The online versions of legislation provided on this website are not official. Enrolled bills are the final version passed by the Ohio General Assembly and presented to the Governor for signature. The official version of acts signed by the Governor are available from the Secretary of State's Office in the Continental Plaza, 180 East Broad St., Columbus.
|
(128th General Assembly)
(Amended Substitute Senate Bill Number 232)
AN ACT
To amend sections 717.25, 1710.01, 1710.02, 1710.06,
1710.07, 4928.01, 4928.64, 5709.53, 5713.30,
5713.34, 5727.01, 5727.02, 5727.06, 5727.11,
5727.111, 5727.15, 5727.30, and 5739.02 and to
enact sections 1710.061, 4935.10, and 5727.75 of
the Revised Code to exempt qualifying energy
facilities from property taxation upon county
approval, to require payments in lieu of taxes on
the basis of each megawatt of production capacity
of such facilities, to expand special improvement
district energy improvement projects and the
municipal solar energy revolving loan program law
to include alternative energy, to address the
treatment of energy efficiency savings and
reductions in demand regarding certain energy
projects, to prohibit the use of the exemption to
determine the cost of compliance for the state's
alternative energy portfolio standard, to clarify
the sales and use tax treatment of related energy
conversion equipment purchases, to specify that
operators of such facilities are subject to the
commercial activity tax, to require the Public
Utilities Commission to study reactive power in
the state, and to declare an emergency.
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Ohio:
SECTION 1. That sections 717.25, 1710.01, 1710.02, 1710.06,
1710.07, 4928.01, 4928.64, 5709.53, 5713.30, 5713.34, 5727.01,
5727.02, 5727.06, 5727.11, 5727.111, 5727.15, 5727.30, and 5739.02
be amended and sections 1710.061, 4935.10, and 5727.75 of the
Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 717.25. (A) As used in this section:
(1) "Customer-generated energy project" means a wind,
biomass, or gasification facility for the generation of
electricity that meets either of the following requirements:
(a) The facility is designed to have a generating capacity of
two hundred fifty kilowatts of electricity or less.
(b) The facility is:
(i) Designed to have a generating capacity of more than two
hundred fifty kilowatts of electricity;
(ii) Operated in parallel with electric transmission and
distribution facilities serving the real property at the site of
the customer-generated energy project;
(iii) Intended primarily to offset part or all of the
facility owner's requirements for electricity at the site of the
customer-generated energy project and is located on the facility
owner's real property; and
(iv) Not producing energy for direct sale by the facility
owner to the public.
(2) "Electric distribution utility" and "mercantile customer"
have the same meanings as in section 4928.01 of the Revised Code.
(3) "Reduction in demand" has the same meaning as in section
1710.01 of the Revised Code.
(B) The legislative authority of a municipal corporation may
establish a low-cost solar panel alternative energy revolving loan
program to assist residents of owners of real property within the
municipal corporation to install solar panels at their residences.
If with installing and implementing either of the following on
their real property:
(1) Alternative energy technologies limited to solar
photovoltaic projects, solar thermal energy projects, geothermal
energy projects, and customer-generated energy projects;
(2) Energy efficiency technologies, products, and activities
that reduce or support the reduction of energy consumption, allow
for the reduction in demand, or support the production of clean,
renewable energy.
(C) If the legislative authority decides to establish such a
program, the legislative authority shall adopt an ordinance that
provides for the following:
(A)(1) Creation in the municipal treasury of a residential
solar panel an alternative energy revolving loan fund;
(B)(2) A source of money, such as gifts, bond issues, real
property assessments, or federal subsidies, to seed the
residential solar panel alternative energy revolving loan fund;
(C)(3) Facilities for making loans from the residential solar
panel alternative energy revolving loan fund, including an
explanation of how
residents of owners of real property within
the municipal corporation may qualify for loans from the fund, a
description of the solar panels alternative energy and energy
efficiency technologies and related equipment for which a loan can
be made from the fund, authorization of a municipal agency to
process applications for loans and otherwise to administer the
low-cost solar panel
alternative energy revolving loan program, a
procedure whereby loans can be applied for, criteria for reviewing
and accepting or denying applications for loans, criteria for
determining the appropriate amount of a loan, the interest rate to
be charged, the repayment schedule, and other terms and conditions
of a loan, and procedures for collecting loans that are not repaid
according to the repayment schedule;
(D)(4) A specification that repayments of loans from the
residential solar panel alternative energy revolving loan fund may
be made in installments and, at the option of the resident real
property owner repaying the loan, the installments may be paid and
collected as if they were special assessments paid and collected
in the manner specified in Chapter 727. of the Revised Code and as
specified in the ordinance;
(E)(5) A specification that repayments of loans from the
residential solar panel alternative energy revolving loan fund are
to be credited to the fund, that the money in the fund is to be
invested pending its being lent out, and that investment earnings
on the money in the fund is are to be credited to the fund; and
(F)(6) Other matters necessary and proper for efficient
operation of the low-cost solar panel alternative energy revolving
loan program as a means of encouraging use of renewable
alternative energy and energy efficiency technologies.
The interest rate charged on a loan from the residential
solar panel alternative energy revolving loan fund shall be below
prevailing market rates. The legislative authority may specify the
interest rate in the ordinance or may, after establishing a
standard in the ordinance whereby the interest rate can be
specified, delegate authority to specify the interest rate to the
administrator of loans from the residential solar panel
alternative energy revolving loan fund.
The residential solar panel alternative energy revolving loan
fund shall be seeded with sufficient money to enable loans to be
made until the fund accumulates sufficient reserves through
investment and repayment of loans for revolving operation.
(D) Except as provided in division (E) of this section, an
electric distribution utility may count toward its compliance with
the energy efficiency and peak demand reduction requirements of
section 4928.66 of the Revised Code any energy efficiency savings
or any reduction in demand that is produced by projects utilizing
alternative energy technologies or energy efficiency technologies,
products, and activities that are located in its certified
territory and for which a loan has been made under this section.
(E) A mercantile customer that realizes energy efficiency
savings or reduction in demand produced by alternative energy
technologies or energy efficiency technologies, products, or
activities that it owns and for which a loan has been made under
this section may elect to commit the savings or reduction to the
electric distribution utility in exchange for an exemption from an
energy efficiency cost recovery mechanism permitted under section
4928.66 of the Revised Code, approved by the public utilities
commission.
(F) The legislative authority shall submit a quarterly report
to the electric distribution utility that includes, but is not
limited to, both of the following:
(1) The number and a description of each new and ongoing
project utilizing alternative energy technologies or energy
efficiency technologies, products, or activities located in the
utility's certified territory that produces energy efficiency
savings or reduction in demand and for which a loan has been made
under this section;
(2) Any additional information that the electric distribution
utility needs in order to obtain credit under section 4928.66 of
the Revised Code for energy efficiency savings or reduction in
demand from such projects.
Sec. 1710.01. As used in this chapter:
(A) "Special improvement district" means a special
improvement district organized under this chapter.
(B) "Church" means a fellowship of believers, congregation,
society, corporation, convention, or association that is formed
primarily or exclusively for religious purposes and that is not
formed for the private profit of any person.
(C) "Church property" means property that is described as
being exempt from taxation under division (A)(2) of section
5709.07 of the Revised Code and that the county auditor has
entered on the exempt list compiled under section 5713.07 of the
Revised Code.
(D) "Municipal executive" means the mayor, city manager, or
other chief executive officer of the municipal corporation in
which a special improvement district is located.
(E) "Participating political subdivision" means the municipal
corporation or township, or each of the municipal corporations or
townships, that has territory within the boundaries of a special
improvement district created under this chapter.
(F) "Legislative authority of a participating political
subdivision" means, with reference to a township, the board of
township trustees.
(G) "Public improvement" means the planning, design,
construction, reconstruction, enlargement, or alteration of any
facility or improvement, including the acquisition of land, for
which a special assessment may be levied under Chapter 727. of the
Revised Code, and includes any special energy improvement project.
(H) "Public service" means any service that can be provided
by a municipal corporation or any service for which a special
assessment may be levied under Chapter 727. of the Revised Code.
(I) "Special energy improvement project" means any property,
device, structure, or equipment necessary for the acquisition,
installation, equipping, and improvement of any real or personal
property used for the purpose of creating a solar photo voltaic
photovoltaic project or, a solar thermal energy project, a
geothermal energy project, a customer-generated energy project, or
an energy efficiency improvement, whether such real or personal
property is publicly or privately owned.
(J) "Existing qualified nonprofit corporation" means a
nonprofit corporation that existed before the creation of the
corresponding district under this chapter, that is composed of
members located within or adjacent to the district, that has
established a police department under section 1702.80 of the
Revised Code, and that is organized for purposes that include
acquisition of real property within an area specified by its
articles for the subsequent transfer of such property to its
members exclusively for charitable, scientific, literary, or
educational purposes, or holding and maintaining and leasing such
property; planning for and assisting in the development of its
members; providing for the relief of the poor and distressed or
underprivileged in the area and adjacent areas; combating
community deterioration and lessening the burdens of government;
providing or assisting others in providing housing for low- or
moderate-income persons; and assisting its members by the
provision of public safety and security services, parking
facilities, transit service, landscaping, and parks.
(K) "Energy efficiency improvement" means energy efficiency
technologies, products, and activities that reduce or support the
reduction of energy consumption, allow for the reduction in
demand, or support the production of clean, renewable energy and
that are or will be permanently fixed to real property.
(L) "Customer-generated energy project" means a wind,
biomass, or gasification facility for the production of
electricity that meets either of the following requirements:
(1) The facility is designed to have a generating capacity of
two hundred fifty kilowatts of electricity or less.
(2) The facility is:
(a) Designed to have a generating capacity of more than two
hundred fifty kilowatts of electricity;
(b) Operated in parallel with electric transmission and
distribution facilities serving the real property at the site of
the customer-generated energy project;
(c) Intended primarily to offset part or all of the facility
owner's requirements for electricity at the site of the
customer-generated energy project and is located on the facility
owner's real property; and
(d) Not producing energy for direct sale by the facility
owner to the public.
(M) "Reduction in demand" means a change in customer behavior
or a change in customer-owned or operated assets that reduces or
has the capability to reduce the demand for electricity as a
result of price signals or other incentives.
(N) "Electric distribution utility" and "mercantile customer"
have the same meanings as in section 4928.01 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 1710.02. (A) A special improvement district may be
created within the boundaries of any one municipal corporation,
any one township, or any combination of contiguous municipal
corporations and townships for the purpose of developing and
implementing plans for public improvements and public services
that benefit the district. A district may be created by petition
of the owners of real property within the proposed district, or by
an existing qualified nonprofit corporation. If the district is
created by an existing qualified nonprofit corporation, the
purposes for which the district is created may be supplemental to
the other purposes for which the corporation is organized. All
territory in a special improvement district shall be contiguous;
except that the territory in a special improvement district may be
noncontiguous if at least one special energy improvement project
is designated for each parcel of real property included within the
special improvement district. Additional territory may be added to
a special improvement district created under this chapter for the
purpose of developing and implementing plans for special energy
improvement projects if at least one special energy improvement
project is designated for each parcel of real property included
within such additional territory and the addition of territory is
authorized by the initial plan proposed under division (F) of this
section or a plan adopted by the board of directors of the special
improvement district under section 1710.06 of the Revised Code.
The district shall be governed by the board of trustees of a
nonprofit corporation. This board shall be known as the board of
directors of the special improvement district. No special
improvement district shall include any church property, or
property of the federal or state government or a county, township,
or municipal corporation, unless the church or the county,
township, or municipal corporation specifically requests in
writing that the property be included within the district, or
unless the church is a member of the existing qualified nonprofit
corporation creating the district at the time the district is
created. More than one district may be created within a
participating political subdivision, but no real property may be
included within more than one district unless the owner of the
property files a written consent with the clerk of the legislative
authority, the township fiscal officer, or the village clerk, as
appropriate. The area of each district shall be contiguous; except
that the area of a special improvement district may be
noncontiguous if all parcels of real property included within such
area contain at least one special energy improvement thereon.
(B) Except as provided in division (C) of this section, a
district created under this chapter is not a political
subdivision. A district created under this chapter shall be
considered a public agency under section 102.01 and a public
authority under section 4115.03 of the Revised Code. Each member
of the board of directors of a district, each member's designee or
proxy, and each officer and employee of a district shall be
considered a public official or employee under section 102.01 of
the Revised Code and a public official and public servant under
section 2921.42 of the Revised Code. Districts created under this
chapter are not subject to section 121.251 of the Revised Code.
Districts created under this chapter are subject to sections
121.22 and 121.23 of the Revised Code.
(C) Each district created under this chapter shall be
considered a political subdivision for purposes of section 4905.34
of the Revised Code.
Membership on the board of directors of the district shall
not be considered as holding a public office. Directors and their
designees shall be entitled to the immunities provided by Chapter
1702. and to the same immunity as an employee under division
(A)(6) of section 2744.03 of the Revised Code, except that
directors and their designees shall not be entitled to the
indemnification provided in section 2744.07 of the Revised Code
unless the director or designee is an employee or official of a
participating political subdivision of the district and is acting
within the scope of the director's or designee's employment or
official responsibilities.
District officers and district members and directors and
their designees or proxies shall not be required to file a
statement with the Ohio ethics commission under section 102.02 of
the Revised Code. All records of the district shall be treated as
public records under section 149.43 of the Revised Code, except
that records of organizations contracting with a district shall
not be considered to be public records under section 149.43 or
section 149.431 of the Revised Code solely by reason of any
contract with a district.
(D) Except as otherwise provided in this section, the
nonprofit corporation that governs a district shall be organized
in the manner described in Chapter 1702. of the Revised Code.
Except in the case of a district created by an existing qualified
nonprofit corporation, the corporation's articles of incorporation
are required to be approved, as provided in division (E) of this
section, by resolution of the legislative authority of each
participating political subdivision of the district. A copy of
that resolution shall be filed along with the articles of
incorporation in the secretary of state's office.
In addition to meeting the requirements for articles of
incorporation set forth in Chapter 1702. of the Revised Code, the
articles of incorporation for the nonprofit corporation governing
a district formed under this chapter shall provide all the
following:
(1) The name for the district, which shall include the name
of each participating political subdivision of the district;
(2) A description of the territory within the district, which
may be all or part of each participating political subdivision.
The description shall be specific enough to enable real property
owners to determine if their property is located within the
district.
(3) A description of the procedure by which the articles of
incorporation may be amended. The procedure shall include
receiving approval of the amendment, by resolution, from the
legislative authority of each participating political subdivision
and filing the approved amendment and resolution with the
secretary of state.
(4) The reasons for creating the district, plus an
explanation of how the district will be conducive to the public
health, safety, peace, convenience, and welfare of the district.
(E) The articles of incorporation for a nonprofit corporation
governing a district created under this chapter and amendments to
them shall be submitted to the municipal executive, if any, and
the legislative authority of each municipal corporation or
township in which the proposed district is to be located. Except
in the case of a district created by an existing qualified
nonprofit corporation, the articles or amendments shall be
accompanied by a petition signed either by the owners of at least
sixty per cent of the front footage of all real property located
in the proposed district that abuts upon any street, alley, public
road, place, boulevard, parkway, park entrance, easement, or other
existing public improvement within the proposed district,
excluding church property or property owned by the state, county,
township, municipal, or federal government, unless a church,
county, township, or municipal corporation has specifically
requested in writing that the property be included in the
district, or by the owners of at least seventy-five per cent of
the area of all real property located within the proposed
district, excluding church property or property owned by the
state, county, township, municipal, or federal government, unless
a church, county, township, or municipal corporation has
specifically requested in writing that the property be included in
the district. Pursuant to Section 2o of Article VIII, Ohio
Constitution, the petition required under this division may be for
the purpose of developing and implementing plans for special
energy improvement projects, and, in such case, is determined to
be in furtherance of the purposes set forth in Section 2o of
Article VIII, Ohio Constitution. If a special improvement district
is being created under this chapter for the purpose of developing
and implementing plans for special energy improvement projects,
the petition required under this division shall be signed by one
hundred per cent of the owners of the area of all real property
located within the proposed special improvement district, at least
one special energy improvement project shall be designated for
each parcel of real property within the special improvement
district, and the special improvement district may include any
number of parcels of real property as determined by the
legislative authority of each participating political subdivision
in which the proposed special improvement district is to be
located. For purposes of determining compliance with these
requirements, the area of the district, or the front footage and
ownership of property, shall be as shown in the most current
records available at the county recorder's office and the county
engineer's office sixty days prior to the date on which the
petition is filed.
