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Sub. H. B. No. 509 As Reported by the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans Affairs CommitteeAs Reported by the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans Affairs Committee
129th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2011-2012 |
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Cosponsors:
Representatives Schuring, Amstutz, Anielski, Antonio, Baker, Beck, Blessing, Boose, Brenner, Combs, Conditt, Derickson, Garland, Grossman, Hackett, Hagan, C., Hill, Mallory, McClain, Newbold, Pelanda, Ruhl, Sears, Thompson, Uecker, Young Speaker Batchelder
Senator LaRose
A BILL
To amend sections 9.833, 118.023, 118.06, 118.31,
120.08, 120.53, 124.42, 305.171, 307.12, 307.86,
307.861, 307.87, 307.88, 308.13, 329.40, 505.60,
505.601, 505.603, 511.23, 703.21, 731.141, 735.05,
737.03, 749.26, 749.28, 749.31, 753.15, 755.29,
755.30, 1545.07, 2907.27, 3316.04, 3316.06,
3709.08, 3709.28, 3709.36, 3729.05, 4123.41,
5301.68, 5301.69, 5705.392, 5705.41, 5715.13,
5715.19, 6115.20, 6119.02, and 6119.10, to enact
sections 125.183, 319.09, and 505.012, and to
repeal sections 507.07 and 3709.081 of the Revised
Code to make changes to the laws governing local
governments, to modify the requirements of
arresting authorities and courts regarding
venereal disease testing of individuals accused of
certain offenses, to modify the manner in which
funds are allocated from the Ohio Legal Aid Fund,
to modify the deadline for the certification to
the ballot of the major political parties'
candidates for president and vice-president for
the November 6, 2012, general election, and to
declare an emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 9.833, 118.023, 118.06, 118.31,
120.08, 120.53, 124.42, 305.171, 307.12, 307.86, 307.861, 307.87,
307.88, 308.13, 329.40, 505.60, 505.601, 505.603, 511.23, 703.21,
731.141, 735.05, 737.03, 749.26, 749.28, 749.31, 753.15, 755.29,
755.30, 1545.07, 2907.27, 3316.04, 3316.06, 3709.08, 3709.28,
3709.36, 3729.05, 4123.41, 5301.68, 5301.69, 5705.392, 5705.41,
5715.13, 5715.19, 6115.20, 6119.02, and 6119.10 be amended and
sections 125.183, 319.09, and 505.012 of the Revised Code be
enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 9.833. (A) As used in this section, "political
subdivision" has the meaning defined in sections 2744.01 and
3905.36 of the Revised Code. For purposes of this section,
"political subdivision" includes municipal corporations as defined
in section 5705.01 of the Revised Code.
(B) Political subdivisions that provide health care benefits
for their officers or employees may do any of the following:
(1) Establish and maintain an individual self-insurance
program with public moneys to provide authorized health care
benefits, including but not limited to, health care, prescription
drugs, dental care, and vision care, in accordance with division
(C) of this section;
(2) Establish and maintain a health savings account program
whereby employees or officers may establish and maintain health
savings accounts in accordance with section 223 of the Internal
Revenue Code. Public moneys may be used to pay for or fund
federally qualified high deductible health plans that are linked
to health savings accounts or to make contributions to health
savings accounts. A health savings account program may be a part
of a self-insurance program.
(3) After establishing an individual self-insurance program,
agree with other political subdivisions that have established
individual self-insurance programs for health care benefits, that
their programs will be jointly administered in a manner specified
in the agreement;
(4) Pursuant to a written agreement and in accordance with
division (C) of this section, join in any combination with other
political subdivisions to establish and maintain a joint
self-insurance program to provide health care benefits;
(5) Pursuant to a written agreement, join in any combination
with other political subdivisions to procure or contract for
policies, contracts, or plans of insurance to provide health care
benefits, which may include a health savings account program for
their officers and employees subject to the agreement;
(6) Use in any combination any of the policies, contracts,
plans, or programs authorized under this division.
(7) Any agreement made under divisions division (B)(3), (4),
(5), or (6) of this section shall be in writing, comply with
division (C) of this section, and contain best practices
established in consultation with and approved by the department of
administrative services. The best practices may be reviewed and
amended at the discretion of the political subdivisions in
consultation with the department. Detailed information regarding
the best practices shall be made available to any employee upon
that employee's request.
(8) Purchase plans approved by the department of
administrative services under section 9.901 of the Revised Code.
(C) Except as otherwise provided in division (E) of this
section, the following apply to individual or joint self-insurance
programs established pursuant to this section:
(1) Such funds shall be reserved as are necessary, in the
exercise of sound and prudent actuarial judgment, to cover
potential cost of health care benefits for the officers and
employees of the political subdivision. A certified audited
financial statement and a report of amounts so reserved and
disbursements made from such funds, together with a written report
of a member of the American academy of actuaries certifying
whether the amounts reserved conform to the requirements of this
division, are computed in accordance with accepted loss reserving
standards, and are fairly stated in accordance with sound loss
reserving principles, shall be prepared and maintained, within
ninety days after the last day of the fiscal year of the entity
for which the report is provided for that fiscal year, in the
office of the program administrator described in division (C)(3)
of this section.
The report required by division (C)(1) of this section shall
include, but not be limited to, disbursements made for the
administration of the program, including claims paid, costs of the
legal representation of political subdivisions and employees, and
fees paid to consultants.
The program administrator described in division (C)(3) of
this section shall make the report required by this division
available for inspection by any person at all reasonable times
during regular business hours, and, upon the request of such
person, shall make copies of the report available at cost within a
reasonable period of time. The program administrator shall further
provide the report to the auditor of state under Chapter 117. of
the Revised Code.
(2) Each political subdivision shall reserve funds necessary
for an individual or joint self-insurance program in a special
fund that may be established for political subdivisions other than
an agency or instrumentality pursuant to an ordinance or
resolution of the political subdivision and not subject to section
5705.12 of the Revised Code. An agency or instrumentality shall
reserve the funds necessary for an individual or joint
self-insurance program in a special fund established pursuant to a
resolution duly adopted by the agency's or instrumentality's
governing board. The political subdivision may allocate the costs
of insurance or any self-insurance program, or both, among the
funds or accounts established under this division on the basis of
relative exposure and loss experience.
(3) A contract may be awarded, without the necessity of
competitive bidding, to any person, political subdivision,
nonprofit corporation organized under Chapter 1702. of the Revised
Code, or regional council of governments created under Chapter
167. of the Revised Code for purposes of administration of an
individual or joint self-insurance program. No such contract shall
be entered into without full, prior, public disclosure of all
terms and conditions. The disclosure shall include, at a minimum,
a statement listing all representations made in connection with
any possible savings and losses resulting from the contract, and
potential liability of any political subdivision or employee. The
proposed contract and statement shall be disclosed and presented
at a meeting of the political subdivision not less than one week
prior to the meeting at which the political subdivision authorizes
the contract.
A contract awarded to a nonprofit corporation or a regional
council of governments under this division may provide that all
employees of the nonprofit corporation or regional council of
governments and, the employees of all entities related to the
nonprofit corporation or regional council of governments, and the
employees of other nonprofit corporations that have fifty or fewer
employees and have been organized for the primary purpose of
representing the interests of political subdivisions, may be
covered by the individual or joint self-insurance program under
the terms and conditions set forth in the contract.
