discuss any matter related to any audit, may be charged to the public office to which the audit relates.

(2) The auditor of state shall certify the amount of such compensation, expenses, cost of experts, reviewing, copying, and typing to the fiscal officer of the local public office audited. The fiscal officer of the local public office shall forthwith draw a warrant upon the general fund or other appropriate funds of the local public office to the order of the auditor of state; provided, that the auditor of state is authorized to negotiate with any local public office and, upon agreement between the auditor of state and the local public office, may adopt a schedule for payment of the amount due under this section. Money so received by the auditor of state shall be paid into the state treasury to the credit of the public audit expense fund--local government, which is hereby created, and shall be used to pay the compensation, expense, cost of experts and employees, reviewing, copying, and typing of reports.

(3) At the conclusion of each audit, or analysis and report made pursuant to section 117.24 of the Revised Code, the auditor of state shall furnish the fiscal officer of the local public office audited a statement showing the total cost of the audit, or of the audit and the analysis and report, and the percentage of the total cost chargeable to each fund audited. The fiscal officer may distribute such total cost to each fund audited in accordance with its percentage of the total cost.

(4) The auditor of state shall provide each local public office a statement or certification of the amount due from the public office for services performed by the auditor of state under this or any other section of the Revised Code, as well as the date upon which payment is due to the auditor of state. Any local public office that does not pay the amount due to the auditor of state by that date may be assessed by the auditor of state for interest from the date upon which the payment is due at the rate per annum prescribed by section 5703.47 of the Revised Code. All interest charges assessed by the auditor of state may be collected in the same manner as audit costs pursuant to division (D) of this section.

(D) If the auditor of state fails to receive payment for any amount due, including, but not limited to, fines, fees, and costs, from a public office for services performed under this or any other section of the Revised Code, the auditor of state may seek payment through the office of budget and management. (Amounts due include any amount due to an independent public accountant with whom the auditor has contracted to perform services, all costs and fees associated with participation in the uniform accounting network, and all costs associated with the auditor's provision of local government services.) Upon certification by the auditor of state to the director of budget and management of any such amount due, the director shall withhold from the public office any amount available, up to and including the amount certified as due, from any funds under the director's control that belong to or are lawfully payable or due to the public office. The director shall promptly pay the amount withheld to the auditor of state. If the director determines that no funds due and payable to the public office are available or that insufficient amounts of such funds are available to cover the amount due, the director shall withhold and pay to the auditor of state the amounts available and, in the case of a local public office, certify the remaining amount to the county auditor of the county in which the local public office is located. The county auditor shall withhold from the local public office any amount available, up to and including the amount certified as due, from any funds under the county auditor's control and belonging to or lawfully payable or due to the local public office. The county auditor shall promptly pay any such amount withheld to the auditor of state.

Sec. 1515.14.  Within the limits of funds appropriated to the department of natural resources and the soil and water conservation district assistance fund created in this section, there shall be paid in each calendar year to each local soil and water conservation district an amount not to exceed one dollar for each one dollar received in accordance with section 1515.10 of the Revised Code, received from tax levies in excess of the ten-mill levy limitation approved for the benefit of local soil and water conservation districts, or received from an appropriation by a municipal corporation or a township to a maximum of eight thousand dollars, provided that the Ohio soil and water conservation commission may approve payment to a district in an amount in excess of eight thousand dollars in any calendar year upon receipt of a request and justification from the district. The county auditor shall credit such payments to the special fund established pursuant to section 1515.10 of the Revised Code for the local soil and water conservation district. The department may make advances at least quarterly to each district on the basis of the estimated contribution of the state to each district. Moneys received by each district shall be expended for the purposes of the district.