Each municipal corporation or township with which the
petition is filed has sixty days to approve or disapprove, by
resolution, the petition, including the articles of incorporation.
In the case of a district created by an existing qualified
nonprofit corporation, each municipal corporation or township has
sixty days to approve or disapprove the creation of the district
after the corporation submits the articles of incorporation or
amendments thereto. This chapter does not prohibit or restrict the
rights of municipal corporations under Article XVIII of the Ohio
Constitution or the right of the municipal legislative authority
to impose reasonable conditions in a resolution of approval. The
acquisition, installation, equipping, and improvement of a special
energy improvement project under this chapter shall not supersede
any local zoning, environmental, or similar law or regulation.
(F) Persons proposing creation and operation of the district
may propose an initial plan for public services or public
improvements that benefit all or any part of the district. Any
initial plan shall be submitted as part of the petition proposing
creation of the district or, in the case of a district created by
an existing qualified nonprofit corporation, shall be submitted
with the articles of incorporation or amendments thereto.
An initial plan may include provisions for the following:
(1) Creation and operation of the district and of the
nonprofit corporation to govern the district under this chapter;
(2) Hiring employees and professional services;
(3) Contracting for insurance;
(4) Purchasing or leasing office space and office equipment;
(5) Other actions necessary initially to form, operate, or
organize the district and the nonprofit corporation to govern the
district;
(6) A plan for public improvements or public services that
benefit all or part of the district, which plan shall comply with
the requirements of division (A) of section 1710.06 of the Revised
Code and may include, but is not limited to, any of the permissive
provisions described in the fourth sentence of that division or
listed in divisions (A)(1) to (6)(7) of that section;
(7) If the special improvement district is being created
under this chapter for the purpose of developing and implementing
plans for special energy improvement projects, provision for the
addition of territory to the special improvement district.
After the initial plan is approved by all municipal
corporations and townships to which it is submitted for approval
and the district is created, each participating subdivision shall
levy a special assessment within its boundaries to pay for the
costs of the initial plan. The levy shall be for no more than ten
years from the date of the approval of the initial plan; except
that if the proceeds of the levy are to be used to pay the costs
of a special energy improvement project, the levy of a special
assessment shall be for no more than twenty-five thirty years from
the date of approval of the initial plan. In the event that
additional territory is added to a special improvement district,
the special assessment to be levied with respect to such
additional territory shall commence not earlier than the date such
territory is added and shall be for no more than twenty-five
thirty years from such date. For purposes of levying an assessment
for this initial plan, the services or improvements included in
the initial plan shall be deemed a special benefit to property
owners within the district.
(G) Each nonprofit corporation governing a district under
this chapter may do the following:
(1) Exercise all powers of nonprofit corporations granted
under Chapter 1702. of the Revised Code that do not conflict with
this chapter;
(2) Develop, adopt, revise, implement, and repeal plans for
public improvements and public services for all or any part of the
district;
(3) Contract with any person, political subdivision as
defined in section 2744.01 of the Revised Code, or state agency as
defined in section 1.60 of the Revised Code to develop and
implement plans for public improvements or public services within
the district;
(4) Contract and pay for insurance for the district and for
directors, officers, agents, contractors, employees, or members of
the district for any consequences of the implementation of any
plan adopted by the district or any actions of the district.
The board of directors of a special improvement district may,
acting as agent and on behalf of a participating political
subdivision, sell, transfer, lease, or convey any special energy
improvement project owned by the participating political
subdivision upon a determination by the legislative authority
thereof that the project is not required to be owned exclusively
by the participating political subdivision for its purposes, for
uses determined by the legislative authority thereof as those that
will promote the welfare of the people of such participating
political subdivision; to improve the quality of life and the
general and economic well-being of the people of the participating
political subdivision; better ensure the public health, safety,
and welfare; protect water and other natural resources; provide
for the conservation and preservation of natural and open areas
and farmlands, including by making urban areas more desirable or
suitable for development and revitalization; control, prevent,
minimize, clean up, or mediate certain contamination of or
pollution from lands in the state and water contamination or
pollution; or provide for safe and natural areas and resources.
The legislative authority of each participating political
subdivision shall specify the consideration for such sale,
transfer, lease, or conveyance and any other terms thereof. Any
determinations made by a legislative authority of a participating
political subdivision under this division shall be conclusive.
Any sale, transfer, lease, or conveyance of a special energy
improvement project by a participating political subdivision or
the board of directors of the special improvement district may be
made without advertising, receipt of bids, or other competitive
bidding procedures applicable to the participating political
subdivision or the special improvement district under Chapter 153.
or 735. or section 1710.11 of the Revised Code or other
representative provisions of the Revised Code.
Sec. 1710.06. (A) The board of directors of a special
improvement district may develop and adopt one or more written
plans for public improvements or public services that benefit all
or any part of the district. Each plan shall set forth the
specific public improvements or public services that are to be
provided, identify the area in which they will be provided, and
specify the method of assessment to be used. Each plan for public
improvements or public services shall indicate the period of time
the assessments are to be levied for the improvements and services
and, if public services are included in the plan, the period of
time the services are to remain in effect. Plans for public
improvements may include the planning, design, construction,
reconstruction, enlargement, or alteration of any public
improvements and the acquisition of land for the improvements.
Plans for public improvements or public services may also include,
but are not limited to, provisions for the following:
(1) Creating and operating the district and the nonprofit
corporation under this chapter, including hiring employees and
professional services, contracting for insurance, and purchasing
or leasing office space and office equipment and other
requirements of the district;
(2) Planning, designing, and implementing a public
improvements or public services plan, including hiring
architectural, engineering, legal, appraisal, insurance,
consulting, energy auditing, and planning services, and, for
public services, managing, protecting, and maintaining public and
private facilities, including public improvements;
(3) Conducting court proceedings to carry out this chapter;
(4) Paying damages resulting from the provision of public
improvements or public services and implementing the plans;
(5) Paying the costs of issuing, paying interest on, and
redeeming notes and bonds issued for funding public improvements
and public services plans; and
(6) Sale, lease, lease with an option to purchase, conveyance
of other interests in, or other contracts for the acquisition,
construction, maintenance, repair, furnishing, equipping,
operation, or improvement of any special energy improvement
project by the special improvement district, between a
participating political subdivision and the special improvement
district, and between the special improvement district and any
owner of real property in the special improvement district on
which a special energy improvement project has been acquired,
installed, equipped, or improved; and
(7) Aggregating the renewable energy credits generated by one
or more special energy improvement projects within a special
improvement district, upon the consent of the owners of the
credits and for the purpose of negotiating and completing the sale
of such credits.
(B) Once the board of directors of the special improvement
district adopts a plan, it shall submit the plan to the
legislative authority of each participating political subdivision
and the municipal executive of each municipal corporation in which
the district is located, if any. The legislative authorities and
municipal executives shall review the plan and, within sixty days
after receiving it, may submit their comments and recommendations
about it to the district. After reviewing these comments and
recommendations, the board of directors may amend the plan. It may
then submit the plan, amended or otherwise, in the form of a
petition to members of the district whose property may be assessed
for the plan. Once the petition is signed by those members who own
at least sixty per cent of the front footage of property that is
to be assessed and that abuts upon a street, alley, public road,
place, boulevard, parkway, park entrance, easement, or other
public improvement, or those members who own at least seventy-five
per cent of the area to be assessed for the improvement or
service, the petition may be submitted to each legislative
authority for approval. If the special improvement district was
created for the purpose of developing and implementing plans for
special energy improvement projects, the petition required under
this division shall be signed by one hundred per cent of the
owners of the area of all real property located within the area to
be assessed for the special energy improvement project.
Each legislative authority shall, by resolution, approve or
reject the petition within sixty days after receiving it. If the
petition is approved by the legislative authority of each
participating political subdivision, the plan contained in the
petition shall be effective at the earliest date on which a
nonemergency resolution of the legislative authority with the
latest effective date may become effective. A plan may not be
resubmitted to the legislative authorities and municipal
executives more than three times in any twelve-month period.
(C) Each participating political subdivision shall levy, by
special assessment upon specially benefited property located
within the district, the costs of any public improvements or
public services plan contained in a petition approved by the
participating political subdivisions under this section or
division (F) of section 1710.02 of the Revised Code. The levy
shall be made in accordance with the procedures set forth in
Chapter 727. of the Revised Code, except that:
(1) The assessment for each improvements or services plan may
be levied by any one or any combination of the methods of
assessment listed in section 727.01 of the Revised Code, provided
that the assessment is uniformly applied.
(2) For the purpose of levying an assessment, the board of
directors may combine one or more improvements or services plans
or parts of plans and levy a single assessment against specially
benefited property.
(3) For purposes of special assessments levied by a township
pursuant to this chapter, references in Chapter 727. of the
Revised Code to the municipal corporation shall be deemed to refer
to the township, and references to the legislative authority of
the municipal corporation shall be deemed to refer to the board of
township trustees.
Church property or property owned by a political subdivision,
including any participating political subdivision in which a
special improvement district is located, shall be included in and
be subject to special assessments made pursuant to a plan adopted
under this section or division (F) of section 1710.02 of the
Revised Code, if the church or political subdivision has
specifically requested in writing that its property be included
within the special improvement district and the church or
political subdivision is a member of the district or, in the case
of a district created by an existing qualified nonprofit
corporation, if the church is a member of the corporation.
(D) All rights and privileges of property owners who are
assessed under Chapter 727. of the Revised Code shall be granted
to property owners assessed under this chapter, including those
rights and privileges specified in sections 727.15 to 727.17 and
727.18 to 727.22 of the Revised Code and the right to notice of
the resolution of necessity and the filing of the estimated
assessment under section 727.13 of the Revised Code. Property
owners assessed for public services under this chapter shall have
the same rights and privileges as property owners assessed for
public improvements under this chapter.
Sec. 1710.061. (A) Except as provided in division (B) of
this section, an electric distribution utility may count toward
its compliance with the energy efficiency and peak demand
reduction requirements of section 4928.66 of the Revised Code any
efficiency savings or reduction in demand produced by a special
energy improvement project located in its certified territory.
(B) A mercantile customer that realizes energy efficiency
savings or reduction in demand produced by a special energy
improvement project that it owns may elect to commit the savings
or reduction to the electric distribution utility in exchange for
an exemption from an energy efficiency cost recovery mechanism
permitted under section 4928.66 of the Revised Code, approved by
the public utilities commission.
(C) The board of directors of a special improvement district
shall submit a quarterly report to the electric distribution
utility that includes, but is not limited to, both of the
following:
(1) The total number and a description of each new and
ongoing special energy improvement project located within the
special improvement district that produces energy efficiency
savings or reduction in demand;
(2) Any additional information that the electric distribution
utility needs in order to obtain credit under section 4928.66 of
the Revised Code for energy efficiency savings or reduction in
demand from such projects.
Sec. 1710.07. The cost of any public improvements or public
services plan of a special improvement district may include, but
is not limited to, the following:
(A) The cost of creating and operating the district under
this chapter, including creating and operating a nonprofit
organization organized under this chapter, hiring employees and
professional services, contracting for insurance, and purchasing
or leasing office space or office equipment;
(B) The cost of planning, designing, and implementing the
public improvements or public services plan, including payment of
architectural, engineering, legal, appraisal, insurance,
consulting, energy auditing, and planning fees and expenses, and,
for public services, the management, protection, and maintenance
costs of public or private facilities;
(C) Any court costs incurred by the district in implementing
the public improvements or public services plan;
(D) Any damages resulting from implementing the public
improvements or public services plan;
(E) The costs of issuing, paying interest on, and redeeming
notes and bonds issued for funding the public improvements or
public services plan; and
(F) The costs associated with the sale, lease, lease with an
option to purchase, conveyance of other interests in, or other
contracts for the acquisition, construction, maintenance, repair,
furnishing, equipping, operation, or improvement of any special
energy improvement project by the district, between a
participating political subdivision and the special improvement
district, or between the special improvement district and any
owner of real property in the special improvement district on
which a special energy improvement project has been acquired,
installed, equipped, or improved.
Sec. 4928.01. (A) As used in this chapter:
(1) "Ancillary service" means any function necessary to the
provision of electric transmission or distribution service to a
retail customer and includes, but is not limited to, scheduling,
system control, and dispatch services; reactive supply from
generation resources and voltage control service; reactive supply
from transmission resources service; regulation service; frequency
response service; energy imbalance service; operating
reserve-spinning reserve service; operating reserve-supplemental
reserve service; load following; back-up supply service;
real-power loss replacement service; dynamic scheduling; system
black start capability; and network stability service.
(2) "Billing and collection agent" means a fully independent
agent, not affiliated with or otherwise controlled by an electric
utility, electric services company, electric cooperative, or
governmental aggregator subject to certification under section
4928.08 of the Revised Code, to the extent that the agent is under
contract with such utility, company, cooperative, or aggregator
solely to provide billing and collection for retail electric
service on behalf of the utility company, cooperative, or
aggregator.
(3) "Certified territory" means the certified territory
established for an electric supplier under sections 4933.81 to
4933.90 of the Revised Code.
(4) "Competitive retail electric service" means a component
of retail electric service that is competitive as provided under
division (B) of this section.
(5) "Electric cooperative" means a not-for-profit electric
light company that both is or has been financed in whole or in
part under the "Rural Electrification Act of 1936," 49 Stat. 1363,
7 U.S.C. 901, and owns or operates facilities in this state to
generate, transmit, or distribute electricity, or a not-for-profit
successor of such company.
(6) "Electric distribution utility" means an electric utility
that supplies at least retail electric distribution service.
(7) "Electric light company" has the same meaning as in
section 4905.03 of the Revised Code and includes an electric
services company, but excludes any self-generator to the extent
that it consumes electricity it so produces, sells that
electricity for resale, or obtains electricity from a generating
facility it hosts on its premises.
(8) "Electric load center" has the same meaning as in section
4933.81 of the Revised Code.
(9) "Electric services company" means an electric light
company that is engaged on a for-profit or not-for-profit basis in
the business of supplying or arranging for the supply of only a
competitive retail electric service in this state. "Electric
services company" includes a power marketer, power broker,
aggregator, or independent power producer but excludes an electric
cooperative, municipal electric utility, governmental aggregator,
or billing and collection agent.
(10) "Electric supplier" has the same meaning as in section
4933.81 of the Revised Code.
(11) "Electric utility" means an electric light company that
has a certified territory and is engaged on a for-profit basis
either in the business of supplying a noncompetitive retail
electric service in this state or in the businesses of supplying
both a noncompetitive and a competitive retail electric service in
this state. "Electric utility" excludes a municipal electric
utility or a billing and collection agent.
(12) "Firm electric service" means electric service other
than nonfirm electric service.
(13) "Governmental aggregator" means a legislative authority
of a municipal corporation, a board of township trustees, or a
board of county commissioners acting as an aggregator for the
provision of a competitive retail electric service under authority
conferred under section 4928.20 of the Revised Code.
(14) A person acts "knowingly," regardless of the person's
purpose, when the person is aware that the person's conduct will
probably cause a certain result or will probably be of a certain
nature. A person has knowledge of circumstances when the person is
aware that such circumstances probably exist.