(4) The individual or joint self-insurance program shall
include a contract with a certified public accountant and a member
of the American academy of actuaries for the preparation of the
written evaluations required under division (C)(1) of this
section.
(5) A joint self-insurance program may allocate the costs of
funding the program among the funds or accounts established under
this division to the participating political subdivisions on the
basis of their relative exposure and loss experience.
(6) An individual self-insurance program may allocate the
costs of funding the program among the funds or accounts
established under this division to the political subdivision that
established the program.
(7) Two or more political subdivisions may also authorize the
establishment and maintenance of a joint health care cost
containment program, including, but not limited to, the employment
of risk managers, health care cost containment specialists, and
consultants, for the purpose of preventing and reducing health
care costs covered by insurance, individual self-insurance, or
joint self-insurance programs.
(8) A political subdivision is not liable under a joint
self-insurance program for any amount in excess of amounts payable
pursuant to the written agreement for the participation of the
political subdivision in the joint self-insurance program. Under a
joint self-insurance program agreement, a political subdivision
may, to the extent permitted under the written agreement, assume
the risks of any other political subdivision. A joint
self-insurance program established under this section is deemed a
separate legal entity for the public purpose of enabling the
members of the joint self-insurance program to obtain insurance or
to provide for a formalized, jointly administered self-insurance
fund for its members. An entity created pursuant to this section
is exempt from all state and local taxes.
(9) Any political subdivision, other than an agency or
instrumentality, may issue general obligation bonds, or special
obligation bonds that are not payable from real or personal
property taxes, and may also issue notes in anticipation of such
bonds, pursuant to an ordinance or resolution of its legislative
authority or other governing body for the purpose of providing
funds to pay expenses associated with the settlement of claims,
whether by way of a reserve or otherwise, and to pay the political
subdivision's portion of the cost of establishing and maintaining
an individual or joint self-insurance program or to provide for
the reserve in the special fund authorized by division (C)(2) of
this section.
In its ordinance or resolution authorizing bonds or notes
under this section, a political subdivision may elect to issue
such bonds or notes under the procedures set forth in Chapter 133.
of the Revised Code. In the event of such an election,
notwithstanding Chapter 133. of the Revised Code, the maturity of
the bonds may be for any period authorized in the ordinance or
resolution not exceeding twenty years, which period shall be the
maximum maturity of the bonds for purposes of section 133.22 of
the Revised Code.
Bonds and notes issued under this section shall not be
considered in calculating the net indebtedness of the political
subdivision under sections 133.04, 133.05, 133.06, and 133.07 of
the Revised Code. Sections 9.98 to 9.983 of the Revised Code are
hereby made applicable to bonds or notes authorized under this
section.
(10) A joint self-insurance program is not an insurance
company. Its operation does not constitute doing an insurance
business and is not subject to the insurance laws of this state.
(D) A political subdivision may procure group life insurance
for its employees in conjunction with an individual or joint
self-insurance program authorized by this section, provided that
the policy of group life insurance is not self-insured.
(E) This section does not apply to individual self-insurance
programs created solely by municipal corporations as defined in
section 5705.01 of the Revised Code.
(F) A public official or employee of a political subdivision
who is or becomes a member of the governing body of the program
administrator of a joint self-insurance program in which the
political subdivision participates is not in violation of division
(D) or (E) of section 102.03, division (C) of section 102.04, or
section 2921.42 of the Revised Code as a result of either of the
following:
(1) The political subdivision's entering under this section
into the written agreement to participate in the joint
self-insurance program;
(2) The political subdivision's entering under this section
into any other contract with the joint self-insurance program.
Sec. 118.023. (A) Upon determining that one or more of the
conditions described in section 118.022 of the Revised Code are
present, the auditor of state shall issue a written declaration of
the existence of a fiscal watch to the municipal corporation,
county, or township and the county budget commission. The fiscal
watch shall be in effect until the auditor of state determines
that none of the conditions are any longer present and cancels the
watch, or until the auditor of state determines that a state of
fiscal emergency exists. The auditor of state, or a designee,
shall provide such technical and support services to the municipal
corporation, county, or township after a fiscal watch has been
declared to exist as the auditor of state considers necessary.
(B) Within one hundred twenty days after the day a written
declaration of the existence of a fiscal watch is issued under
division (A) of this section, the mayor of the municipal
corporation, the board of county commissioners of the county, or
the board of township trustees of the township for which a fiscal
watch was declared shall submit to the auditor of state a
financial recovery plan that shall identify actions to be taken to
eliminate all of the conditions described in section 118.022 of
the Revised Code, and shall include a schedule detailing the
approximate dates for beginning and completing the actions, and
include a five-year forecast reflecting the effects of the
actions. The financial recovery plan also shall evaluate the
feasibility of entering into shared services agreements with other
political subdivisions for the joint exercise of any power,
performance of any function, or rendering of any service, if so
authorized by statute. The financial recovery plan is subject to
review and approval by the auditor of state. The auditor of state
may extend the amount of time by which a financial recovery plan
is required to be filed, for good cause shown.
(C) If a feasible financial recovery plan for a municipal
corporation, county, or township for which a fiscal watch was
declared is not submitted within the time period prescribed by
division (B) of this section, or within any extension of time
thereof, the auditor of state shall declare that a fiscal
emergency condition exists under section 118.04 of the Revised
Code in the municipal corporation, county, or township.
Sec. 118.06. (A) Within one hundred twenty days after the
first meeting of the commission, the mayor of the municipal
corporation or the board of county commissioners or board of
township trustees shall submit to the commission a detailed
financial plan, as approved or amended and approved by ordinance
or resolution of the legislative authority, containing the
following:
(1) Actions to be taken by the municipal corporation, county,
or township to:
(a) Eliminate all fiscal emergency conditions determined to
exist pursuant to section 118.04 of the Revised Code;
(b) Satisfy any judgments, past due accounts payable, and all
past due and payable payroll and fringe benefits;
(c) Eliminate the deficits in all deficit funds;
(d) Restore to construction funds and other special funds
moneys from such funds that were used for purposes not within the
purposes of such funds, or borrowed from such construction funds
by the purchase of debt obligations of the municipal corporation,
county, or township with the moneys of such funds, or missing from
the construction funds or such special funds and not accounted
for;
(e) Balance the budgets, avoid future deficits in any funds,
and maintain current payments of payroll, fringe benefits, and all
accounts;
(f) Avoid any fiscal emergency condition in the future;
(g) Restore the ability of the municipal corporation, county,
or township to market long-term general obligation bonds under
provisions of law applicable to municipal corporations, counties,
or townships generally.
(2) The legal authorities permitting the municipal
corporation, county, or township to take the actions enumerated
pursuant to division (A)(1) of this section;
(3) The approximate dates of the commencement, progress upon,
and completion of the actions enumerated pursuant to division
(A)(1) of this section, a five-year forecast reflecting the
effects of those actions, and a reasonable period of time expected
to be required to implement the plan. The municipal corporation,
county, or township, in consultation with the commission and the
financial supervisor, shall prepare a reasonable time schedule for
progress toward and achievement of the requirements for the
financial plan and the financial plan shall be consistent with
that time schedule.