For the purpose of providing money to soil and water conservation districts under this section, there is hereby created in the state treasury the soil and water conservation district assistance fund consisting of money credited to it under section sections 3714.073 and 3734.901 and division (A)(5) of section 3734.57 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 3734.901.  (A)(1) For the purpose of providing revenue to defray the cost of administering and enforcing the scrap tire provisions of this chapter, rules adopted under those provisions, and terms and conditions of orders, variances, and licenses issued under those provisions; to abate accumulations of scrap tires; to make grants supporting market development activities for scrap tires and synthetic rubber from tire manufacturing processes and tire recycling processes and to support scrap tire amnesty and cleanup events; to make loans to promote the recycling or recovery of energy from scrap tires; and to defray the costs of administering and enforcing sections 3734.90 to 3734.9014 of the Revised Code; and for the purpose of providing revenue for soil and water conservation districts, a fee of fifty cents per tire is hereby levied on the sale of tires. The Fifty per cent of the proceeds of the fee levied under division (A)(1) of this section shall be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the scrap tire management fund created in section 3734.82 of the Revised Code and fifty per cent of the proceeds shall be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the soil and water conservation district assistance fund created in section 1515.14 of the Revised Code. The fee is levied from the first day of the calendar month that begins next after thirty days from October 29, 1993, through June 30, 2011.

(2) Beginning on September 5, 2001, and ending on June 30, 2011, there is hereby levied an additional fee of fifty cents per tire on the sale of tires. Fifty per cent of the proceeds of which the fee levied under division (A)(2) of this section shall be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the scrap tire management fund and be used exclusively for the purposes specified in division (G)(3) of that section, and fifty per cent of the proceeds shall be deposited in the state treasury to the credit of the soil and water conservation district assistance fund created in section 1515.14 of the Revised Code.

(B) Only one sale of the same article shall be used in computing the amount of the fee due.

Section 2. That existing sections 117.13, 1515.14, and 3734.901 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.

Section 3. That Section 343.40 of Am. Sub. H.B. 1 of the 128th General Assembly be amended to read as follows:

Sec. 343.40. SOIL AND WATER DISTRICTS

In addition to state payments to soil and water conservation districts authorized by section 1515.10 of the Revised Code, the Department of Natural Resources may use appropriation item 725502, Soil and Water Districts, to pay any soil and water conservation district an annual amount not to exceed $30,000 $40,000, upon receipt of a request and justification from the district and approval by the Ohio Soil and Water Conservation Commission. The county auditor shall credit the payments to the special fund established under section 1515.10 of the Revised Code for the local soil and water conservation district. Moneys received by each district shall be expended for the purposes of the district.

The foregoing appropriation item 725683, Soil and Water Districts, shall be expended for the purposes described above, except that the funding source for this appropriation shall be fees applied on the disposal of construction and demolition debris and municipal solid waste, and fees levied on the sale of tires, as provided in section 1515.14 of the Revised Code.

OIL AND GAS WELL PLUGGING

The foregoing appropriation item 725677, Oil and Gas Well Plugging, shall be used exclusively for the purposes of plugging wells and to properly restore the land surface of idle and orphan oil and gas wells pursuant to section 1509.071 of the Revised Code. No funds from the appropriation item shall be used for salaries, maintenance, equipment, or other administrative purposes, except for those costs directly attributed to the plugging of an idle or orphan well. This appropriation item shall not be used to transfer cash to any other fund or appropriation item.

LITTER CONTROL AND RECYCLING

Of the foregoing appropriation item 725644, Litter Control and Recycling, up to $1,500,000 may be used in each fiscal year for the administration of the Recycling and Litter Prevention Program.

Section 4. That existing Section 343.40 of Am. Sub. H.B. 1 of the 128th General Assembly is hereby repealed.

Section 5. If determined to be necessary, the Director of Natural Resources may request the Controlling Board to increase appropriations to the Soil and Water Conservation District Assistance Fund in order to account for increased revenue generated as a result of the amendments made by this act to sections 1515.14 and 3734.901 of the Revised Code. The Controlling Board shall approve such a request.