(15) "Level of funding for low-income customer energy
efficiency programs provided through electric utility rates" means
the level of funds specifically included in an electric utility's
rates on October 5, 1999, pursuant to an order of the public
utilities commission issued under Chapter 4905. or 4909. of the
Revised Code and in effect on October 4, 1999, for the purpose of
improving the energy efficiency of housing for the utility's
low-income customers. The term excludes the level of any such
funds committed to a specific nonprofit organization or
organizations pursuant to a stipulation or contract.
(16) "Low-income customer assistance programs" means the
percentage of income payment plan program, the home energy
assistance program, the home weatherization assistance program,
and the targeted energy efficiency and weatherization program.
(17) "Market development period" for an electric utility
means the period of time beginning on the starting date of
competitive retail electric service and ending on the applicable
date for that utility as specified in section 4928.40 of the
Revised Code, irrespective of whether the utility applies to
receive transition revenues under this chapter.
(18) "Market power" means the ability to impose on customers
a sustained price for a product or service above the price that
would prevail in a competitive market.
(19) "Mercantile customer" means a commercial or industrial
customer if the electricity consumed is for nonresidential use and
the customer consumes more than seven hundred thousand kilowatt
hours per year or is part of a national account involving multiple
facilities in one or more states.
(20) "Municipal electric utility" means a municipal
corporation that owns or operates facilities to generate,
transmit, or distribute electricity.
(21) "Noncompetitive retail electric service" means a
component of retail electric service that is noncompetitive as
provided under division (B) of this section.
(22) "Nonfirm electric service" means electric service
provided pursuant to a schedule filed under section 4905.30 of the
Revised Code or pursuant to an arrangement under section 4905.31
of the Revised Code, which schedule or arrangement includes
conditions that may require the customer to curtail or interrupt
electric usage during nonemergency circumstances upon notification
by an electric utility.
(23) "Percentage of income payment plan arrears" means funds
eligible for collection through the percentage of income payment
plan rider, but uncollected as of July 1, 2000.
(24) "Person" has the same meaning as in section 1.59 of the
Revised Code.
(25) "Advanced energy project" means any technologies,
products, activities, or management practices or strategies that
facilitate the generation or use of electricity or energy and that
reduce or support the reduction of energy consumption or support
the production of clean, renewable energy for industrial,
distribution, commercial, institutional, governmental, research,
not-for-profit, or residential energy users, including, but not
limited to, advanced energy resources and renewable energy
resources. "Advanced energy project" also includes any project
described in division (A), (B), or (C) of section 4928.621 of the
Revised Code.
(26) "Regulatory assets" means the unamortized net regulatory
assets that are capitalized or deferred on the regulatory books of
the electric utility, pursuant to an order or practice of the
public utilities commission or pursuant to generally accepted
accounting principles as a result of a prior commission
rate-making decision, and that would otherwise have been charged
to expense as incurred or would not have been capitalized or
otherwise deferred for future regulatory consideration absent
commission action. "Regulatory assets" includes, but is not
limited to, all deferred demand-side management costs; all
deferred percentage of income payment plan arrears;
post-in-service capitalized charges and assets recognized in
connection with statement of financial accounting standards no.
109 (receivables from customers for income taxes); future nuclear
decommissioning costs and fuel disposal costs as those costs have
been determined by the commission in the electric utility's most
recent rate or accounting application proceeding addressing such
costs; the undepreciated costs of safety and radiation control
equipment on nuclear generating plants owned or leased by an
electric utility; and fuel costs currently deferred pursuant to
the terms of one or more settlement agreements approved by the
commission.
(27) "Retail electric service" means any service involved in
supplying or arranging for the supply of electricity to ultimate
consumers in this state, from the point of generation to the point
of consumption. For the purposes of this chapter, retail electric
service includes one or more of the following "service
components": generation service, aggregation service, power
marketing service, power brokerage service, transmission service,
distribution service, ancillary service, metering service, and
billing and collection service.
(28) "Starting date of competitive retail electric service"
means January 1, 2001.
(29) "Customer-generator" means a user of a net metering
system.
(30) "Net metering" means measuring the difference in an
applicable billing period between the electricity supplied by an
electric service provider and the electricity generated by a
customer-generator that is fed back to the electric service
provider.
(31) "Net metering system" means a facility for the
production of electrical energy that does all of the following:
(a) Uses as its fuel either solar, wind, biomass, landfill
gas, or hydropower, or uses a microturbine or a fuel cell;
(b) Is located on a customer-generator's premises;
(c) Operates in parallel with the electric utility's
transmission and distribution facilities;
(d) Is intended primarily to offset part or all of the
customer-generator's requirements for electricity.
(32) "Self-generator" means an entity in this state that owns
or hosts on its premises an electric generation facility that
produces electricity primarily for the owner's consumption and
that may provide any such excess electricity to another entity,
whether the facility is installed or operated by the owner or by
an agent under a contract.
(33) "Rate plan" means the standard service offer in effect
on the effective date of the amendment of this section by S.B. 221
of the 127th general assembly, July 31, 2008.
(34) "Advanced energy resource" means any of the following:
(a) Any method or any modification or replacement of any
property, process, device, structure, or equipment that increases
the generation output of an electric generating facility to the
extent such efficiency is achieved without additional carbon
dioxide emissions by that facility;
(b) Any distributed generation system consisting of customer
cogeneration of electricity and thermal output simultaneously,
primarily to meet the energy needs of the customer's facilities;
(c) Clean coal technology that includes a carbon-based
product that is chemically altered before combustion to
demonstrate a reduction, as expressed as ash, in emissions of
nitrous oxide, mercury, arsenic, chlorine, sulfur dioxide, or
sulfur trioxide in accordance with the American society of testing
and materials standard D1757A or a reduction of metal oxide
emissions in accordance with standard D5142 of that society, or
clean coal technology that includes the design capability to
control or prevent the emission of carbon dioxide, which design
capability the commission shall adopt by rule and shall be based
on economically feasible best available technology or, in the
absence of a determined best available technology, shall be of the
highest level of economically feasible design capability for which
there exists generally accepted scientific opinion;
(d) Advanced nuclear energy technology consisting of
generation III technology as defined by the nuclear regulatory
commission; other, later technology; or significant improvements
to existing facilities;
(e) Any fuel cell used in the generation of electricity,
including, but not limited to, a proton exchange membrane fuel
cell, phosphoric acid fuel cell, molten carbonate fuel cell, or
solid oxide fuel cell;
(f) Advanced solid waste or construction and demolition
debris conversion technology, including, but not limited to,
advanced stoker technology, and advanced fluidized bed
gasification technology, that results in measurable greenhouse gas
emissions reductions as calculated pursuant to the United States
environmental protection agency's waste reduction model (WARM).
(g) Demand-side management and any energy efficiency
improvement;
(h) Methane gas emitted from an operating or abandoned coal
mine.
(35) "Renewable energy resource" means solar photovoltaic or
solar thermal energy, wind energy, power produced by a
hydroelectric facility, geothermal energy, fuel derived from solid
wastes, as defined in section 3734.01 of the Revised Code, through
fractionation, biological decomposition, or other process that
does not principally involve combustion, biomass energy,
biologically derived methane gas, or energy derived from
nontreated by-products of the pulping process or wood
manufacturing process, including bark, wood chips, sawdust, and
lignin in spent pulping liquors. "Renewable energy resource"
includes, but is not limited to, any fuel cell used in the
generation of electricity, including, but not limited to, a proton
exchange membrane fuel cell, phosphoric acid fuel cell, molten
carbonate fuel cell, or solid oxide fuel cell; wind turbine
located in the state's territorial waters of Lake Erie; storage
facility that will promote the better utilization of a renewable
energy resource that primarily generates off peak; or distributed
generation system used by a customer to generate electricity from
any such energy. As used in division (A)(35) of this section,
"hydroelectric facility" means a hydroelectric generating
facility that is located at a dam on a river, or on any water
discharged to a river, that is within or bordering this state or
within or bordering an adjoining state and meets all of the
following standards:
(a) The facility provides for river flows that are not
detrimental for fish, wildlife, and water quality, including
seasonal flow fluctuations as defined by the applicable licensing
agency for the facility.
(b) The facility demonstrates that it complies with the water
quality standards of this state, which compliance may consist of
certification under Section 401 of the "Clean Water Act of 1977,"
91 Stat. 1598, 1599, 33 U.S.C. 1341, and demonstrates that it has
not contributed to a finding by this state that the river has
impaired water quality under Section 303(d) of the "Clean Water
Act of 1977," 114 Stat. 870, 33 U.S.C. 1313.
(c) The facility complies with mandatory prescriptions
regarding fish passage as required by the federal energy
regulatory commission license issued for the project, regarding
fish protection for riverine, anadromous, and catadromus
catadromous fish.
(d) The facility complies with the recommendations of the
Ohio environmental protection agency and with the terms of its
federal energy regulatory commission license regarding watershed
protection, mitigation, or enhancement, to the extent of each
agency's respective jurisdiction over the facility.
(e) The facility complies with provisions of the "Endangered
Species Act of 1973," 87 Stat. 884, 16 U.S.C. 1531 to 1544, as
amended.
(f) The facility does not harm cultural resources of the
area. This can be shown through compliance with the terms of its
federal energy regulatory commission license or, if the facility
is not regulated by that commission, through development of a plan
approved by the Ohio historic preservation office, to the extent
it has jurisdiction over the facility.
(g) The facility complies with the terms of its federal
energy regulatory commission license or exemption that are related
to recreational access, accommodation, and facilities or, if the
facility is not regulated by that commission, the facility
complies with similar requirements as are recommended by resource
agencies, to the extent they have jurisdiction over the facility;
and the facility provides access to water to the public without
fee or charge.
(h) The facility is not recommended for removal by any
federal agency or agency of any state, to the extent the
particular agency has jurisdiction over the facility.
(B) For the purposes of this chapter, a retail electric
service component shall be deemed a competitive retail electric
service if the service component is competitive pursuant to a
declaration by a provision of the Revised Code or pursuant to an
order of the public utilities commission authorized under division
(A) of section 4928.04 of the Revised Code. Otherwise, the service
component shall be deemed a noncompetitive retail electric
service.
Sec. 4928.64. (A)(1) As used in sections 4928.64 and 4928.65
of the Revised Code, "alternative energy resource" means an
advanced energy resource or renewable energy resource, as defined
in section 4928.01 of the Revised Code that has a
placed-in-service date of January 1, 1998, or after; a renewable
energy resource created on or after January 1, 1998, by the
modification or retrofit of any facility placed in service prior
to January 1, 1998; or a mercantile customer-sited advanced energy
resource or renewable energy resource, whether new or existing,
that the mercantile customer commits for integration into the
electric distribution utility's demand-response, energy
efficiency, or peak demand reduction programs as provided under
division (A)(2)(c) of section 4928.66 of the Revised Code,
including, but not limited to, any of the following:
(a) A resource that has the effect of improving the
relationship between real and reactive power;
(b) A resource that makes efficient use of waste heat or
other thermal capabilities owned or controlled by a mercantile
customer;
(c) Storage technology that allows a mercantile customer more
flexibility to modify its demand or load and usage
characteristics;
(d) Electric generation equipment owned or controlled by a
mercantile customer that uses an advanced energy resource or
renewable energy resource;
(e) Any advanced energy resource or renewable energy resource
of the mercantile customer that can be utilized effectively as
part of any advanced energy resource plan of an electric
distribution utility and would otherwise qualify as an alternative
energy resource if it were utilized directly by an electric
distribution utility.
(2) For the purpose of this section and as it considers
appropriate, the public utilities commission may classify any new
technology as such an advanced energy resource or a renewable
energy resource.
(B) By 2025 and thereafter, an electric distribution utility
shall provide from alternative energy resources, including, at its
discretion, alternative energy resources obtained pursuant to an
electricity supply contract, a portion of the electricity supply
required for its standard service offer under section 4928.141 of
the Revised Code, and an electric services company shall provide a
portion of its electricity supply for retail consumers in this
state from alternative energy resources, including, at its
discretion, alternative energy resources obtained pursuant to an
electricity supply contract. That portion shall equal twenty-five
per cent of the total number of kilowatt hours of electricity sold
by the subject utility or company to any and all retail electric
consumers whose electric load centers are served by that utility
and are located within the utility's certified territory or, in
the case of an electric services company, are served by the
company and are located within this state. However, nothing in
this section precludes a utility or company from providing a
greater percentage. The baseline for a utility's or company's
compliance with the alternative energy resource requirements of
this section shall be the average of such total kilowatt hours it
sold in the preceding three calendar years, except that the
commission may reduce a utility's or company's baseline to adjust
for new economic growth in the utility's certified territory or,
in the case of an electric services company, in the company's
service area in this state.
Of the alternative energy resources implemented by the
subject utility or company by 2025 and thereafter:
(1) Half may be generated from advanced energy resources;
(2) At least half shall be generated from renewable energy
resources, including one-half per cent from solar energy
resources, in accordance with the following benchmarks:
By end of year |
Renewable energy resources |
Solar energy resources |
2009 |
0.25% |
0.004% |
2010 |
0.50% |
0.010% |
2011 |
1% |
0.030% |
2012 |
1.5% |
0.060% |
2013 |
2% |
0.090% |
2014 |
2.5% |
0.12% |
2015 |
3.5% |
0.15% |
2016 |
4.5% |
0.18% |
2017 |
5.5% |
0.22% |
2018 |
6.5% |
0.26% |
2019 |
7.5% |
0.3% |
2020 |
8.5% |
0.34% |
2021 |
9.5% |
0.38% |
2022 |
10.5% |
0.42% |
2023 |
11.5% |
0.46% |
2024 and each calendar year thereafter |
12.5% |
0.5% |
(3) At least one-half of the renewable energy resources
implemented by the utility or company shall be met through
facilities located in this state; the remainder shall be met with
resources that can be shown to be deliverable into this state.
(C)(1) The commission annually shall review an electric
distribution utility's or electric services company's compliance
with the most recent applicable benchmark under division (B)(2) of
this section and, in the course of that review, shall identify any
undercompliance or noncompliance of the utility or company that it
determines is weather-related, related to equipment or resource
shortages for advanced energy or renewable energy resources as
applicable, or is otherwise outside the utility's or company's
control.
(2) Subject to the cost cap provisions of division (C)(3) of
this section, if the commission determines, after notice and
opportunity for hearing, and based upon its findings in that
review regarding avoidable undercompliance or noncompliance, but
subject to division (C)(4) of this section, that the utility or
company has failed to comply with any such benchmark, the
commission shall impose a renewable energy compliance payment on
the utility or company.
(a) The compliance payment pertaining to the solar energy
resource benchmarks under division (B)(2) of this section shall be
an amount per megawatt hour of undercompliance or noncompliance in
the period under review, starting at four hundred fifty dollars
for 2009, four hundred dollars for 2010 and 2011, and similarly
reduced every two years thereafter through 2024 by fifty dollars,
to a minimum of fifty dollars.
(b) The compliance payment pertaining to the renewable energy
resource benchmarks under division (B)(2) of this section shall
equal the number of additional renewable energy credits that the
electric distribution utility or electric services company would
have needed to comply with the applicable benchmark in the period
under review times an amount that shall begin at forty-five
dollars and shall be adjusted annually by the commission to
reflect any change in the consumer price index as defined in
section 101.27 of the Revised Code, but shall not be less than
forty-five dollars.
(c) The compliance payment shall not be passed through by the
electric distribution utility or electric services company to
consumers. The compliance payment shall be remitted to the
commission, for deposit to the credit of the advanced energy fund
created under section 4928.61 of the Revised Code. Payment of the
compliance payment shall be subject to such collection and
enforcement procedures as apply to the collection of a forfeiture
under sections 4905.55 to 4905.60 and 4905.64 of the Revised Code.
(3) An electric distribution utility or an electric services
company need not comply with a benchmark under division (B)(1) or
(2) of this section to the extent that its reasonably expected
cost of that compliance exceeds its reasonably expected cost of
otherwise producing or acquiring the requisite electricity by
three per cent or more.
The cost of compliance shall be
calculated as though any exemption from taxes and assessments had
not been granted under section 5727.75 of the Revised Code.