(4) The amount and purpose of any issue of debt obligations
that will be issued, together with assurances that any such debt
obligations that will be issued will not exceed debt limits
supported by appropriate certifications by the fiscal officer of
the municipal corporation, county, or township and the county
auditor;
(5) Assurances that the municipal corporation, county, or
township will establish monthly levels of expenditures and
encumbrances pursuant to division (B)(2) of section 118.07 of the
Revised Code;
(6) Assurances that the municipal corporation, county, or
township will conform to statutes with respect to tax budgets and
appropriation measures;
(7) The detail, the form, and the supporting information that
the commission may direct;
(8) An evaluation of the feasibility of entering into shared
services agreements with other political subdivisions for the
joint exercise of any power, performance of any function, or
rendering of any service, if so authorized by statute.
(B) The financial plan developed pursuant to division (A) of
this section shall be filed with the financial supervisor and the
financial planning and supervision commission and shall be updated
annually. After consultation with the financial supervisor, the
commission shall either approve or reject any initial or
subsequent financial plan. If the commission rejects the initial
or any subsequent financial plan, it shall forthwith inform the
mayor and legislative authority of the municipal corporation or
the board of county commissioners or board of township trustees of
the reasons for its rejection. Within thirty days after the
rejection of any plan, the mayor with the approval of the
legislative authority by the passage of an ordinance or
resolution, or the board of county commissioners or board of
township trustees, shall submit another plan meeting the
requirements of divisions (A)(1) to (7) of this section, to the
commission and the financial supervisor for approval or rejection
by the commission.
(C) Any initial or subsequent financial plan passed by the
municipal corporation, county, or township shall be approved by
the commission if it complies with divisions (A)(1) to (7) of this
section, and if the commission finds that the plan is bona fide
and can reasonably be expected to be implemented within the period
specified in the plan.
(D) Any financial plan may be amended subsequent to its
adoption in the same manner as the passage and approval of the
initial or subsequent plan pursuant to divisions (A) to (C) of
this section.
(E) If a municipal corporation, county, or township fails to
submit a financial plan as required by this section, or fails to
substantially comply with an approved financial plan, upon
certification of the commission, the commission shall notify the
office of budget and management and all state funding for that
municipal corporation, county, or township other than benefit
assistance to individuals shall be escrowed withheld until
subsequent notification from the commission to the office of
budget and management that a feasible plan
is has been submitted
and approved or substantial compliance with the plan
is has been
achieved, as the case may be. Upon receipt of the subsequent
notification, the office of budget and management shall release
all funds withheld from the political subdivision under this
section.
Sec. 118.31. (A) Upon petition of the financial supervisor
and approval of the financial planning and supervision commission,
if any, the attorney general shall file a legal action in the
court action of common pleas on behalf of the state to dissolve a
municipal corporation or township if all of the following
conditions apply:
(1) The municipal corporation or township has a population of
less than five thousand as of the most recent federal decennial
census.
(2) The municipal corporation or township has been under a
fiscal emergency for at least four consecutive years.
(3) Implementation of the financial plan of the municipal
corporation or township required under this chapter cannot
reasonably be expected to correct and eliminate all fiscal
emergency conditions within five years.
(B) The court of common pleas shall hold a hearing within
ninety days after the date on which the attorney general files the
legal action with the court. Notice of the hearing shall be filed
with the attorney general, the clerk of the village or the fiscal
officer of the township that is the subject of the action, and
each fiscal officer of a township located wholly or partly within
the village subject to dissolution.
(C) If the court finds that all of the conditions described
in division (A) of this section apply to the municipal corporation
or township, it shall appoint a receiver. The receiver, under
court supervision, shall work with executive and legislative
officers of the municipal corporation or township to wind up the
affairs of and dissolve the municipal corporation in accordance
with section 703.21 of the Revised Code or the township in
accordance with the process in section 503.02 and sections 503.17
to 503.21 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 120.08. There is hereby created in the state treasury
the indigent defense support fund, consisting of money paid into
the fund pursuant to sections 4507.45, 4509.101, 4510.22, and
4511.19 of the Revised Code and pursuant to sections 2937.22,
2949.091, and 2949.094 of the Revised Code out of the additional
court costs imposed under those sections. The state public
defender shall use at least ninety eighty-eight per cent of the
money in the fund for the purpose purposes of reimbursing county
governments for expenses incurred pursuant to sections 120.18,
120.28, and 120.33 of the Revised Code and operating its system
pursuant to division (C)(7) of section 120.04 of the Revised Code
and division (B) of section 120.33 of the Revised Code.
Disbursements from the fund to county governments shall be made at
least once per year and shall be allocated proportionately so that
each county receives an equal percentage of its total cost for
operating its county public defender system, its joint county
public defender system, its county appointed counsel system, or
its system operated under division (C)(7) of section 120.04 of the
Revised Code and division (B) of section 120.33 of the Revised
Code. The state public defender may use not more than
ten twelve
per cent of the money in the fund for the purposes of appointing
assistant state public defenders or for, providing other
personnel, equipment, and facilities necessary for the operation
of the state public defender office, and providing training,
developing and implementing electronic forms, or establishing and
maintaining an information technology system used for the uniform
operation of this chapter.
Sec. 120.53. (A) A legal aid society that operates within
the state may apply to the Ohio legal assistance foundation for
financial assistance from the legal aid fund established by
section 120.52 of the Revised Code to be used for the funding of
the society during the calendar year following the calendar year
in which application is made.
(B) An application for financial assistance made under
division (A) of this section shall be submitted by the first day
of November of the calendar year preceding the calendar year for
which financial assistance is desired and shall include all of the
following:
(1) Evidence that the applicant is incorporated in this state
as a nonprofit corporation;
(2) A list of the trustees of the applicant;
(3) The proposed budget of the applicant for these funds for
the following calendar year;
(4) A summary of the services to be offered by the applicant
in the following calendar year;
(5) A specific description of the territory or constituency
served by the applicant;
(6) An estimate of the number of persons to be served by the
applicant during the following calendar year;
(7) A general description of the additional sources of the
applicant's funding;
(8) The amount of the applicant's total budget for the
calendar year in which the application is filed that it will
expend in that calendar year for legal services in each of the
counties it serves;
(9) A specific description of any services, programs,
training, and legal technical assistance to be delivered by the
applicant or by another person pursuant to a contract with the
applicant, including, but not limited to, by private attorneys or
through reduced fee plans, judicare panels, organized pro bono
programs, and mediation programs.
(C) The Ohio legal assistance foundation shall determine
whether each applicant that filed an application for financial
assistance under division (A) of this section in a calendar year
is eligible for financial assistance under this section. To be
eligible for such financial assistance, an applicant shall satisfy
the criteria for being a legal aid society and shall be in
compliance with the provisions of sections 120.51 to 120.55 of the
Revised Code and with the rules and requirements the foundation
establishes pursuant to section 120.52 of the Revised Code. The
Ohio legal assistance foundation then, on or before the fifteenth
day of December of the calendar year in which the application is
filed, shall notify each such applicant, in writing, whether it is
eligible for financial assistance under this section, and if it is
eligible, estimate the amount that will be available for that
applicant for each six-month distribution period, as determined
under division (D) of this section.