(4)(a) An electric distribution utility or electric services
company may request the commission to make a force majeure
determination pursuant to this division regarding all or part of
the utility's or company's compliance with any minimum benchmark
under division (B)(2) of this section during the period of review
occurring pursuant to division (C)(2) of this section. The
commission may require the electric distribution utility or
electric services company to make solicitations for renewable
energy resource credits as part of its default service before the
utility's or company's request of force majeure under this
division can be made.
(b) Within ninety days after the filing of a request by an
electric distribution utility or electric services company under
division (C)(4)(a) of this section, the commission shall determine
if renewable energy resources are reasonably available in the
marketplace in sufficient quantities for the utility or company to
comply with the subject minimum benchmark during the review
period. In making this determination, the commission shall
consider whether the electric distribution utility or electric
services company has made a good faith effort to acquire
sufficient renewable energy or, as applicable, solar energy
resources to so comply, including, but not limited to, by banking
or seeking renewable energy resource credits or by seeking the
resources through long-term contracts. Additionally, the
commission shall consider the availability of renewable energy or
solar energy resources in this state and other jurisdictions in
the PJM interconnection regional transmission organization or its
successor and the midwest system operator or its successor.
(c) If, pursuant to division (C)(4)(b) of this section, the
commission determines that renewable energy or solar energy
resources are not reasonably available to permit the electric
distribution utility or electric services company to comply,
during the period of review, with the subject minimum benchmark
prescribed under division (B)(2) of this section, the commission
shall modify that compliance obligation of the utility or company
as it determines appropriate to accommodate the finding.
Commission modification shall not automatically reduce the
obligation for the electric distribution utility's or electric
services company's compliance in subsequent years. If it modifies
the electric distribution utility or electric services company
obligation under division (C)(4)(c) of this section, the
commission may require the utility or company, if sufficient
renewable energy resource credits exist in the marketplace, to
acquire additional renewable energy resource credits in subsequent
years equivalent to the utility's or company's modified obligation
under division (C)(4)(c) of this section.
(5) The commission shall establish a process to provide for
at least an annual review of the alternative energy resource
market in this state and in the service territories of the
regional transmission organizations that manage transmission
systems located in this state. The commission shall use the
results of this study to identify any needed changes to the amount
of the renewable energy compliance payment specified under
divisions (C)(2)(a) and (b) of this section. Specifically, the
commission may increase the amount to ensure that payment of
compliance payments is not used to achieve compliance with this
section in lieu of actually acquiring or realizing energy derived
from renewable energy resources. However, if the commission finds
that the amount of the compliance payment should be otherwise
changed, the commission shall present this finding to the general
assembly for legislative enactment.
(D)(1) The commission annually shall submit to the general
assembly in accordance with section 101.68 of the Revised Code a
report describing the compliance of electric distribution
utilities and electric services companies with division (B) of
this section and any strategy for utility and company compliance
or for encouraging the use of alternative energy resources in
supplying this state's electricity needs in a manner that
considers available technology, costs, job creation, and economic
impacts. The commission shall allow and consider public comments
on the report prior to its submission to the general assembly.
Nothing in the report shall be binding on any person, including
any utility or company for the purpose of its compliance with any
benchmark under division (B) of this section, or the enforcement
of that provision under division (C) of this section.
(2) The governor, in consultation with the commission
chairperson, shall appoint an alternative energy advisory
committee. The committee shall examine available technology for
and related timetables, goals, and costs of the alternative energy
resource requirements under division (B) of this section and shall
submit to the commission a semiannual report of its
recommendations.
(E) All costs incurred by an electric distribution utility in
complying with the requirements of this section shall be
bypassable by any consumer that has exercised choice of supplier
under section 4928.03 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 4935.10. The public utilities commission shall conduct
a study to review the condition of reactive power in the state.
The commission shall issue a report of its findings to the general
assembly not later than one year after the effective date of this
section.
Sec. 5709.53. (A) A solar, wind, or hydrothermal energy
system on which construction or installation is completed during
the period from the effective date of this section through
December 31, 1985, that meets the guidelines established under
division (B) of section 1551.20 of the Revised Code is exempt from
real property taxation.
(B) Any fixture or other real property included in an energy
facility with an aggregate nameplate capacity of two hundred fifty
kilowatts or less is exempt from taxation if construction or
installation is completed on or after January 1, 2010.
As used in division (B) of this section, "energy facility"
and "nameplate capacity" have the same meanings as in section
5727.01 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 5713.30. As used in sections 5713.31 to 5713.37 and
5715.01 of the Revised Code:
(A) "Land devoted exclusively to agricultural use" means:
(1) Tracts, lots, or parcels of land totaling not less than
ten acres that, during the three calendar years prior to the year
in which application is filed under section 5713.31 of the Revised
Code, and through the last day of May of such year, were devoted
exclusively to commercial animal or poultry husbandry,
aquaculture, apiculture, the production for a commercial purpose
of timber, field crops, tobacco, fruits, vegetables, nursery
stock, ornamental trees, sod, or flowers, or the growth of timber
for a noncommercial purpose, if the land on which the timber is
grown is contiguous to or part of a parcel of land under common
ownership that is otherwise devoted exclusively to agricultural
use, or were devoted to and qualified for payments or other
compensation under a land retirement or conservation program under
an agreement with an agency of the federal government;
(2) Tracts, lots, or parcels of land totaling less than ten
acres that, during the three calendar years prior to the year in
which application is filed under section 5713.31 of the Revised
Code and through the last day of May of such year, were devoted
exclusively to commercial animal or poultry husbandry,
aquaculture, apiculture, the production for a commercial purpose
of field crops, tobacco, fruits, vegetables, timber, nursery
stock, ornamental trees, sod, or flowers where such activities
produced an average yearly gross income of at least twenty-five
hundred dollars during such three-year period or where there is
evidence of an anticipated gross income of such amount from such
activities during the tax year in which application is made, or
were devoted to and qualified for payments or other compensation
under a land retirement or conservation program under an agreement
with an agency of the federal government;
(3) A tract, lot, or parcel of land taxed under sections
5713.22 to 5713.26 of the Revised Code is not land devoted
exclusively to agricultural use;
(4) Tracts, lots, or parcels of land, or portions thereof
that, during the previous three consecutive calendar years have
been designated as land devoted exclusively to agricultural use,
but such land has been lying idle or fallow for up to one year and
no action has occurred to such land that is either inconsistent
with the return of it to agricultural production or converts the
land devoted exclusively to agricultural use as defined in this
section. Such land shall remain designated as land devoted
exclusively to agricultural use provided that beyond one year, but
less than three years, the landowner proves good cause as
determined by the board of revision.
"Land devoted exclusively to agricultural use" includes
tracts, lots, or parcels of land or portions thereof that are used
for conservation practices, provided that the tracts, lots, or
parcels of land or portions thereof comprise twenty-five per cent
or less of the total of the tracts, lots, or parcels of land that
satisfy the criteria established in division (A)(1), (2), or (4)
of this section together with the tracts, lots, or parcels of land
or portions thereof that are used for conservation practices.
(B) "Conversion of land devoted exclusively to agricultural
use" means any of the following:
(1) The failure of the owner of land devoted exclusively to
agricultural use during the next preceding calendar year to file a
renewal application under section 5713.31 of the Revised Code
without good cause as determined by the board of revision;
(2) The failure of the new owner of such land to file an
initial application under that section without good cause as
determined by the board of revision;
(3) The failure of such land or portion thereof to qualify as
land devoted exclusively to agricultural use for the current
calendar year as requested by an application filed under such
section;
(4) The failure of the owner of the land described in
division (A)(4) of this section to act on such land in a manner
that is consistent with the return of the land to agricultural
production after three years.
The construction or installation of an energy facility, as
defined in section 5727.01 of the Revised Code, on a portion of a
tract, lot, or parcel of land devoted exclusively to agricultural
use shall not cause the remaining portion of the tract, lot, or
parcel to be regarded as a conversion of land devoted exclusively
to agricultural use if the remaining portion of the tract, lot, or
parcel continues to be devoted exclusively to agricultural use.
(C) "Tax savings" means the difference between the dollar
amount of real property taxes levied in any year on land valued
and assessed in accordance with its current agricultural use value
and the dollar amount of real property taxes that would have been
levied upon such land if it had been valued and assessed for such
year in accordance with Section 2 of Article XII, Ohio
Constitution.
(D) "Owner" includes, but is not limited to, any person
owning a fee simple, fee tail, or life estate or a buyer on a land
installment contract.
(E) "Conservation practices" are practices used to abate soil
erosion as required in the management of the farming operation,
and include, but are not limited to, the installation,
construction, development, planting, or use of grass waterways,
terraces, diversions, filter strips, field borders, windbreaks,
riparian buffers, wetlands, ponds, and cover crops for that
purpose.
(F) "Wetlands" has the same meaning as in section 6111.02 of
the Revised Code.
Sec. 5713.34. (A)(1) Upon the conversion of all or any
portion of a tract, lot, or parcel of land devoted exclusively to
agricultural use a portion of the tax savings upon such converted
land shall be recouped as provided for by Section 36, Article II,
Ohio Constitution by levying a charge on such land in an amount
equal to the amount of the tax savings on the converted land
during the three tax years immediately preceding the year in which
the conversion occurs. The charge shall constitute a lien of the
state upon such converted land as of the first day of January of
the tax year in which the charge is levied and shall continue
until discharged as provided by law.
(2) Upon the conversion of an adequately described portion of
a tract, lot, or parcel of land, the county auditor shall divide
any numbered permanent parcel into economic units and value each
unit individually for the purpose of levying the charge under
division (A)(1) of this section against only the converted
portion.
(3) A charge shall not be levied under this section for the
conversion of a portion of a tract, lot, or parcel of land devoted
exclusively to agricultural use if the conversion is incident to
the construction or installation of an energy facility, as defined
in section 5727.01 of the Revised Code, and if the remaining
portion of the tract, lot, or parcel continues to be devoted
exclusively to agricultural use.
(B) Except as otherwise provided in division (C) or (D) of
this section, a public entity that acquires by any means and
converts land devoted exclusively to agricultural use and a
private entity granted the power of eminent domain that acquires
by any means and converts land devoted exclusively to agricultural
use shall pay the charge levied by division (A) of this section
and shall not, directly or indirectly, transfer the charge to the
person from whom the land is acquired. A person injured by a
violation of this division may recover, in a civil action, any
damages resulting from the violation.
(C) The charge levied by division (A)(1) of this section does
not apply to the conversion of land acquired by a public entity by
means other than eminent domain and thereafter used exclusively
for a public purpose that leaves the land principally undeveloped
when either of the following conditions applies:
(1) In the case of land so acquired and converted by a park
district created under Chapter 1545. of the Revised Code, the land
is located within the boundaries of the park district.
(2) In the case of land so acquired and converted by a public
entity other than a park district created under Chapter 1545. of
the Revised Code, the land is located within the boundaries of any
city, local, exempted village, or joint vocational school district
that is wholly or partially located within the boundaries of the
public entity that so acquired and converted the land.
If all or any portion of a tract, lot, or parcel of such land
is later developed or otherwise converted to a purpose other than
one of the purposes enumerated under division (E)(1) of this
section, the charge levied by division (A)(1) of this section
shall be levied against such developed or converted land as
otherwise required by that division.
The county auditor of the county in which the land is located
shall determine annually whether all or any portion of a tract,
lot, or parcel of land formerly converted to a purpose enumerated
under division (E)(1) of this section has been developed in such a
way or converted to such a purpose as to require the charge levied
by division (A)(1) of this section to be levied against the land
so developed or converted.
(D) Division (B) of this section does not apply to a public
entity that acquires by means other than eminent domain and
converts land devoted exclusively to agricultural use to use for
public, active or passive, outdoor education, recreation, or
similar open space uses when either of the following conditions
applies:
(1) In the case of land so acquired and converted by a park
district created under Chapter 1545. of the Revised Code, the land
is located outside the boundaries of the park district.
(2) In the case of land so acquired and converted by a public
entity other than a park district created under Chapter 1545. of
the Revised Code, the land is located outside the boundaries of
any city, local, exempted village, or joint vocational school
district that is wholly or partially located within the boundaries
of the public entity that so acquired and converted the land.
(E) As used in divisions (C) and (D) of this section:
(1) "Principally undeveloped" means a parcel of real property
that is used for public, active or passive, outdoor education,
recreation, or similar open space uses and contains only the
structures, roadways, and other facilities that are necessary for
such uses.
(2) "Public entity" means any political subdivision of this
state or any agency or instrumentality of a political subdivision.
Sec. 5727.01. As used in this chapter:
(A) "Public utility" means each person referred to as a
telephone company, telegraph company, electric company, natural
gas company, pipe-line company, water-works company, water
transportation company, heating company, rural electric company,
railroad company, or combined company, or energy company.
(B) "Gross receipts" means the entire receipts for business
done by any person from operations as a public utility, or
incidental thereto, or in connection therewith, including any
receipts received under Chapter 4928. of the Revised Code. The
gross receipts for business done by an incorporated company
engaged in operation as a public utility includes the entire
receipts for business done by such company under the exercise of
its corporate powers, whether from the operation as a public
utility or from any other business.
(C) "Rural electric company" means any nonprofit corporation,
organization, association, or cooperative engaged in the business
of supplying electricity to its members or persons owning an
interest therein in an area the major portion of which is rural.
"Rural electric company" excludes an energy company.
(D) Any person:
(1) Is a telegraph company when engaged in the business of
transmitting telegraphic messages to, from, through, or in this
state;
(2) Is a telephone company when primarily engaged in the
business of providing local exchange telephone service, excluding
cellular radio service, in this state;
(3) Is an electric company when engaged in the business of
generating, transmitting, or distributing electricity within this
state for use by others, but excludes a rural electric company or
an energy company;
(4) Is a natural gas company when engaged in the business of
supplying or distributing natural gas for lighting, power, or
heating purposes to consumers within this state, excluding a
person that is a governmental aggregator or retail natural gas
supplier as defined in section 4929.01 of the Revised Code;
(5) Is a pipe-line company when engaged in the business of
transporting natural gas, oil, or coal or its derivatives through
pipes or tubing, either wholly or partially within this state;
(6) Is a water-works company when engaged in the business of
supplying water through pipes or tubing, or in a similar manner,
to consumers within this state;
(7) Is a water transportation company when engaged in the
transportation of passengers or property, by boat or other
watercraft, over any waterway, whether natural or artificial, from
one point within this state to another point within this state, or
between points within this state and points without this state;
(8) Is a heating company when engaged in the business of
supplying water, steam, or air through pipes or tubing to
consumers within this state for heating purposes;
(9) Is a railroad company when engaged in the business of
owning or operating a railroad either wholly or partially within
this state on rights-of-way acquired and held exclusively by such
company, or otherwise, and includes a passenger, street, suburban,
or interurban railroad company;
(10) Is an energy company when engaged in the business of
generating, transmitting, or distributing electricity within this
state for use by others solely from an energy facility with an
aggregate nameplate capacity in excess of two hundred fifty
kilowatts.
As used in division (D)(2) of this section, "local exchange
telephone service" means making available or furnishing access and
a dial tone to all persons within a local calling area for use in
originating and receiving voice grade communications over a
switched network operated by the provider of the service within
the area and for gaining access to other telecommunication
services.
(E) "Taxable property" means the property required by section
5727.06 of the Revised Code to be assessed by the tax
commissioner, but does not include either of the following:
(1) An item of tangible personal property that for the period
subsequent to the effective date of an air, water, or noise
pollution control certificate and continuing so long as the
certificate is in force, has been certified as part of the
pollution control facility with respect to which the certificate
has been issued;
(2) An item of tangible personal property that during the
construction of a plant or facility and until the item is first
capable of operation, whether actually used in operation or not,
is incorporated in or being held exclusively for incorporation in
that plant or facility.
Notwithstanding section 5701.03 of the Revised Code, for tax
year 2006 and thereafter, "taxable property" includes patterns,
jigs, dies, and drawings of an electric company or a combined
company for use in the activity of an electric company.
(F) "Taxing district" means a municipal corporation of or
township, or part thereof, in which the aggregate rate of taxation
is uniform.
(G) "Telecommunications service" has the same meaning as in
division (AA) of section 5739.01 of the Revised Code.
(H) "Interexchange telecommunications company" means a person
that is engaged in the business of transmitting telephonic
messages to, from, through, or in this state, but that is not a
telephone company.
(I) "Sale and leaseback transaction" means a transaction in
which a public utility or interexchange telecommunications company
sells any tangible personal property to a person other than a
public utility or interexchange telecommunications company and
leases that property back from the buyer.
(J) "Production equipment" means all taxable steam, nuclear,
hydraulic, renewable resource, clean coal technology, and other
production plant equipment used to generate electricity. For tax
years prior to 2001, "production equipment" includes taxable
station equipment that is located at a production plant.
(K) "Tax year" means the year for which property or gross
receipts are subject to assessment under this chapter. This
division does not limit the tax commissioner's ability to assess
and value property or gross receipts outside the tax year.
(L) "Combined company" means any person engaged in the
activity of an electric company or rural electric company that is
also engaged in the activity of a heating company or a natural gas
company, or any combination thereof.
(M) "Public utility property lessor" means any person, other
than a public utility or an interexchange telecommunications
company, that leases personal property, other than in a sale and
leaseback transaction, to a public utility, other than a railroad,
water transportation, telephone, or telegraph company if the
property would be taxable property if owned by the public utility.
A public utility property lessor is subject to this chapter only
for the purposes of reporting and paying tax on taxable property
it leases to a public utility other than a telephone or telegraph
company. A public utility property lessor that leases property to
a public utility other than a telephone or telegraph company is
not a public utility, but it shall report its property and be
assessed in the same manner as the utility to which it leases the
property.
(N) "Energy resource" means any of the following:
(1) "Renewable energy resource" as defined in section 4928.01
of the Revised Code;
(2) "Clean coal technology" as described in division
(A)(34)(c) of section 4928.01 of the Revised Code;
(3) "Advanced nuclear technology" as described in division
(A)(34)(d) of section 4928.01 of the Revised Code;
(4) "Cogeneration technology" as described in division
(A)(34)(b) of section 4928.01 of the Revised Code.
(O) "Energy conversion equipment" means tangible personal
property connected to a wind turbine tower, connected to and
behind solar radiation collector areas and designed to convert the
radiant energy of the sun into electricity or heat, or connected
to any other property used to generate electricity from an energy
resource, through which electricity is transferred to controls,
transformers, or power electronics and to the transmission
interconnection point.
"Energy conversion equipment" includes, but is not limited
to, inverters, batteries, switch gears, wiring, collection lines,
substations, ancillary tangible personal property, or any lines
and associated tangible personal property located between
substations and the transmission interconnection point.
(P) "Energy facility" means one or more interconnected wind
turbines, solar panels, or other tangible personal property used
to generate electricity from an energy resource owned by the same
person, including:
(1) All interconnection equipment, devices, and related
apparatus connected to such tangible personal property;
(2) All cables, equipment, devices, and related apparatus
that connect the generators to an electricity grid or to a
building or facility that directly consumes the electricity
produced, that facilitate the transmission of electrical energy
from the generators to the grid, building, or facility, and, where
applicable, that transform voltage before ultimate delivery of
electricity to the grid, building, or facility.
"Energy facility" includes buildings, structures,
improvements, or fixtures exclusively used to house, support, or
stabilize tangible personal property constituting the facility or
that are otherwise necessary for the operation of that property;
and so much of the land on which such tangible personal property
is situated as is required for operation of the facility and is
not devoted to some other use, not to exceed, in the case of wind
turbines, one-half acre for each wind turbine, and regardless of
whether the land is owned by the owner or lessee of the tangible
personal property or by another person.
(Q) "Nameplate capacity" means the original interconnected
maximum rated alternating current output of a generator or other
electric production equipment under specific conditions designated
by the manufacturer, expressed in the number of kilowatts or
megawatts.
Sec. 5727.02. As used in this chapter, "public utility,"
"electric company," "natural gas company," "pipe-line company,"
"water-works company," "water transportation company" or "heating
company" does not include any of the following:
(A)(1) Except as provided in division (A)(2) of this section,
any person that is engaged in some other primary business to which
the supplying of electricity, heat, natural gas, water, water
transportation, steam, or air to others is incidental. As used in
division (A) of this section and in section 5727.031 of the
Revised Code, "supplying of electricity" means generating,
transmitting, or distributing electricity.
(2) For tax year 2009 and each tax year thereafter, a person
that is engaged in some other primary business to which the
supplying of electricity to others is incidental shall be treated
as an "electric company" and a "public utility" for purposes of
this chapter solely to the extent required by section 5727.031 of
the Revised Code.
(3) For purposes of division (A) of this section and section
5727.031 of the Revised Code:
(a) "Supplying of electricity" means generating,
transmitting, or distributing electricity.
(b) A person that leases to others energy facilities with an
aggregate nameplate capacity in this state of two hundred fifty
kilowatts or less per lease is not supplying electricity to
others.
(c) A person that owns, or leases from another person, energy
facilities with an aggregate nameplate capacity in this state of
two hundred fifty kilowatts or less is not supplying electricity
to others, regardless of whether the owner or lessee engages in
net metering as defined in section 4928.01 of the Revised Code.
(d) A political subdivision of this state that owns an energy
facility is not supplying electricity to others regardless of the
nameplate capacity of the facility if the primary purpose of the
facility is to supply electricity for the political subdivision's
own use. As used in this division, "political subdivision" means a
county, township, municipal corporation, or any other body
corporate and politic that is responsible for government
activities in a geographic area smaller than that of the state.
(B) Any person that supplies electricity, natural gas, water,
water transportation, steam, or air to its tenants, whether for a
separate charge or otherwise;
(C) Any person whose primary business in this state consists
of producing, refining, or marketing petroleum or its products.
(D) Any person whose primary business in this state consists
of producing or gathering natural gas rather than supplying or
distributing natural gas to consumers.
Sec. 5727.06. (A) Except as otherwise provided by law, the
following constitutes the taxable property of a public utility,
interexchange telecommunications company, or public utility
property lessor that shall be assessed by the tax commissioner:
(1) For tax years before tax year 2006:
(a) In the case of a railroad company, all real property and
tangible personal property owned or operated by the railroad
company in this state on the thirty-first day of December of the
preceding year;
(b) In the case of a water transportation company, all
tangible personal property, except watercraft, owned or operated
by the water transportation company in this state on the
thirty-first day of December of the preceding year and all
watercraft owned or operated by the water transportation company
in this state during the preceding calendar year;
(c) In the case of all other public utilities and
interexchange telecommunications companies, all tangible personal
property that on the thirty-first day of December of the preceding
year was both located in this state and:
(i) Owned by the public utility or interexchange
telecommunications company; or
(ii) Leased by the public utility or interexchange
telecommunications company under a sale and leaseback transaction.
(2) For tax years 2006, 2007, and 2008:
(a) In the case of a railroad company, all real property used
in railroad operations and tangible personal property owned or
operated by the railroad company in this state on the thirty-first
day of December of the preceding year;
(b) In the case of a water transportation company, all
tangible personal property, except watercraft, owned or operated
by the water transportation company in this state on the
thirty-first day of December of the preceding year and all
watercraft owned or operated by the water transportation company
in this state during the preceding calendar year;
(c) In the case of all other public utilities except
telephone and telegraph companies, all tangible personal property
that on the thirty-first day of December of the preceding year was
both located in this state and either owned by the public utility
or leased by the public utility under a sale and leaseback
transaction.
(3) For tax year 2009 and each tax year thereafter:
(a) In the case of a railroad company, all real property used
in railroad operations and tangible personal property owned or
operated by the railroad company in this state on the thirty-first
day of December of the preceding year;
(b) In the case of a water transportation company, all
tangible personal property, except watercraft, owned or operated
by the water transportation company in this state on the
thirty-first day of December of the preceding year and all
watercraft owned or operated by the water transportation company
in this state during the preceding calendar year;
(c) In the case of all other public utilities except
telephone and telegraph companies, all tangible personal property
that on the thirty-first day of December of the preceding year was
both located in this state and either owned by the public utility
or leased by the public utility under a sale and leaseback
transaction, and that is not exempted from taxation under section
5727.75 of the Revised Code;
(d) In the case of a public utility property lessor, all
personal property that on the thirty-first day of December of the
preceding year was both located in this state and leased, in other
than a sale and leaseback transaction, to a public utility other
than a railroad, telephone, telegraph, or water transportation
company. The assessment rate used under section 5727.111 of the
Revised Code shall be based on the assessment rate that would
apply if the public utility owned the property, and that is not
exempted from taxation under section 5727.75 of the Revised Code.
(4) For tax years 2005 and 2006, in the case of telephone,
telegraph, or interexchange telecommunications companies, all
tangible personal property that on the thirty-first day of
December of the preceding year was both located in this state and
either owned by the telephone, telegraph, or interexchange
telecommunications company or leased by the telephone, telegraph,
or interexchange telecommunications company under a sale and
leaseback transaction.
(5)(a) For tax year 2007 and thereafter, in the case of
telephone, telegraph, or interexchange telecommunications
companies, all tangible personal property shall be listed and
assessed for taxation under Chapter 5711. of the Revised Code, but
the tangible personal property shall be valued in accordance with
this chapter using the composite annual allowances and other
valuation procedures prescribed under section 5727.11 of the
Revised Code by the tax commissioner for such property for tax
year 2006, notwithstanding any section of Chapter 5711. of the
Revised Code to the contrary.
(b) A telephone, telegraph, or interexchange
telecommunications company subject to division (A)(5)(a) of this
section shall file a combined return with the tax commissioner in
accordance with section 5711.13 of the Revised Code even if the
company has tangible personal property in only one county. Such a
company also is subject to the issuance of a preliminary
assessment certificate by the tax commissioner under section
5711.25 of the Revised Code. Such a company is not required to
file a county supplemental return under section 5711.131 of the
Revised Code.
(6) In the case of an energy company, for tax year 2011 and
each tax year thereafter, all tangible personal property that on
the thirty-first day of December of the preceding year was both
located in this state and either owned by the company or leased by
the company under a sale and leaseback transaction, and that is
not exempted from taxation under section 5727.75 of the Revised
Code.
(B) This division applies to tax years before tax year 2007.
In the case of an interexchange telecommunications company,
all taxable property shall be subject to the provisions of this
chapter and shall be valued by the commissioner in accordance with
division (A) of section 5727.11 of the Revised Code. A person
described by this division shall file the report required by
section 5727.08 of the Revised Code. Persons described in this
division shall not be considered taxpayers, as defined in division
(B) of section 5711.01 of the Revised Code, and shall not be
required to file a return and list their taxable property under
any provision of Chapter 5711. of the Revised Code.
(C) The lien of the state for taxes levied each year on the
real and personal property of public utilities and interexchange
telecommunications companies and on the personal property of
public utility property lessors shall attach thereto on the
thirty-first day of December of the preceding year.
(D) Property that is required by division (A)(3)(b) of this
section to be assessed by the tax commissioner under this chapter
shall not be listed by the owner of the property under Chapter
5711. of the Revised Code.
(E) The ten-thousand-dollar exemption provided for in
division (C)(3) of section 5709.01 of the Revised Code does not
apply to any personal property that is valued under this chapter.
(F) The tax commissioner may adopt rules governing the
listing of the taxable property of public utilities and
interexchange telecommunications companies and the determination
of true value.
Sec. 5727.11. (A) Except as otherwise provided in this
section, the true value of all taxable property, except property
of a railroad company, required by section 5727.06 of the Revised
Code to be assessed by the tax commissioner shall be determined by
a method of valuation using cost as capitalized on the public
utility's books and records less composite annual allowances as
prescribed by the commissioner. If the commissioner finds that
application of this method will not result in the determination of
true value of the public utility's taxable property, the
commissioner may use another method of valuation.
(B)(1) Except as provided in division (B)(2) of this section,
the true value of current gas stored underground is the cost of
that gas shown on the books and records of the public utility on
the thirty-first day of December of the preceding year.
(2) For tax year 2001 and thereafter, the true value of
current gas stored underground is the quotient obtained by
dividing (a) the average value of the current gas stored
underground, which shall be determined by adding the value of the
gas on hand at the end of each calendar month in the calendar year
preceding the tax year, or, if applicable, the last day of
business of each month for a partial month, divided by (b) the
total number of months the natural gas company was in business
during the calendar year prior to the beginning of the tax year.
with the approval of the tax commissioner, a natural gas company
may use a date other than the end of a calendar month to value its
current gas stored underground.
(C) The true value of noncurrent gas stored underground is
thirty-five per cent of the cost of that gas shown on the books
and records of the public utility on the thirty-first day of
December of the preceding year.
(D)(1) Except as provided in division (D)(2) of this section,
the true value of the production equipment of an electric company
and the true value of all taxable property of a rural electric
company is the equipment's or property's cost as capitalized on
the company's books and records less fifty per cent of that cost
as an allowance for depreciation and obsolescence.
(2) The true value of the production equipment or energy
conversion equipment of an electric company or, rural electric
company, or energy company purchased, transferred, or placed into
service after the effective date of this amendment October 5,
1999, is the purchase price of the equipment as capitalized on the
company's books and records less composite annual allowances as
prescribed by the tax commissioner.
(E) The true value of taxable property, except property of a
railroad company, required by section 5727.06 of the Revised Code
to be assessed by the tax commissioner shall not include the
allowance for funds used during construction or interest during
construction that has been capitalized on the public utility's
books and records as part of the total cost of the taxable
property. This division shall not apply to the taxable property of
an electric company or a rural electric company, excluding
transmission and distribution property, first placed into service
after December 31, 2000, or to the taxable property a person
purchases, which includes transfers, if that property was used in
business by the seller prior to the purchase.
(F) The true value of watercraft owned or operated by a water
transportation company shall be determined by multiplying the true
value of the watercraft as determined under division (A) of this
section by a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of
revenue-earning miles traveled by the watercraft in the waters of
this state and the denominator of which is the number of
revenue-earning miles traveled by the watercraft in all waters.
(G) The cost of property subject to a sale and leaseback
transaction is the cost of the property as capitalized on the
books and records of the public utility owning the property
immediately prior to the sale and leaseback transaction.
(H) The cost as capitalized on the books and records of a
public utility includes amounts capitalized that represent
regulatory assets, if such amounts previously were included on the
company's books and records as capitalized costs of taxable
personal property.
(I) Any change in the composite annual allowances as
prescribed by the commissioner on a prospective basis shall not be
admissible in any judicial or administrative action or proceeding
as evidence of value with regard to prior years' taxes.
Information about the business, property, or transactions of any
taxpayer obtained by the commissioner for the purpose of adopting
or modifying the composite annual allowances shall not be subject
to discovery or disclosure.
Sec. 5727.111. The taxable property of each public utility,
except a railroad company, and of each interexchange
telecommunications company shall be assessed at the following
percentages of true value:
(A) Fifty In the case of a rural electric company, fifty per
cent in the case of
the its taxable transmission and distribution
property of a rural electric company and its energy conversion
equipment, and twenty-five per cent for all its other taxable
property;
(B) In the case of a telephone or telegraph company,
twenty-five per cent for taxable property first subject to
taxation in this state for tax year 1995 or thereafter for tax
years before tax year 2007, and pursuant to division (H) of
section 5711.22 of the Revised Code for tax year 2007 and
thereafter, and the following for all other taxable property:
(1) For tax years prior to 2005, eighty-eight per cent;
(2) For tax year 2005, sixty-seven per cent;
(3) For tax year 2006, forty-six per cent;
(4) For tax year 2007 and thereafter, pursuant to division
(H) of section 5711.22 of the Revised Code.
(C) Twenty-five per cent in the case of a natural gas
company.