(D) The Ohio legal assistance foundation shall allocate
moneys contained in the legal aid fund monthly for distribution to
applicants that filed their applications in the previous calendar
year and are determined to be eligible applicants.
All moneys contained in the fund on the first day of each
month shall be allocated, after deduction of the costs of
administering sections 120.51 to 120.55 and sections 1901.26,
1907.24, 2303.201, 3953.231, 4705.09, and 4705.10 of the Revised
Code that are authorized by section 120.52 of the Revised Code,
according to this section and shall be distributed accordingly not
later than the last day of the month following the month the
moneys were received. In making the allocations under this
section, the moneys in the fund that were generated pursuant to
sections 1901.26, 1907.24, 2303.201, 3953.231, 4705.09, and
4705.10 of the Revised Code shall be apportioned as follows:
(1) After deduction of the amount authorized and used for
actual, reasonable administrative costs under section 120.52 of
the Revised Code:
(a) Five per cent of the moneys remaining in the fund shall
be reserved for use in the manner described in division (A) of
section 120.521 of the Revised Code or for distribution to legal
aid societies that provide assistance to special population groups
of their eligible clients, engage in special projects that have a
substantial impact on their local service area or on significant
segments of the state's poverty population, or provide legal
training or support to other legal aid societies in the state;
(b) After deduction of the amount described in division
(D)(1)(a) of this section, one and three-quarters per cent of the
moneys remaining in the fund shall be apportioned among entities
that received financial assistance from the legal aid fund prior
to the effective date of this amendment July 1, 1993, but that, on
and after
the effective date of this amendment July 1, 1993, no
longer qualify as a legal aid society that is eligible for
financial assistance under this section.
(c) After deduction of the amounts described in divisions
(D)(1)(a) and (b) of this section, fifteen per cent of the moneys
remaining in the fund shall be placed in the legal assistance
foundation fund for use in the manner described in division (A) of
section 120.521 of the Revised Code.
(2) After deduction of the actual, reasonable administrative
costs under section 120.52 of the Revised Code and after deduction
of the amounts identified in divisions (D)(1)(a), (b), and (c) of
this section, the remaining moneys shall be apportioned among the
counties that are served by eligible legal aid societies that have
applied for financial assistance under this section so that each
such county is apportioned a portion of those moneys, based upon
the ratio of the number of indigents who reside in that county to
the total number of indigents who reside in all counties of this
state that are served by eligible legal aid societies that have
applied for financial assistance under this section. Subject to
division (E) of this section, the moneys apportioned to a county
under this division then shall be allocated to the eligible legal
aid society that serves the county and that has applied for
financial assistance under this section. For purposes of this
division, the source of data identifying the number of indigent
persons who reside in a county shall be the most recent decennial
census selected by the Ohio legal assistance foundation from the
best available figures from maintained by the United States
department of commerce, division of census bureau.
(E) If the Ohio legal assistance foundation, in attempting to
make an allocation of moneys under division (D)(2) of this
section, determines that a county that has been apportioned money
under that division is served by more than one eligible legal aid
society that has applied for financial assistance under this
section, the Ohio legal assistance foundation shall allocate the
moneys that have been apportioned to that county under division
(D)(2) of this section among all eligible legal aid societies that
serve that county and that have applied for financial assistance
under this section on a pro rata basis, so that each such eligible
society is allocated a portion based upon the amount of its total
budget expended in the prior calendar year for legal services in
that county as compared to the total amount expended in the prior
calendar year for legal services in that county by all eligible
legal aid societies that serve that county and that have applied
for financial assistance under this section.
(F) Moneys allocated to eligible applicants under this
section shall be paid monthly beginning the calendar year
following the calendar year in which the application is filed.
(G)(1) A legal aid society that receives financial assistance
in any calendar year under this section shall file an annual
report with the Ohio legal assistance foundation detailing the
number and types of cases handled, and the amount and types of
legal training, legal technical assistance, and other service
provided, by means of that financial assistance. No information
contained in the report shall identify or enable the
identification of any person served by the legal aid society or in
any way breach client confidentiality.
(2) The Ohio legal assistance foundation shall make an annual
report to the governor, the general assembly, and the supreme
court on the distribution and use of the legal aid fund. The
foundation also shall include in the annual report an audited
financial statement of all gifts, bequests, donations,
contributions, and other moneys the foundation receives. No
information contained in the report shall identify or enable the
identification of any person served by a legal aid society, or in
any way breach confidentiality.
(H) A legal aid society may enter into agreements for the
provision of services, programs, training, or legal technical
assistance for the legal aid society or to indigent persons.
Sec. 124.42. No person shall be eligible to receive an
original appointment as a firefighter in a fire department,
subject to the civil service laws of this state, unless the person
has reached the age of eighteen and has, not more than one hundred
twenty days prior to receiving such appointment, passed a physical
examination, given by a licensed physician, a pysician physician
assistant, a clinical nurse specialist, a certified nurse
practitioner, or a certified nurse-midwife, certifying that the
applicant is free of cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases, and
showing that the person meets the physical requirements necessary
to perform the duties of a firefighter as established by the civil
service commission having jurisdiction over the appointment. The
appointing authority shall, prior to making any such appointment,
file with the Ohio police and fire pension fund a copy of the
report or findings of said licensed physician, physician
assistant, clinical nurse specialist, certified nurse
practitioner, or certified nurse-midwife. The professional fee for
such physical examination shall be paid by the civil service
commission. No person shall be eligible to receive an original
appointment on and after the person's
thirty-first forty-first
birthday.
Notwithstanding this section, a municipal council may enact
an ordinance providing that a person between the age of eighteen
and thirty-six forty may receive an original appointment to the
fire department, or the board of trustees of a civil service
township may do so by resolution. Nothing in this section shall
prevent a municipal corporation or civil service township from
establishing a fire cadet program and employing persons as fire
cadets at age eighteen for the purpose of training persons to
become firefighters. The board of trustees of a civil service
township may establish by resolution such a cadet program. A
person participating in a municipal or township fire cadet program
shall not be permitted to carry or use any firearm in the
performance of the person's duties.
Sec. 125.183. (A)(1) There is hereby created the statewide
emergency services internet protocol network steering committee,
consisting of the following ten members:
(a) The state chief information officer or the officer's
designee;
(b) Two members of the house of representatives appointed by
the speaker, one from the majority party and one from the minority
party;
(c) Two members of the senate appointed by the president, one
from the majority party and one from the minority party;
(d) Five members appointed by the governor.
(2) In appointing the five members under division (A)(1)(d)
of this section, the governor shall appoint two representatives of
the county commissioners' association of Ohio or a successor
organization, two representatives of the Ohio municipal league or
a successor organization, and one representative of the Ohio
township association or a successor organization. For each of
these appointments, the governor shall consider a nominee proposed
by the association or successor organization. The governor may
reject any of the nominees and may request that a nominating
entity submit alternative nominees.