(D) Eighty-eight per cent in the case of a pipe-line,
water-works, or heating company;
(E)(1) For tax year 2005, eighty-eight per cent in the case
of the taxable transmission and distribution property of an
electric company, and twenty-five per cent for all its other
taxable property;
(2) For tax year 2006 and each tax year thereafter, in the
case of an electric company, eighty-five per cent in the case of
the its taxable transmission and distribution property of an
electric company and its energy conversion equipment, and
twenty-four per cent for all its other taxable property.
(F)(1) Twenty-five per cent in the case of an interexchange
telecommunications company for tax years before tax year 2007;
(2) Pursuant to division (H) of section 5711.22 of the
Revised Code for tax year 2007 and thereafter.
(G) Twenty-five per cent in the case of a water
transportation company;
(H) For tax year 2011 and each tax year thereafter in the
case of an energy company, twenty-four per cent in the case of its
taxable production equipment, and eighty-five per cent for all its
other taxable property.
Sec. 5727.15. When all the taxable property of a public
utility is located in one taxing district, the tax commissioner
shall apportion the total taxable value thereof to that taxing
district.
When taxable property of a public utility is located in more
than one taxing district, the commissioner shall apportion the
total taxable value thereof among the taxing districts as follows:
(A)(1) In the case of a telegraph, interexchange
telecommunications, or telephone company that owns miles of wire
in this state, the value apportioned to each taxing district shall
be the same percentage of the total value apportioned to all
taxing districts as the miles of wire owned by the company within
the taxing district are to the total miles of wire owned by the
company within this state;
(2) In the case of a telegraph, interexchange
telecommunications, or telephone company that does not own miles
of wire in this state, the value apportioned to each taxing
district shall be the same percentage of the total value
apportioned to all taxing districts as the cost of the taxable
property physically located in the taxing district is of the total
cost of all taxable property physically located in this state.
(B) In the case of a railroad company:
(1) The taxable value of real and personal property not used
in railroad operations shall be apportioned according to its
situs;
(2) The taxable value of personal property used in railroad
operations shall be apportioned to each taxing district in
proportion to the miles of track and trackage rights, weighted to
reflect the relative use of such personal property in each taxing
district;
(3) The taxable value of real property used in railroad
operations shall be apportioned to each taxing district in
proportion to its relative value in each taxing district.
(C)(1) Prior to tax year 2001, in the case of an electric
company:
(a) Seventy per cent of the taxable value of all production
equipment and of all station equipment that is not production
equipment shall be apportioned to the taxing district in which
such property is physically located; and
(b) The remaining value of such property, together with the
value of all other taxable personal property, shall be apportioned
to each taxing district in the per cent that the cost of all
transmission and distribution property physically located in the
taxing district is of the total cost of all transmission and
distribution property physically located in this state.
(c) If an electric company's taxable value for the current
year includes the value of any production equipment at a plant at
which the initial cost of the plant's production equipment
exceeded one billion dollars, then prior to making the
apportionments required for that company by division (C)(1)(a) and
(b) of this section, the tax commissioner shall do the following:
(i) Subtract four hundred twenty million dollars from the
total taxable value of the production equipment at that plant for
the current tax year.
(ii) Multiply the difference thus obtained by a fraction, the
numerator of which is the portion of the taxable value of that
plant's production equipment included in the company's total value
for the current tax year, and the denominator of which is the
total taxable value of such equipment included in the total
taxable value of all electric companies for such year;
(iii) Apportion the product thus obtained to taxing districts
in the manner prescribed in division (C)(1)(b) of this section.
(iv) Deduct the amounts so apportioned from the taxable value
of the company's production equipment at the plant, prior to
making the apportionments required by divisions (C)(1)(a) and (b)
of this section.
For purposes of division (C)(1)(c) of this section, "initial
cost" applies only to production equipment of plants placed in
commercial operation on or after January 1, 1987, and means the
cost of all production equipment at a plant for the first year the
plant's equipment was subject to taxation.
(2) For tax year 2001 and thereafter, in the case of an
electric company:
(a) The taxable value of all production equipment shall be
apportioned to the taxing district in which such property is
physically located; and
(b) The value of taxable personal property, other than
including energy conversion equipment but excluding production
equipment, shall be apportioned to each taxing district in the
proportion that the cost of such other taxable personal property
physically located in each taxing district is of the total cost of
such other taxable personal property physically located in this
state.
(D) For tax year 2011 and thereafter, in the case of the
taxable property of an energy company:
(1) The taxable value of all production equipment shall be
apportioned to the taxing district in which such property is
physically located.
(2) The taxable value of all other taxable property,
including energy conversion equipment, shall be apportioned to
each taxing district in the proportion that the cost of such other
taxable property physically located in each taxing district is of
the total cost of such other taxable property physically located
in this state.
(E) In the case of all other public utilities, the taxable
value of the property to be apportioned shall be apportioned to
each taxing district in proportion to the entire value cost of
such property within this state.
Sec. 5727.30. (A) Except as provided in divisions (B), (C),
and (D) of this section, each public utility, except railroad
companies, shall be subject to an annual excise tax, as provided
by sections 5727.31 to 5727.62 of the Revised Code, for the
privilege of owning property in this state or doing business in
this state during the twelve-month period next succeeding the
period upon which the tax is based. The tax shall be imposed
against each such public utility that, on the first day of such
twelve-month period, owns property in this state or is doing
business in this state, and the lien for the tax, including any
penalties and interest accruing thereon, shall attach on such day
to the property of the public utility in this state.
(B) An electric company's or a rural electric company's gross
Gross receipts of an electric company, rural electric company, or
energy company received after April 30, 2001, are not subject to
the annual excise tax imposed by this section.
(C) A natural gas company's gross receipts received after
April 30, 2000, are not subject to the annual excise tax imposed
by this section.
(D) A telephone company's gross receipts derived from amounts
billed to customers after June 30, 2004, are not subject to the
annual excise tax imposed by this section. Notwithstanding any
other provision of law, gross receipts derived from amounts billed
by a telephone company to customers prior to July 1, 2004, shall
be included in the telephone company's annual statement filed on
or before August 1, 2004, which shall be the last statement or
report filed under section 5727.31 of the Revised Code by a
telephone company. A telephone company shall not deduct from its
gross receipts included in that last statement any receipts it was
unable to collect from its customers for the period of July 1,
2003, to June 30, 2004.
Sec. 5727.75. (A) For purposes of this section:
(1) "Qualified energy project" means an energy project
certified by the director of development pursuant to this section.
(2) "Energy project" means a project to provide electric
power through the construction, installation, and use of an energy
facility.
(3) "Alternative energy zone" means a county declared as such
by the board of county commissioners under division (E)(1)(b) or
(c) of this section.
(4) "Full-time equivalent employee" means the total number of
employee-hours for which compensation was paid to individuals
employed at a qualified energy project for services performed at
the project during the calendar year divided by two thousand
eighty hours.
(5) "Solar energy project" means an energy project composed
of an energy facility using solar panels to generate electricity.
(B)(1) Tangible personal property of a qualified energy
project using renewable energy resources is exempt from taxation
for tax years 2011 and 2012 if all of the following conditions are
satisfied:
(a) On or before December 31, 2011, the owner or a lessee
pursuant to a sale and leaseback transaction of the project
submits an application to the power siting board for a certificate
under section 4906.20 of the Revised Code, or if that section does
not apply, submits an application for any approval, consent,
permit, or certificate or satisfies any condition required by a
public agency or political subdivision of this state for the
construction or initial operation of an energy project.
(b) Construction or installation of the energy facility
begins on or after January 1, 2009, and before January 1, 2012.
For the purposes of this division, construction begins on the
earlier of the date of application for a certificate or other
approval or permit described in division (B)(1)(a) of this
section, or the date the contract for the construction or
installation of the energy facility is entered into.
(c) For a qualified energy project with a nameplate capacity
of five megawatts or greater, a board of county commissioners of a
county in which property of the project is located has adopted a
resolution under division (E)(1)(b) or (c) of this section to
approve the application submitted under division (E) of this
section to exempt the property located in that county from
taxation. A board's adoption of a resolution rejecting an
application or its failure to adopt a resolution approving the
application does not affect the tax-exempt status of the qualified
energy project's property that is located in another county.
(2) If tangible personal property of a qualified energy
project using renewable energy resources was exempt from taxation
under this section for tax years 2011 and 2012 and the
certification under division (E)(2) of this section has not been
revoked, the tangible personal property of the qualified energy
project is exempt from taxation for tax year 2013 and all ensuing
tax years if the property was placed into service before January
1, 2013, as certified in the construction progress report required
under division (F)(2) of this section. Tangible personal property
that has not been placed into service before that date is taxable
property subject to taxation. An energy project for which
certification has been revoked is ineligible for further exemption
under this section. Revocation does not affect the tax-exempt
status of the project's tangible personal property for the tax
year in which revocation occurs or any prior tax year.
(C) Tangible personal property of a qualified energy project
using clean coal technology, advanced nuclear technology, or
cogeneration technology is exempt from taxation for the first tax
year that the property would be listed for taxation and all
subsequent years if all of the following circumstances are met:
(1) The property was placed into service before January 1,
2017. Tangible personal property that has not been placed into
service before that date is taxable property subject to taxation.
(2) For such a qualified energy project with a nameplate
capacity of five megawatts or greater, a board of county
commissioners of a county in which property of the qualified
energy project is located has adopted a resolution under division
(E)(1)(b) or (c) of this section to approve the application
submitted under division (E) of this section to exempt the
property located in that county from taxation. A board's adoption
of a resolution rejecting the application or its failure to adopt
a resolution approving the application does not affect the
tax-exempt status of the qualified energy project's property that
is located in another county.
(3) The certification for the qualified energy project issued
under division (E)(2) of this section has not been revoked. An
energy project for which certification has been revoked is
ineligible for exemption under this section. Revocation does not
affect the tax-exempt status of the project's tangible personal
property for the tax year in which revocation occurs or any prior
tax year.
(D) Except as otherwise provided in this division, real
property of a qualified energy project is exempt from taxation for
any tax year for which the tangible personal property of the
qualified energy project is exempted under this section.
(E)(1)(a) A person may apply to the director of development
for certification of an energy project as a qualified energy
project on or before the following dates:
(i) December 31, 2011, for an energy project using renewable
energy resources;
(ii) December 31, 2013, for an energy project using clean
coal technology, advanced nuclear technology, or cogeneration
technology.
(b) The director shall forward a copy of each application for
certification of an energy project with a nameplate capacity of
five megawatts or greater to the board of county commissioners of
each county in which the project is located and to each taxing
unit with territory located in each of the affected counties. Any
board that receives from the director a copy of an application
submitted under this division shall adopt a resolution approving
or rejecting the application unless it has adopted a resolution
under division (E)(1)(c) of this section. A resolution adopted
under division (E)(1)(b) or (c) of this section may require an
annual service payment to be made in addition to the service
payment required under division (G) of this section. The sum of
the service payment required in the resolution and the service
payment required under division (G) of this section shall not
exceed nine thousand dollars per megawatt of nameplate capacity
located in the county. The resolution shall specify the time and
manner in which the payments required by the resolution shall be
paid to the county treasurer. The county treasurer shall deposit
the payment to the credit of the county's general fund to be used
for any purpose for which money credited to that fund may be used.
The board shall send copies of the resolution by certified
mail to the owner of the facility and the director within thirty
days after receipt of the application, or a longer period of time
if authorized by the director.
(c) A board of county commissioners may adopt a resolution
declaring the county to be an alternative energy zone and
declaring all applications submitted to the director of
development under this division after the adoption of the
resolution, and prior to its repeal, to be approved by the board.
All tangible personal property and real property of an energy
project with a nameplate capacity of five megawatts or greater is
taxable if it is located in a county in which the board of county
commissioners adopted a resolution rejecting the application
submitted under this division or failed to adopt a resolution
approving the application under division (E)(1)(b) or (c) of this
section.
(2) The director shall certify an energy project if all of
the following circumstances exist:
(a) The application was timely submitted.
(b) For an energy project with a nameplate capacity of five
megawatts or greater, a board of county commissioners of at least
one county in which the project is located has adopted a
resolution approving the application under division (E)(1)(b) or
(c) of this section.
(c) No portion of the project's facility was used to supply
electricity before December 31, 2009.
(3) The director shall deny a certification application if
the director determines the person has failed to comply with any
requirement under this section. The director may revoke a
certification if the director determines the person, or subsequent
owner or lessee pursuant to a sale and leaseback transaction of
the qualified energy project, has failed to comply with any
requirement under this section. Upon certification or revocation,
the director shall notify the person, owner, or lessee, the tax
commissioner, and the county auditor of a county in which the
project is located of the certification or revocation. Notice
shall be provided in a manner convenient to the director.
(F) The owner or a lessee pursuant to a sale and leaseback
transaction of a qualified energy project shall do each of the
following:
(1) Comply with all applicable regulations;
(2) File with the director of development a certified
construction progress report before the first day of March of each
year during the energy facility's construction or installation
indicating the percentage of the project completed, and the
project's nameplate capacity, as of the preceding thirty-first day
of December. Unless otherwise instructed by the director of
development, the owner or lessee of an energy project shall file a
report with the director on or before the first day of March each
year after completion of the energy facility's construction or
installation indicating the project's nameplate capacity as of the
preceding thirty-first day of December. Not later than sixty days
after the effective date of this section, the owner or lessee of
an energy project, the construction of which was completed before
the effective date of this section, shall file a certificate
indicating the project's nameplate capacity.
(3) File with the director of development, in a manner
prescribed by the director, a report of the total number of
full-time equivalent employees, and the total number of full-time
equivalent employees domiciled in Ohio, who are employed in the
construction or installation of the energy facility;
(4) For energy projects with a nameplate capacity of five
megawatts or greater, repair all roads, bridges, and culverts
affected by construction as reasonably required to restore them to
their preconstruction condition, as determined by the county
engineer in consultation with the local jurisdiction responsible
for the roads, bridges, and culverts. In the event that the county
engineer deems any road, bridge, or culvert to be inadequate to
support the construction or decommissioning of the energy
facility, the road, bridge, or culvert shall be rebuilt or
reinforced to the specifications established by the county
engineer prior to the construction or decommissioning of the
facility. The owner or lessee of the facility shall post a bond in
an amount established by the county engineer and to be held by the
board of county commissioners to ensure funding for repairs of
roads, bridges, and culverts affected during the construction. The
bond shall be released by the board not later than one year after
the date the repairs are completed. The energy facility owner or
lessee pursuant to a sale and leaseback transaction shall post a
bond, as may be required by the Ohio power siting board in the
certificate authorizing commencement of construction issued
pursuant to section 4906.10 of the Revised Code, to ensure funding
for repairs to roads, bridges, and culverts resulting from
decommissioning of the facility. The energy facility owner or
lessee and the county engineer may enter into an agreement
regarding specific transportation plans, reinforcements,
modifications, use and repair of roads, financial security to be
provided, and any other relevant issue.
(5) Provide or facilitate training for fire and emergency
responders for response to emergency situations related to the
energy project and, for energy projects with a nameplate capacity
of five megawatts or greater, at the person's expense, equip the
fire and emergency responders with proper equipment as reasonably
required to enable them to respond to such emergency situations;
(6) Maintain a ratio of Ohio-domiciled full-time equivalent
employees employed in the construction or installation of the
energy project to total full-time equivalent employees employed in
the construction or installation of the energy project of not less
than eighty per cent in the case of a solar energy project, and
not less than fifty per cent in the case of any other energy
project. In the case of an energy project for which certification
from the power siting board is required under section 4906.20 of
the Revised Code, the number of full-time equivalent employees
employed in the construction or installation of the energy project
equals the number actually employed or the number projected to be
employed in the certificate application, if such projection is
required under regulations adopted pursuant to section 4906.03 of
the Revised Code, whichever is greater. For all other energy
projects, the number of full-time equivalent employees employed in
the construction or installation of the energy project equals the
number actually employed or the number projected to be employed by
the director of development, whichever is greater. To estimate the
number of employees to be employed in the construction or
installation of an energy project, the director shall use a
generally accepted job-estimating model in use for renewable
energy projects, including but not limited to the job and economic
development impact model. The director may adjust an estimate
produced by a model to account for variables not accounted for by
the model.