(3) Initial appointments shall be made not later than ten
days after the effective date of this section.
(B)(1) The state chief information officer or the officer's
designee shall serve as the chairperson of the committee and shall
be a nonvoting member. All other members shall be voting members.
(2) A member of the committee appointed from the membership
of the senate or the house of representatives shall serve during
the member's term as a member of the general assembly and until a
successor is appointed and qualified, notwithstanding adjournment
of the general assembly or the expiration of the member's term as
a member of the general assembly.
(3) The initial terms of one of the representatives of the
county commissioners' association of Ohio, one of the
representatives of the Ohio municipal league, and the
representative of the Ohio township association shall all expire
on December 31, 2016. The initial terms of the other
representatives of the county commissioners' association of Ohio
and the Ohio municipal league shall expire on December 31, 2014.
Thereafter, terms of the members appointed by the governor shall
be for four years, with each term ending on the same day of the
same month as the term it succeeds. Each member appointed by the
governor shall hold office from the date of the member's
appointment until the end of the term for which the member was
appointed, and may be reappointed. A member appointed by the
governor shall continue in office after the expiration date of the
member's term until the member's successor takes office or until a
period of sixty days has elapsed, whichever occurs first. Members
appointed by the governor shall serve without compensation and
shall not be reimbursed for expenses.
(4) A vacancy in the position of any member of the committee
shall be filled for the unexpired term in the same manner as the
original appointment.
(C) The committee shall generally advise the state on the
implementation, operation, and maintenance of a statewide
emergency services internet protocol network that would support
state and local government next-generation 9-1-1 and the dispatch
of emergency service providers. The committee shall do all of the
following:
(1) On or before November 15, 2012, deliver an initial report
to the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of
the senate, and the governor providing recommendations for the
state to address the development of a statewide emergency services
internet protocol network, including a review of the current
funding model for this state's 9-1-1 systems;
(2) Examine the readiness of the state's current technology
infrastructure for a statewide emergency services internet
protocol network;
(3) Research legislative authority with regard to governance
and funding of a statewide emergency services internet protocol
network, and provide recommendations on best practices to limit
duplicative efforts to ensure an effective transition to
next-generation 9-1-1;
(4) Make recommendations for consolidation of
public-safety-answering-point operations in this state, to
accommodate next-generation 9-1-1 technology and to facilitate a
more efficient and effective emergency services system;
(5) Recommend policies, procedures, and statutory or
regulatory authority to effectively govern a statewide emergency
services internet protocol network;
(6) Designate a next-generation 9-1-1 statewide coordinator
to serve as the primary point of contact for federal initiatives;
(7) Coordinate with statewide initiatives and associations
such as the state interoperable executive committee, the Ohio
geographically referenced information program council, the Ohio
multi-agency radio communications system steering committee, and
other interested parties.
(D) The committee shall hold its inaugural meeting not later
than thirty days after the effective date of this section.
Thereafter, the committee shall meet at least once a month, either
in person or utilizing telecommunication-conferencing technology.
A majority of the voting members shall constitute a quorum.
(E)(1) The committee shall have a permanent
technical-standards subcommittee and a permanent
public-safety-answering-point-operations subcommittee, and may,
from time to time, establish additional subcommittees, to advise
and assist the committee based upon the subcommittees' areas of
expertise.
(2) The membership of subcommittees shall be determined by
the committee.
(a) The technical-standards subcommittee shall include one
member representing a wireline or wireless service provider that
participates in the state's 9-1-1 system, one representative of
the Ohio academic resources network, one representative of the
Ohio multi-agency radio communications system steering committee,
one representative of the Ohio geographically referenced
information program, and one member representing each of the
following associations selected by the committee from nominations
received from that association:
(i) The Ohio telephone association;
(ii) The Ohio chapter of the association of public-safety
communications officials;
(iii) The Ohio chapter of the national emergency number
association.
(b) The public-safety-answering-point-operations subcommittee
shall include one member representing the division of emergency
management of the department of public safety, one member
representing the state highway patrol, two members recommended by
the county commissioners' association of Ohio who are managers of
public safety answering points, two members recommended by the
Ohio municipal league who are managers of public safety answering
points, and one member from each of the following associations
selected by the committee from nominations received from that
association:
(i) The buckeye state sheriffs' association;
(ii) The Ohio association of chiefs of police;
(iii) The Ohio association of fire chiefs;
(iv) The Ohio chapter of the association of public-safety
communications officials;
(v) The Ohio chapter of the national emergency number
association.
(F) The committee is not an agency, as defined in section
101.82 of the Revised Code, for purposes of sections 101.82 to
101.87 of the Revised Code.
(G) As used in this section, "9-1-1 system," "wireless
service provider," "wireline service provider," "emergency service
provider," and "public safety answering point" have the same
meanings as in section 4931.40 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 305.171. The following applies until the department of
administrative services implements for counties the health care
plans under section 9.901 of the Revised Code. If those plans do
not include or address any benefits listed in division (A) of this
section, the following provisions continue in effect for those
benefits.
(A) The board of county commissioners of any county may
contract for, purchase, or otherwise procure and pay all or any
part of the cost of any of the following insurance, coverage, or
benefits issued by an insurance company or administered by a board
of county commissioners or a contractor, for county officers and
employees and their immediate dependents from the funds or budgets
from which the county officers or employees are compensated for
services:
(1) Group insurance policies that may provide any of the
following:
(a) Benefits including, but not limited to, hospitalization,
surgical care, major medical care, disability, dental care, eye
care, medical care, hearing aids, or prescription drugs;
(b) Sickness and accident insurance;
(c) Group legal services;
(d) Group life insurance.
(2) Any other qualified benefit available under section 125
of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1986," 26 U.S.C. 125;
(3) A health and wellness benefit program through which the
county provides a benefit or incentive to county officers,
employees, and their immediate dependents to maintain a healthy
lifestyle, including, but not limited to, programs to encourage
healthy eating and nutrition, exercise and physical activity,
weight control or the elimination of obesity, and cessation of
smoking or alcohol use.
(4) Any combination of any of the foregoing types of
insurance, coverage, or benefits.
(B) The board of county commissioners also may negotiate and
contract for any plan or plans of health care services with health
insuring corporations holding a certificate of authority under
Chapter 1751. of the Revised Code, provided that each county
officer or employee shall be permitted to do both of the
following:
(1) Exercise an option between a plan offered by an insurance
company and a plan or plans offered by health insuring
corporations under this division, on the condition that the county
officer or employee shall pay any amount by which the cost of the
plan chosen by the county officer or employee pursuant to this
division exceeds the cost of the plan offered under division (A)
of this section;
(2) Change from one of the plans to another at a time each
year as determined by the board.
(C) Section 307.86 of the Revised Code does not apply to the
purchase of benefits for county officers or employees under
divisions (A) and (B) of this section when those benefits are
provided through a jointly administered health and welfare trust
fund in which the county or contracting authority and a collective
bargaining representative of the county employees or contracting
authority agree to participate.