(7) For energy projects with a nameplate capacity in excess
of two megawatts, establish a relationship with a member of the
university system of Ohio as defined in section 3345.011 of the
Revised Code or with a person offering an apprenticeship program
registered with the employment and training administration within
the United States department of labor or with the apprenticeship
council created by section 4139.02 of the Revised Code, to educate
and train individuals for careers in the wind or solar energy
industry. The relationship may include endowments, cooperative
programs, internships, apprenticeships, research and development
projects, and curriculum development.
(8) Offer to sell power or renewable energy credits from the
energy project to electric distribution utilities or electric
service companies subject to renewable energy resource
requirements under section 4928.64 of the Revised Code that have
issued requests for proposal for such power or renewable energy
credits. If no electric distribution utility or electric service
company issues a request for proposal on or before December 31,
2010, or accepts an offer for power or renewable energy credits
within forty-five days after the offer is submitted, power or
renewable energy credits from the energy project may be sold to
other persons. Division (F)(8) of this section does not apply if:
(a) The owner or lessee is a rural electric company or a
municipal power agency as defined in section 3734.058 of the
Revised Code.
(b) The owner or lessee is a person that, before completion
of the energy project, contracted for the sale of power or
renewable energy credits with a rural electric company or a
municipal power agency.
(c) The owner or lessee contracts for the sale of power or
renewable energy credits from the energy project before the
effective date of this section as enacted by this act.
(9) Make annual service payments as required by division (G)
of this section and as may be required in a resolution adopted by
a board of county commissioners under division (E) of this
section.
(G) The owner or a lessee pursuant to a sale and leaseback
transaction of a qualified energy project shall make annual
service payments in lieu of taxes to the county treasurer on or
before the final dates for payments of taxes on public utility
personal property on the real and public utility personal property
tax list for each tax year for which property of the energy
project is exempt from taxation under this section. The county
treasurer shall allocate the payment on the basis of the project's
physical location. Upon receipt of a payment, or if timely payment
has not been received, the county treasurer shall certify such
receipt or non-receipt to the director of development and tax
commissioner in a form determined by the director and
commissioner, respectively. Each payment shall be in the following
amount:
(1) In the case of a solar energy project, seven thousand
dollars per megawatt of nameplate capacity located in the county
as of December 31, 2010, for tax year 2011, as of December 31,
2011, for tax year 2012, and as of December 31, 2012, for tax year
2013 and each tax year thereafter;
(2) In the case of any other energy project using renewable
energy resources, the following:
(a) If the project maintains during the construction or
installation of the energy facility a ratio of Ohio-domiciled
full-time equivalent employees to total full-time equivalent
employees of not less than seventy-five per cent, six thousand
dollars per megawatt of nameplate capacity located in the county
as of the thirty-first day of December of the preceding tax year;
(b) If the project maintains during the construction or
installation of the energy facility a ratio of Ohio-domiciled
full-time equivalent employees to total full-time equivalent
employees of less than seventy-five per cent but not less than
sixty per cent, seven thousand dollars per megawatt of nameplate
capacity located in the county as of the thirty-first day of
December of the preceding tax year;
(c) If the project maintains during the construction or
installation of the energy facility a ratio of Ohio-domiciled
full-time equivalent employees to total full-time equivalent
employees of less than sixty per cent but not less than fifty per
cent, eight thousand dollars per megawatt of nameplate capacity
located in the county as of the thirty-first day of December of
the preceding tax year.
(3) In the case of an energy project using clean coal
technology, advanced nuclear technology, or cogeneration
technology, the following:
(a) If the project maintains during the construction or
installation of the energy facility a ratio of Ohio-domiciled
full-time equivalent employees to total full-time equivalent
employees of not less than seventy-five per cent, six thousand
dollars per megawatt of nameplate capacity located in the county
as of the thirty-first day of December of the preceding tax year;
(b) If the project maintains during the construction or
installation of the energy facility a ratio of Ohio-domiciled
full-time equivalent employees to total full-time equivalent
employees of less than seventy-five per cent but not less than
sixty per cent, seven thousand dollars per megawatt of nameplate
capacity located in the county as of the thirty-first day of
December of the preceding tax year;
(c) If the project maintains during the construction or
installation of the energy facility a ratio of Ohio-domiciled
full-time equivalent employees to total full-time equivalent
employees of less than sixty per cent but not less than fifty per
cent, eight thousand dollars per megawatt of nameplate capacity
located in the county as of the thirty-first day of December of
the preceding tax year.
(H) The director of development in consultation with the tax
commissioner shall adopt rules pursuant to Chapter 119. of the
Revised Code to implement and enforce this section.
Sec. 5739.02. For the purpose of providing revenue with
which to meet the needs of the state, for the use of the general
revenue fund of the state, for the purpose of securing a thorough
and efficient system of common schools throughout the state, for
the purpose of affording revenues, in addition to those from
general property taxes, permitted under constitutional
limitations, and from other sources, for the support of local
governmental functions, and for the purpose of reimbursing the
state for the expense of administering this chapter, an excise tax
is hereby levied on each retail sale made in this state.
(A)(1) The tax shall be collected as provided in section
5739.025 of the Revised Code. The rate of the tax shall be five
and one-half per cent. The tax applies and is collectible when the
sale is made, regardless of the time when the price is paid or
delivered.
(2) In the case of the lease or rental, with a fixed term of
more than thirty days or an indefinite term with a minimum period
of more than thirty days, of any motor vehicles designed by the
manufacturer to carry a load of not more than one ton, watercraft,
outboard motor, or aircraft, or of any tangible personal property,
other than motor vehicles designed by the manufacturer to carry a
load of more than one ton, to be used by the lessee or renter
primarily for business purposes, the tax shall be collected by the
vendor at the time the lease or rental is consummated and shall be
calculated by the vendor on the basis of the total amount to be
paid by the lessee or renter under the lease agreement. If the
total amount of the consideration for the lease or rental includes
amounts that are not calculated at the time the lease or rental is
executed, the tax shall be calculated and collected by the vendor
at the time such amounts are billed to the lessee or renter. In
the case of an open-end lease or rental, the tax shall be
calculated by the vendor on the basis of the total amount to be
paid during the initial fixed term of the lease or rental, and for
each subsequent renewal period as it comes due. As used in this
division, "motor vehicle" has the same meaning as in section
4501.01 of the Revised Code, and "watercraft" includes an outdrive
unit attached to the watercraft.
A lease with a renewal clause and a termination penalty or
similar provision that applies if the renewal clause is not
exercised is presumed to be a sham transaction. In such a case,
the tax shall be calculated and paid on the basis of the entire
length of the lease period, including any renewal periods, until
the termination penalty or similar provision no longer applies.
The taxpayer shall bear the burden, by a preponderance of the
evidence, that the transaction or series of transactions is not a
sham transaction.
(3) Except as provided in division (A)(2) of this section, in
the case of a sale, the price of which consists in whole or in
part of the lease or rental of tangible personal property, the tax
shall be measured by the installments of that lease or rental.
(4) In the case of a sale of a physical fitness facility
service or recreation and sports club service, the price of which
consists in whole or in part of a membership for the receipt of
the benefit of the service, the tax applicable to the sale shall
be measured by the installments thereof.
(B) The tax does not apply to the following:
(1) Sales to the state or any of its political subdivisions,
or to any other state or its political subdivisions if the laws of
that state exempt from taxation sales made to this state and its
political subdivisions;
(2) Sales of food for human consumption off the premises
where sold;
(3) Sales of food sold to students only in a cafeteria,
dormitory, fraternity, or sorority maintained in a private,
public, or parochial school, college, or university;
(4) Sales of newspapers and of magazine subscriptions and
sales or transfers of magazines distributed as controlled
circulation publications;
(5) The furnishing, preparing, or serving of meals without
charge by an employer to an employee provided the employer records
the meals as part compensation for services performed or work
done;
(6) Sales of motor fuel upon receipt, use, distribution, or
sale of which in this state a tax is imposed by the law of this
state, but this exemption shall not apply to the sale of motor
fuel on which a refund of the tax is allowable under division (A)
of section 5735.14 of the Revised Code; and the tax commissioner
may deduct the amount of tax levied by this section applicable to
the price of motor fuel when granting a refund of motor fuel tax
pursuant to division (A) of section 5735.14 of the Revised Code
and shall cause the amount deducted to be paid into the general
revenue fund of this state;
(7) Sales of natural gas by a natural gas company, of water
by a water-works company, or of steam by a heating company, if in
each case the thing sold is delivered to consumers through pipes
or conduits, and all sales of communications services by a
telegraph company, all terms as defined in section 5727.01 of the
Revised Code, and sales of electricity delivered through wires;
(8) Casual sales by a person, or auctioneer employed directly
by the person to conduct such sales, except as to such sales of
motor vehicles, watercraft or outboard motors required to be
titled under section 1548.06 of the Revised Code, watercraft
documented with the United States coast guard, snowmobiles, and
all-purpose vehicles as defined in section 4519.01 of the Revised
Code;
(9)(a) Sales of services or tangible personal property, other
than motor vehicles, mobile homes, and manufactured homes, by
churches, organizations exempt from taxation under section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, or nonprofit
organizations operated exclusively for charitable purposes as
defined in division (B)(12) of this section, provided that the
number of days on which such tangible personal property or
services, other than items never subject to the tax, are sold does
not exceed six in any calendar year, except as otherwise provided
in division (B)(9)(b) of this section. If the number of days on
which such sales are made exceeds six in any calendar year, the
church or organization shall be considered to be engaged in
business and all subsequent sales by it shall be subject to the
tax. In counting the number of days, all sales by groups within a
church or within an organization shall be considered to be sales
of that church or organization.
(b) The limitation on the number of days on which tax-exempt
sales may be made by a church or organization under division
(B)(9)(a) of this section does not apply to sales made by student
clubs and other groups of students of a primary or secondary
school, or a parent-teacher association, booster group, or similar
organization that raises money to support or fund curricular or
extracurricular activities of a primary or secondary school.
(c) Divisions (B)(9)(a) and (b) of this section do not apply
to sales by a noncommercial educational radio or television
broadcasting station.
(10) Sales not within the taxing power of this state under
the Constitution of the United States;
(11) Except for transactions that are sales under division
(B)(3)(r) of section 5739.01 of the Revised Code, the
transportation of persons or property, unless the transportation
is by a private investigation and security service;
(12) Sales of tangible personal property or services to
churches, to organizations exempt from taxation under section
501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, and to any other
nonprofit organizations operated exclusively for charitable
purposes in this state, no part of the net income of which inures
to the benefit of any private shareholder or individual, and no
substantial part of the activities of which consists of carrying
on propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation;
sales to offices administering one or more homes for the aged or
one or more hospital facilities exempt under section 140.08 of the
Revised Code; and sales to organizations described in division (D)
of section 5709.12 of the Revised Code.
"Charitable purposes" means the relief of poverty; the
improvement of health through the alleviation of illness, disease,
or injury; the operation of an organization exclusively for the
provision of professional, laundry, printing, and purchasing
services to hospitals or charitable institutions; the operation of
a home for the aged, as defined in section 5701.13 of the Revised
Code; the operation of a radio or television broadcasting station
that is licensed by the federal communications commission as a
noncommercial educational radio or television station; the
operation of a nonprofit animal adoption service or a county
humane society; the promotion of education by an institution of
learning that maintains a faculty of qualified instructors,
teaches regular continuous courses of study, and confers a
recognized diploma upon completion of a specific curriculum; the
operation of a parent-teacher association, booster group, or
similar organization primarily engaged in the promotion and
support of the curricular or extracurricular activities of a
primary or secondary school; the operation of a community or area
center in which presentations in music, dramatics, the arts, and
related fields are made in order to foster public interest and
education therein; the production of performances in music,
dramatics, and the arts; or the promotion of education by an
organization engaged in carrying on research in, or the
dissemination of, scientific and technological knowledge and
information primarily for the public.
Nothing in this division shall be deemed to exempt sales to
any organization for use in the operation or carrying on of a
trade or business, or sales to a home for the aged for use in the
operation of independent living facilities as defined in division
(A) of section 5709.12 of the Revised Code.
(13) Building and construction materials and services sold to
construction contractors for incorporation into a structure or
improvement to real property under a construction contract with
this state or a political subdivision of this state, or with the
United States government or any of its agencies; building and
construction materials and services sold to construction
contractors for incorporation into a structure or improvement to
real property that are accepted for ownership by this state or any
of its political subdivisions, or by the United States government
or any of its agencies at the time of completion of the structures
or improvements; building and construction materials sold to
construction contractors for incorporation into a horticulture
structure or livestock structure for a person engaged in the
business of horticulture or producing livestock; building
materials and services sold to a construction contractor for
incorporation into a house of public worship or religious
education, or a building used exclusively for charitable purposes
under a construction contract with an organization whose purpose
is as described in division (B)(12) of this section; building
materials and services sold to a construction contractor for
incorporation into a building under a construction contract with
an organization exempt from taxation under section 501(c)(3) of
the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 when the building is to be used
exclusively for the organization's exempt purposes; building and
construction materials sold for incorporation into the original
construction of a sports facility under section 307.696 of the
Revised Code; and building and construction materials and services
sold to a construction contractor for incorporation into real
property outside this state if such materials and services, when
sold to a construction contractor in the state in which the real
property is located for incorporation into real property in that
state, would be exempt from a tax on sales levied by that state;
(14) Sales of ships or vessels or rail rolling stock used or
to be used principally in interstate or foreign commerce, and
repairs, alterations, fuel, and lubricants for such ships or
vessels or rail rolling stock;
(15) Sales to persons primarily engaged in any of the
activities mentioned in division (B)(42)(a) or (g) of this
section, to persons engaged in making retail sales, or to persons
who purchase for sale from a manufacturer tangible personal
property that was produced by the manufacturer in accordance with
specific designs provided by the purchaser, of packages, including
material, labels, and parts for packages, and of machinery,
equipment, and material for use primarily in packaging tangible
personal property produced for sale, including any machinery,
equipment, and supplies used to make labels or packages, to
prepare packages or products for labeling, or to label packages or
products, by or on the order of the person doing the packaging, or
sold at retail. "Packages" includes bags, baskets, cartons,
crates, boxes, cans, bottles, bindings, wrappings, and other
similar devices and containers, but does not include motor
vehicles or bulk tanks, trailers, or similar devices attached to
motor vehicles. "Packaging" means placing in a package. Division
(B)(15) of this section does not apply to persons engaged in
highway transportation for hire.
(16) Sales of food to persons using supplemental nutrition
assistance program benefits to purchase the food. As used in this
division, "food" has the same meaning as in 7 U.S.C. 2012 and
federal regulations adopted pursuant to the Food and Nutrition Act
of 2008.
(17) Sales to persons engaged in farming, agriculture,
horticulture, or floriculture, of tangible personal property for
use or consumption directly in the production by farming,
agriculture, horticulture, or floriculture of other tangible
personal property for use or consumption directly in the
production of tangible personal property for sale by farming,
agriculture, horticulture, or floriculture; or material and parts
for incorporation into any such tangible personal property for use
or consumption in production; and of tangible personal property
for such use or consumption in the conditioning or holding of
products produced by and for such use, consumption, or sale by
persons engaged in farming, agriculture, horticulture, or
floriculture, except where such property is incorporated into real
property;
(18) Sales of drugs for a human being that may be dispensed
only pursuant to a prescription; insulin as recognized in the
official United States pharmacopoeia; urine and blood testing
materials when used by diabetics or persons with hypoglycemia to
test for glucose or acetone; hypodermic syringes and needles when
used by diabetics for insulin injections; epoetin alfa when
purchased for use in the treatment of persons with medical
disease; hospital beds when purchased by hospitals, nursing homes,
or other medical facilities; and medical oxygen and medical
oxygen-dispensing equipment when purchased by hospitals, nursing
homes, or other medical facilities;
(19) Sales of prosthetic devices, durable medical equipment
for home use, or mobility enhancing equipment, when made pursuant
to a prescription and when such devices or equipment are for use
by a human being.
(20) Sales of emergency and fire protection vehicles and
equipment to nonprofit organizations for use solely in providing
fire protection and emergency services, including trauma care and
emergency medical services, for political subdivisions of the
state;
(21) Sales of tangible personal property manufactured in this
state, if sold by the manufacturer in this state to a retailer for
use in the retail business of the retailer outside of this state
and if possession is taken from the manufacturer by the purchaser
within this state for the sole purpose of immediately removing the
same from this state in a vehicle owned by the purchaser;
(22) Sales of services provided by the state or any of its
political subdivisions, agencies, instrumentalities, institutions,
or authorities, or by governmental entities of the state or any of
its political subdivisions, agencies, instrumentalities,
institutions, or authorities;
(23) Sales of motor vehicles to nonresidents of this state
under the circumstances described in division (B) of section
5739.029 of the Revised Code;
(24) Sales to persons engaged in the preparation of eggs for
sale of tangible personal property used or consumed directly in
such preparation, including such tangible personal property used
for cleaning, sanitizing, preserving, grading, sorting, and
classifying by size; packages, including material and parts for
packages, and machinery, equipment, and material for use in
packaging eggs for sale; and handling and transportation equipment
and parts therefor, except motor vehicles licensed to operate on
public highways, used in intraplant or interplant transfers or
shipment of eggs in the process of preparation for sale, when the
plant or plants within or between which such transfers or
shipments occur are operated by the same person. "Packages"
includes containers, cases, baskets, flats, fillers, filler flats,
cartons, closure materials, labels, and labeling materials, and
"packaging" means placing therein.
(25)(a) Sales of water to a consumer for residential use,
except the sale of bottled water, distilled water, mineral water,
carbonated water, or ice;
(b) Sales of water by a nonprofit corporation engaged
exclusively in the treatment, distribution, and sale of water to
consumers, if such water is delivered to consumers through pipes
or tubing.
(26) Fees charged for inspection or reinspection of motor
vehicles under section 3704.14 of the Revised Code;
(27) Sales to persons licensed to conduct a food service
operation pursuant to section 3717.43 of the Revised Code, of
tangible personal property primarily used directly for the
following:
(a) To prepare food for human consumption for sale;
(b) To preserve food that has been or will be prepared for
human consumption for sale by the food service operator, not
including tangible personal property used to display food for
selection by the consumer;
(c) To clean tangible personal property used to prepare or
serve food for human consumption for sale.
(28) Sales of animals by nonprofit animal adoption services
or county humane societies;
(29) Sales of services to a corporation described in division
(A) of section 5709.72 of the Revised Code, and sales of tangible
personal property that qualifies for exemption from taxation under
section 5709.72 of the Revised Code;
(30) Sales and installation of agricultural land tile, as
defined in division (B)(5)(a) of section 5739.01 of the Revised
Code;
(31) Sales and erection or installation of portable grain
bins, as defined in division (B)(5)(b) of section 5739.01 of the
Revised Code;
(32) The sale, lease, repair, and maintenance of, parts for,
or items attached to or incorporated in, motor vehicles that are
primarily used for transporting tangible personal property
belonging to others by a person engaged in highway transportation
for hire, except for packages and packaging used for the
transportation of tangible personal property;
(33) Sales to the state headquarters of any veterans'
organization in this state that is either incorporated and issued
a charter by the congress of the United States or is recognized by
the United States veterans administration, for use by the
headquarters;
(34) Sales to a telecommunications service vendor, mobile
telecommunications service vendor, or satellite broadcasting
service vendor of tangible personal property and services used
directly and primarily in transmitting, receiving, switching, or
recording any interactive, one- or two-way electromagnetic
communications, including voice, image, data, and information,
through the use of any medium, including, but not limited to,
poles, wires, cables, switching equipment, computers, and record
storage devices and media, and component parts for the tangible
personal property. The exemption provided in this division shall
be in lieu of all other exemptions under division (B)(42)(a) of
this section to which the vendor may otherwise be entitled, based
upon the use of the thing purchased in providing the
telecommunications, mobile telecommunications, or satellite
broadcasting service.
(35)(a) Sales where the purpose of the consumer is to use or
consume the things transferred in making retail sales and
consisting of newspaper inserts, catalogues, coupons, flyers, gift
certificates, or other advertising material that prices and
describes tangible personal property offered for retail sale.
(b) Sales to direct marketing vendors of preliminary
materials such as photographs, artwork, and typesetting that will
be used in printing advertising material; of printed matter that
offers free merchandise or chances to win sweepstake prizes and
that is mailed to potential customers with advertising material
described in division (B)(35)(a) of this section; and of equipment
such as telephones, computers, facsimile machines, and similar
tangible personal property primarily used to accept orders for
direct marketing retail sales.
(c) Sales of automatic food vending machines that preserve
food with a shelf life of forty-five days or less by refrigeration
and dispense it to the consumer.
For purposes of division (B)(35) of this section, "direct
marketing" means the method of selling where consumers order
tangible personal property by United States mail, delivery
service, or telecommunication and the vendor delivers or ships the
tangible personal property sold to the consumer from a warehouse,
catalogue distribution center, or similar fulfillment facility by
means of the United States mail, delivery service, or common
carrier.
(36) Sales to a person engaged in the business of
horticulture or producing livestock of materials to be
incorporated into a horticulture structure or livestock structure;
(37) Sales of personal computers, computer monitors, computer
keyboards, modems, and other peripheral computer equipment to an
individual who is licensed or certified to teach in an elementary
or a secondary school in this state for use by that individual in
preparation for teaching elementary or secondary school students;
(38) Sales to a professional racing team of any of the
following:
(a) Motor racing vehicles;
(b) Repair services for motor racing vehicles;
(c) Items of property that are attached to or incorporated in
motor racing vehicles, including engines, chassis, and all other
components of the vehicles, and all spare, replacement, and
rebuilt parts or components of the vehicles; except not including
tires, consumable fluids, paint, and accessories consisting of
instrumentation sensors and related items added to the vehicle to
collect and transmit data by means of telemetry and other forms of
communication.
(39) Sales of used manufactured homes and used mobile homes,
as defined in section 5739.0210 of the Revised Code, made on or
after January 1, 2000;
(40) Sales of tangible personal property and services to a
provider of electricity used or consumed directly and primarily in
generating, transmitting, or distributing electricity for use by
others, including property that is or is to be incorporated into
and will become a part of the consumer's production, transmission,
or distribution system and that retains its classification as
tangible personal property after incorporation; fuel or power used
in the production, transmission, or distribution of electricity;
energy conversion equipment as defined in section 5727.01 of the
Revised Code; and tangible personal property and services used in
the repair and maintenance of the production, transmission, or
distribution system, including only those motor vehicles as are
specially designed and equipped for such use. The exemption
provided in this division shall be in lieu of all other exemptions
in division (B)(42)(a) of this section to which a provider of
electricity may otherwise be entitled based on the use of the
tangible personal property or service purchased in generating,
transmitting, or distributing electricity.
(41) Sales to a person providing services under division
(B)(3)(r) of section 5739.01 of the Revised Code of tangible
personal property and services used directly and primarily in
providing taxable services under that section.
(42) Sales where the purpose of the purchaser is to do any of
the following:
(a) To incorporate the thing transferred as a material or a
part into tangible personal property to be produced for sale by
manufacturing, assembling, processing, or refining; or to use or
consume the thing transferred directly in producing tangible
personal property for sale by mining, including, without
limitation, the extraction from the earth of all substances that
are classed geologically as minerals, production of crude oil and
natural gas, farming, agriculture, horticulture, or floriculture,
or directly in the rendition of a public utility service, except
that the sales tax levied by this section shall be collected upon
all meals, drinks, and food for human consumption sold when
transporting persons. Persons engaged in rendering farming,
agricultural, horticultural, or floricultural services, and
services in the exploration for, and production of, crude oil and
natural gas, for others are deemed engaged directly in farming,
agriculture, horticulture, and floriculture, or exploration for,
and production of, crude oil and natural gas. This paragraph does
not exempt from "retail sale" or "sales at retail" the sale of
tangible personal property that is to be incorporated into a
structure or improvement to real property.
(b) To hold the thing transferred as security for the
performance of an obligation of the vendor;
(c) To resell, hold, use, or consume the thing transferred as
evidence of a contract of insurance;
(d) To use or consume the thing directly in commercial
fishing;
(e) To incorporate the thing transferred as a material or a
part into, or to use or consume the thing transferred directly in
the production of, magazines distributed as controlled circulation
publications;
(f) To use or consume the thing transferred in the production
and preparation in suitable condition for market and sale of
printed, imprinted, overprinted, lithographic, multilithic,
blueprinted, photostatic, or other productions or reproductions of
written or graphic matter;
(g) To use the thing transferred, as described in section
5739.011 of the Revised Code, primarily in a manufacturing
operation to produce tangible personal property for sale;
(h) To use the benefit of a warranty, maintenance or service
contract, or similar agreement, as described in division (B)(7) of
section 5739.01 of the Revised Code, to repair or maintain
tangible personal property, if all of the property that is the
subject of the warranty, contract, or agreement would not be
subject to the tax imposed by this section;
(i) To use the thing transferred as qualified research and
development equipment;
(j) To use or consume the thing transferred primarily in
storing, transporting, mailing, or otherwise handling purchased
sales inventory in a warehouse, distribution center, or similar
facility when the inventory is primarily distributed outside this
state to retail stores of the person who owns or controls the
warehouse, distribution center, or similar facility, to retail
stores of an affiliated group of which that person is a member, or
by means of direct marketing. This division does not apply to
motor vehicles registered for operation on the public highways. As
used in this division, "affiliated group" has the same meaning as
in division (B)(3)(e) of section 5739.01 of the Revised Code and
"direct marketing" has the same meaning as in division (B)(35) of
this section.
(k) To use or consume the thing transferred to fulfill a
contractual obligation incurred by a warrantor pursuant to a
warranty provided as a part of the price of the tangible personal
property sold or by a vendor of a warranty, maintenance or service
contract, or similar agreement the provision of which is defined
as a sale under division (B)(7) of section 5739.01 of the Revised
Code;
(l) To use or consume the thing transferred in the production
of a newspaper for distribution to the public;
(m) To use tangible personal property to perform a service
listed in division (B)(3) of section 5739.01 of the Revised Code,
if the property is or is to be permanently transferred to the
consumer of the service as an integral part of the performance of
the service;
(n) To use or consume the thing transferred in acquiring,
formatting, editing, storing, and disseminating data or
information by electronic publishing.
As used in division (B)(42) of this section, "thing" includes
all transactions included in divisions (B)(3)(a), (b), and (e) of
section 5739.01 of the Revised Code.
(43) Sales conducted through a coin operated device that
activates vacuum equipment or equipment that dispenses water,
whether or not in combination with soap or other cleaning agents
or wax, to the consumer for the consumer's use on the premises in
washing, cleaning, or waxing a motor vehicle, provided no other
personal property or personal service is provided as part of the
transaction.
(44) Sales of replacement and modification parts for engines,
airframes, instruments, and interiors in, and paint for, aircraft
used primarily in a fractional aircraft ownership program, and
sales of services for the repair, modification, and maintenance of
such aircraft, and machinery, equipment, and supplies primarily
used to provide those services.
(45) Sales of telecommunications service that is used
directly and primarily to perform the functions of a call center.
As used in this division, "call center" means any physical
location where telephone calls are placed or received in high
volume for the purpose of making sales, marketing, customer
service, technical support, or other specialized business
activity, and that employs at least fifty individuals that engage
in call center activities on a full-time basis, or sufficient
individuals to fill fifty full-time equivalent positions.
(46) Sales by a telecommunications service vendor of 900
service to a subscriber. This division does not apply to
information services, as defined in division (FF) of section
5739.01 of the Revised Code.
(47) Sales of value-added non-voice data service. This
division does not apply to any similar service that is not
otherwise a telecommunications service.
(48)(a) Sales of machinery, equipment, and software to a
qualified direct selling entity for use in a warehouse or
distribution center primarily for storing, transporting, or
otherwise handling inventory that is held for sale to independent
salespersons who operate as direct sellers and that is held
primarily for distribution outside this state;
(b) As used in division (B)(48)(a) of this section:
(i) "Direct seller" means a person selling consumer products
to individuals for personal or household use and not from a fixed
retail location, including selling such product at in-home product
demonstrations, parties, and other one-on-one selling.
(ii) "Qualified direct selling entity" means an entity
selling to direct sellers at the time the entity enters into a tax
credit agreement with the tax credit authority pursuant to section
122.17 of the Revised Code, provided that the agreement was
entered into on or after January 1, 2007. Neither contingencies
relevant to the granting of, nor later developments with respect
to, the tax credit shall impair the status of the qualified direct
selling entity under division (B)(48) of this section after
execution of the tax credit agreement by the tax credit authority.
(c) Division (B)(48) of this section is limited to machinery,
equipment, and software first stored, used, or consumed in this
state within the period commencing June 24, 2008, and ending on
the date that is five years after that date.
(49) Sales of materials, parts, equipment, or engines used in
the repair or maintenance of aircraft or avionics systems of such
aircraft, and sales of repair, remodeling, replacement, or
maintenance services in this state performed on aircraft or on an
aircraft's avionics, engine, or component materials or parts. As
used in division (B)(49) of this section, "aircraft" means
aircraft of more than six thousand pounds maximum certified
takeoff weight or used exclusively in general aviation.
(50) Sales of full flight simulators that are used for pilot
or flight-crew training, sales of repair or replacement parts or
components, and sales of repair or maintenance services for such
full flight simulators. "Full flight simulator" means a replica of
a specific type, or make, model, and series of aircraft cockpit.
It includes the assemblage of equipment and computer programs
necessary to represent aircraft operations in ground and flight
conditions, a visual system providing an out-of-the-cockpit view,
and a system that provides cues at least equivalent to those of a
three-degree-of-freedom motion system, and has the full range of
capabilities of the systems installed in the device as described
in appendices A and B of part 60 of chapter 1 of title 14 of the
Code of Federal Regulations.
(C) For the purpose of the proper administration of this
chapter, and to prevent the evasion of the tax, it is presumed
that all sales made in this state are subject to the tax until the
contrary is established.
(D) The levy of this tax on retail sales of recreation and
sports club service shall not prevent a municipal corporation from
levying any tax on recreation and sports club dues or on any
income generated by recreation and sports club dues.
(E) The tax collected by the vendor from the consumer under
this chapter is not part of the price, but is a tax collection for
the benefit of the state, and of counties levying an additional
sales tax pursuant to section 5739.021 or 5739.026 of the Revised
Code and of transit authorities levying an additional sales tax
pursuant to section 5739.023 of the Revised Code. Except for the
discount authorized under section 5739.12 of the Revised Code and
the effects of any rounding pursuant to section 5703.055 of the
Revised Code, no person other than the state or such a county or
transit authority shall derive any benefit from the collection or
payment of the tax levied by this section or section 5739.021,
5739.023, or 5739.026 of the Revised Code.
SECTION 2. That existing sections 717.25, 1710.01, 1710.02,
1710.06, 1710.07, 4928.01, 4928.64, 5709.53, 5713.30, 5713.34,
5727.01, 5727.02, 5727.06, 5727.11, 5727.111, 5727.15, 5727.30,
and 5739.02 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.
SECTION 3. This act is hereby declared to be an emergency
measure necessary for the immediate preservation of the public
peace, health, and safety. The reason for such necessity is that
the immediate construction of facilities to which this act applies
is necessary to ensure the state's alternative energy resource
benchmarks are achieved. Therefore, this act shall go into
immediate effect.
|