(D) The board of trustees of a jointly administered trust
fund that receives contributions pursuant to collective bargaining
agreements entered into between the board of county commissioners
of any county and a collective bargaining representative of the
employees of the county may provide for self-insurance of all risk
in the provision of fringe benefits, and may provide through the
self-insurance method specific fringe benefits as authorized by
the rules of the board of trustees of the jointly administered
trust fund. The fringe benefits may include, but are not limited
to, hospitalization, surgical care, major medical care,
disability, dental care, vision care, medical care, hearing aids,
prescription drugs, group life insurance, sickness and accident
insurance, group legal services, or a combination of any of the
foregoing types of insurance or coverage, for county employees and
their dependents.
(E) The board of county commissioners may provide the
benefits described in divisions (A) to (D) of this section through
an individual self-insurance program or a joint self-insurance
program as provided in section 9.833 of the Revised Code.
(F) When a board of county commissioners offers benefits
authorized under this section to a county officer or employee, the
board may offer the benefits through a cafeteria plan meeting the
requirements of section 125 of the "Internal Revenue Code of
1986," 100 Stat. 2085, 26 U.S.C.A. 125, as amended, and, as part
of that plan, may offer the county officer or employee the option
of receiving a cash payment in any form permissible under such
cafeteria plans. A cash payment made to a county officer or
employee under this division shall not exceed twenty-five per cent
of the cost of premiums or payments that otherwise would be paid
by the board for benefits for the county officer or employee under
a policy or plan.
(G) The board of county commissioners may establish a policy
authorizing any county appointing authority to make a cash payment
to any county officer or employee in lieu of providing a benefit
authorized under this section if the county officer or employee
elects to take the cash payment instead of the offered benefit. A
cash payment made to a county officer or employee under this
division shall not exceed twenty-five per cent of the cost of
premiums or payments that otherwise would be paid by the board for
benefits for the county officer or employee under an offered
policy or plan.
(H) No cash payment in lieu of a health benefit shall be made
to a county officer or employee under division (F) or (G) of this
section unless the county officer or employee signs a statement
affirming that the county officer or employee is covered under
another health insurance or health care policy, contract, or plan,
and setting forth the name of the employer, if any, that sponsors
the coverage, the name of the carrier that provides the coverage,
and the identifying number of the policy, contract, or plan.
(I) The legislative authority of a county-operated municipal
court, after consultation with the judges, or the clerk and deputy
clerks, of the municipal court, shall negotiate and contract for,
purchase, or otherwise procure, and pay the costs, premiums, or
charges for, group health care coverage for the judges, and group
health care coverage for the clerk and deputy clerks, in
accordance with section 1901.111 or 1901.312 of the Revised Code.
(J) As used in this section:
(1) "County officer or employee" includes, but is not limited
to, a member or employee of the county board of elections.
(2) "County-operated municipal court" and "legislative
authority" have the same meanings as in section 1901.03 of the
Revised Code.
(3) "Health care coverage" has the same meaning as in section
1901.111 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 307.12. (A) Except as otherwise provided in divisions
(D), (E), and (G) of this section, when the board of county
commissioners finds, by resolution, that the county has personal
property, including motor vehicles acquired for the use of county
officers and departments, and road machinery, equipment, tools, or
supplies, that is not needed for public use, is obsolete, or is
unfit for the use for which it was acquired, and when the fair
market value of the property to be sold or donated under this
division is, in the opinion of the board, in excess of two
thousand five hundred dollars, the board may do either of the
following:
(1) Sell the property at public auction or by sealed bid to
the highest bidder. Notice of the time, place, and manner of the
sale shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in
the county at least ten days prior to the sale, and a typewritten
or printed notice of the time, place, and manner of the sale shall
be posted at least ten days before the sale in the offices of the
county auditor and the board of county commissioners.
If a board conducts a sale of property by sealed bid, the
form of the bid shall be as prescribed by the board, and each bid
shall contain the name of the person submitting it. Bids received
shall be opened and tabulated at the time stated in the notice.
The property shall be sold to the highest bidder, except that the
board may reject all bids and hold another sale, by public auction
or sealed bid, in the manner prescribed by this section.
(2) Donate any motor vehicle that does not exceed four
thousand five hundred dollars in value to a nonprofit organization
exempt from federal income taxation pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 501(a)
and (c)(3) for the purpose of meeting the transportation needs of
participants in the Ohio works first program established under
Chapter 5107. of the Revised Code and participants in the
prevention, retention, and contingency program established under
Chapter 5108. of the Revised Code.
(B) When the board of county commissioners finds, by
resolution, that the county has personal property, including motor
vehicles acquired for the use of county officers and departments,
and road machinery, equipment, tools, or supplies, that is not
needed for public use, is obsolete, or is unfit for the use for
which it was acquired, and when the fair market value of the
property to be sold or donated under this division is, in the
opinion of the board, two thousand five hundred dollars or less,
the board may do either of the following:
(1) Sell the property by private sale, without advertisement
or public notification;
(2) Donate the property to an eligible nonprofit organization
that is located in this state and is exempt from federal income
taxation pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 501(a) and (c)(3). Before donating
any property under this division, the board shall adopt a
resolution expressing its intent to make unneeded, obsolete, or
unfit-for-use county personal property available to these
organizations. The resolution shall include guidelines and
procedures the board considers necessary to implement a donation
program under this division and shall indicate whether the county
will conduct the donation program or the board will contract with
a representative to conduct it. If a representative is known when
the resolution is adopted, the resolution shall provide contact
information such as the representative's name, address, and
telephone number.
The resolution shall include within its procedures a
requirement that any nonprofit organization desiring to obtain
donated property under this division shall submit a written notice
to the board or its representative. The written notice shall
include evidence that the organization is a nonprofit organization
that is located in this state and is exempt from federal income
taxation pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 501(a) and (c)(3); a description of
the organization's primary purpose; a description of the type or
types of property the organization needs; and the name, address,
and telephone number of a person designated by the organization's
governing board to receive donated property and to serve as its
agent.
After adoption of the resolution, the board shall publish, in
a newspaper of general circulation in the county, notice of its
intent to donate unneeded, obsolete, or unfit-for-use county
personal property to eligible nonprofit organizations. The notice
shall include a summary of the information provided in the
resolution and shall be published twice or as provided in section
7.16 of the Revised Code. The second and any subsequent notice
shall be published not less than ten nor more than twenty days
after the previous notice. A similar notice also shall be posted
continually in a conspicuous place in the offices of the county
auditor and the board of county commissioners. If the county
maintains a web site on the internet, the notice shall be posted
continually at that web site.
The board or its representative shall maintain a list of all
nonprofit organizations that notify the board or its
representative of their desire to obtain donated property under
this division and that the board or its representative determines
to be eligible, in accordance with the requirements set forth in
this section and in the donation program's guidelines and
procedures, to receive donated property.
The board or its representatives also shall maintain a list
of all county personal property the board finds to be unneeded,
obsolete, or unfit for use and to be available for donation under
this division. The list shall be posted continually in a
conspicuous location in the offices of the county auditor and the
board of county commissioners, and, if the county maintains a web
site on the internet, the list shall be posted continually at that
web site. An item of property on the list shall be donated to the
eligible nonprofit organization that first declares to the board
or its representative its desire to obtain the item unless the
board previously has established, by resolution, a list of
eligible nonprofit organizations that shall be given priority with
respect to the item's donation. Priority may be given on the basis
that the purposes of a nonprofit organization have a direct
relationship to specific public purposes of programs provided or
administered by the board. A resolution giving priority to certain
nonprofit organizations with respect to the donation of an item of
property shall specify the reasons why the organizations are given
that priority.
(C) Members of the board of county commissioners shall
consult with the Ohio ethics commission, and comply with the
provisions of Chapters 102. and 2921. of the Revised Code, with
respect to any sale or donation under division (A) or (B) of this
section to a nonprofit organization of which a county
commissioner, any member of the county commissioner's family, or
any business associate of the county commissioner is a trustee,
officer, board member, or employee.
(D) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in division (A),
(B), or (E) of this section and regardless of the property's
value, the board of county commissioners may sell or donate county
personal property, including motor vehicles, to the federal
government, the state, any political subdivision of the state, or
a county land reutilization corporation without advertisement or
public notification.
(E) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in division (A),
(B), or (G) of this section and regardless of the property's
value, the board of county commissioners may sell personal
property, including motor vehicles acquired for the use of county
officers and departments, and road machinery, equipment, tools, or
supplies, that is not needed for public use, is obsolete, or is
unfit for the use for which it was acquired, by internet auction.
The board shall adopt, during each calendar year, a resolution
expressing its intent to sell that property by internet auction.
The resolution shall include a description of how the internet
auctions will be conducted and shall specify the number of days
for bidding on the property, which shall be no less than ten days,
including Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. The resolution
shall indicate whether the county will conduct the auction
internet auctions or the board will contract with a representative
to conduct the auction internet auctions and shall establish the
general terms and conditions of sale. If a representative is known
when the resolution is adopted, the resolution shall provide
contact information such as the representative's name, address,
and telephone number.
After adoption of the resolution, the board shall publish, in
a newspaper of general circulation in the county, notice of its
intent to sell unneeded, obsolete, or unfit-for-use county
personal property by internet auction. The notice shall include a
summary of the information provided in the resolution and shall be
published twice or as provided in section 7.16 of the Revised
Code. The second and any subsequent notice shall be published not
less than ten nor more than twenty days after the previous notice.
A similar notice also shall be posted continually throughout the
calendar year in a conspicuous place in the offices of the county
auditor and the board of county commissioners. If the county
maintains a web site on the internet, the notice shall be posted
continually throughout the calendar year at that web site.
When property is to be sold by internet auction, the board or
its representative may establish a minimum price that will be
accepted for specific items and may establish any other terms and
conditions for the a particular sale, including requirements for
pick-up or delivery, method of payment, and sales tax. This type
of information shall be provided on the internet at the time of
the auction and may be provided before that time upon request
after the terms and conditions have been determined by the board
or its representative.
(F) When a county officer or department head determines that
county-owned personal property under the jurisdiction of the
officer or department head, including motor vehicles, road
machinery, equipment, tools, or supplies, is not of immediate
need, the county officer or department head may notify the board
of county commissioners, and the board may lease that personal
property to any municipal corporation, township, other political
subdivision of the state, or to a county land reutilization
corporation. The lease shall require the county to be reimbursed
under terms, conditions, and fees established by the board, or
under contracts executed by the board.
(G) If the board of county commissioners finds, by
resolution, that the county has vehicles, equipment, or machinery
that is not needed, or is unfit for public use, and the board
desires to sell the vehicles, equipment, or machinery to the
person or firm from which it proposes to purchase other vehicles,
equipment, or machinery, the board may offer to sell the vehicles,
equipment, or machinery to that person or firm, and to have the
selling price credited to the person or firm against the purchase
price of other vehicles, equipment, or machinery.
(H) If the board of county commissioners advertises for bids
for the sale of new vehicles, equipment, or machinery to the
county, it may include in the same advertisement a notice of the
willingness of the board to accept bids for the purchase of
county-owned vehicles, equipment, or machinery that is obsolete or
not needed for public use, and to have the amount of those bids
subtracted from the selling price of the other vehicles,
equipment, or machinery as a means of determining the lowest
responsible bidder.
(I) If a board of county commissioners determines that county
personal property is not needed for public use, or is obsolete or
unfit for the use for which it was acquired, and that the property
has no value, the board may discard or salvage that property.
(J) A county engineer, in the engineer's discretion, may
dispose of scrap construction materials on such terms as the
engineer determines reasonable, including disposal without
recovery of costs, if the total value of the materials does not
exceed twenty-five thousand dollars. The engineer shall maintain
records of all dispositions made under this division, including
identification of the origin of the materials, the final
disposition, and copies of all receipts resulting from the
dispositions.
As used in division (I) of this section, "scrap construction
materials" means construction materials that result from a road or
bridge improvement, remain after the improvement is completed, and
are not reusable. Construction material that is metal and that
results from a road or bridge improvement and remains after the
improvement is completed is scrap construction material only if it
cannot be used in any other road or bridge improvement or other
project in its current state.
Sec. 307.86. Anything to be purchased, leased, leased with
an option or agreement to purchase, or constructed, including, but
not limited to, any product, structure, construction,
reconstruction, improvement, maintenance, repair, or service,
except the services of an accountant, architect, attorney at law,
physician, professional engineer, construction project manager,
consultant, surveyor, or appraiser, by or on behalf of the county
or contracting authority, as defined in section 307.92 of the
Revised Code, at a cost in excess of twenty-five fifty thousand
dollars, except as otherwise provided in division (D) of section
713.23 and in sections 9.48, 125.04, 125.60 to 125.6012, 307.022,
307.041, 307.861, 339.05, 340.03, 340.033, 4115.31 to 4115.35,
5119.16, 5513.01, 5543.19, 5713.01, and 6137.05 of the Revised
Code, shall be obtained through competitive bidding. However,
competitive bidding is not required when any of the following
applies:
(A) The board of county commissioners, by a unanimous vote of
its members, makes a determination that a real and present
emergency exists, and that determination and the reasons for it
are entered in the minutes of the proceedings of the board, when
either of the following applies:
(1) The estimated cost is less than fifty one hundred
thousand dollars.
(2) There is actual physical disaster to structures, radio
communications equipment, or computers.
For purposes of this division, "unanimous vote" means all
three members of a board of county commissioners when all three
members are present, or two members of the board if only two
members, constituting a quorum, are present.
Whenever a contract of purchase, lease, or construction is
exempted from competitive bidding under division (A)(1) of this
section because the estimated cost is less than fifty one hundred
thousand dollars, but the estimated cost is twenty-five fifty
thousand dollars or more, the county or contracting authority
shall solicit informal estimates from no fewer than three persons
who could perform the contract, before awarding the contract. With
regard to each such contract, the county or contracting authority
shall maintain a record of such estimates, including the name of
each person from whom an estimate is solicited. The county or
contracting authority shall maintain the record for the longer of
at least one year after the contract is awarded or the amount of
time the federal government requires.
(B)(1) The purchase consists of supplies or a replacement or
supplemental part or parts for a product or equipment owned or
leased by the county, and the only source of supply for the
supplies, part, or parts is limited to a single supplier.
(2) The purchase consists of services related to information
technology, such as programming services, that are proprietary or
limited to a single source.
(C) The purchase is from the federal government, the state,
another county or contracting authority of another county, or a
board of education, educational service center, township, or
municipal corporation.
(D) The purchase is made by a county department of job and
family services under section 329.04 of the Revised Code and
consists of family services duties or workforce development
activities or is made by a county board of developmental
disabilities under section 5126.05 of the Revised Code and
consists of program services, such as direct and ancillary client
services, child care, case management services, residential
services, and family resource services.
(E) The purchase consists of criminal justice services,
social services programs, family services, or workforce
development activities by the board of county commissioners from
nonprofit corporations or associations under programs funded by
the federal government or by state grants.
(F) The purchase consists of any form of an insurance policy
or contract authorized to be issued under Title XXXIX of the
Revised Code or any form of health care plan authorized to be
issued under Chapter 1751. of the Revised Code, or any combination
of such policies, contracts, plans, or services that the
contracting authority is authorized to purchase, and the
contracting authority does all of the following:
(1) Determines that compliance with the requirements of this
section would increase, rather than decrease, the cost of the
purchase;
(2) Requests issuers of the policies, contracts, plans, or
services to submit proposals to the contracting authority, in a
form prescribed by the contracting authority, setting forth the
coverage and cost of the policies, contracts, plans, or services
as the contracting authority desires to purchase;
(3) Negotiates with the issuers for the purpose of purchasing
the policies, contracts, plans, or services at the best and lowest
price reasonably possible.
(G) The purchase consists of computer hardware, software, or
consulting services that are necessary to implement a computerized
case management automation project administered by the Ohio
prosecuting attorneys association and funded by a grant from the
federal government.
(H) Child care services are purchased for provision to county
employees.
(I)(1) Property, including land, buildings, and other real
property, is leased for offices, storage, parking, or other
purposes, and all of the following apply:
(a) The contracting authority is authorized by the Revised
Code to lease the property.
(b) The contracting authority develops requests for proposals
for leasing the property, specifying the criteria that will be
considered prior to leasing the property, including the desired
size and geographic location of the property.
(c) The contracting authority receives responses from
prospective lessors with property meeting the criteria specified
in the requests for proposals by giving notice in a manner
substantially similar to the procedures established for giving
notice under section 307.87 of the Revised Code.
(d) The contracting authority negotiates with the prospective
lessors to obtain a lease at the best and lowest price reasonably
possible considering the fair market value of the property and any
relocation and operational costs that may be incurred during the
period the lease is in effect.
(2) The contracting authority may use the services of a real
estate appraiser to obtain advice, consultations, or other
recommendations regarding the lease of property under this
division.
(J) The purchase is made pursuant to section 5139.34 or
sections 5139.41 to 5139.46 of the Revised Code and is of programs
or services that provide case management, treatment, or prevention
services to any felony or misdemeanant delinquent, unruly youth,
or status offender under the supervision of the juvenile court,
including, but not limited to, community residential care, day
treatment, services to children in their home, or electronic
monitoring.
(K) The purchase is made by a public children services agency
pursuant to section 307.92 or 5153.16 of the Revised Code and
consists of family services, programs, or ancillary services that
provide case management, prevention, or treatment services for
children at risk of being or alleged to be abused, neglected, or
dependent children.
(L) The purchase is to obtain the services of emergency
medical service organizations under a contract made by the board
of county commissioners pursuant to section 307.05 of the Revised
Code with a joint emergency medical services district.
(M) The county contracting authority determines that the use
of competitive sealed proposals would be advantageous to the
county and the contracting authority complies with section 307.862
of the Revised Code.
Any issuer of policies, contracts, plans, or services listed
in division (F) of this section and any prospective lessor under
division (I) of this section may have the issuer's or prospective
lessor's name and address, or the name and address of an agent,
placed on a special notification list to be kept by the
contracting authority, by sending the contracting authority that
name and address. The contracting authority shall send notice to
all persons listed on the special notification list. Notices shall
state the deadline and place for submitting proposals. The
contracting authority shall mail the notices at least six weeks
prior to the deadline set by the contracting authority for
submitting proposals. Every five years the contracting authority
may review this list and remove any person from the list after
mailing the person notification of that action.
Any contracting authority that negotiates a contract under
division (F) of this section shall request proposals and negotiate
with issuers in accordance with that division at least every three
years from the date of the signing of such a contract, unless the
parties agree upon terms for extensions or renewals of the
contract. Such extension or renewal periods shall not exceed six
years from the date the initial contract is signed.
Any real estate appraiser employed pursuant to division (I)
of this section shall disclose any fees or compensation received
from any source in connection with that employment.
Sec. 307.861. The county or contracting authority, as
defined in section 307.92 of the Revised Code, may renew a lease
which has been entered into for electronic data processing
equipment, services, or systems, or a radio communications system
at a cost in excess of ten fifty thousand dollars as follows:
(A) The lessor shall submit a written bid to the county or
contracting authority which that is the lessee under the lease,
stating the terms under which the lease would be renewed,
including the length of the renewal lease, and the cost of the
renewal lease to the county or contracting authority. The county
or contracting authority may require the lessor to submit a bond
with the bid.
(B) The county or contracting authority shall advertise for
and receive competitive bids, as provided in sections 307.87 to
307.90 of the Revised Code, for a lease under the same terms and
for the same period as provided in the bid of the lessor submitted
under division (A) of this section.
(C) The county or contracting authority may renew the lease
with the lessor only if the bid submitted by the lessor under
division (A) of this section is an amount less than the lowest and
best bid submitted pursuant to competitive bidding under division
(B) of this section.
Sec. 307.87. Where competitive bidding is required by
section 307.86 of the Revised Code, notice thereof shall be given
in the following manner:
(A) Notice shall be published once a week for not less than
two consecutive weeks preceding the day of the opening of bids in
a newspaper of general circulation within the county for any
purchase, lease, lease with option or agreement to purchase, or
construction contract in excess of twenty-five fifty thousand
dollars. The contracting authority may also cause notice to be
inserted in trade papers or other publications designated by it or
to be distributed by electronic means, including posting the
notice on the contracting authority's internet site on the world
wide web. If the contracting authority posts the notice on that
location on the world wide web, it may eliminate the second notice
otherwise required to be published in a newspaper of general
circulation within the county, provided that the first notice
published in such a newspaper meets all of the following
requirements:
(1) It is published at least two weeks before the opening of
bids.
(2) It includes a statement that the notice is posted on the
contracting authority's internet site on the world wide web.
(3) It includes the internet address of the contracting
authority's internet site on the world wide web.
(4) It includes instructions describing how the notice may be
accessed on the contracting authority's internet site on the world
wide web.
(B) Notices shall state all of the following:
(1) A general description of the subject of the proposed
contract and the time and place where the plans and specifications
or itemized list of supplies, facilities, or equipment and
estimated quantities can be obtained or examined;
(2) The time and place where bids will be opened;
(3) The time and place for filing bids;
(4) The terms of the proposed purchase;
(5) Conditions under which bids will be received;
(6) The existence of a system of preference, if any, for
products mined and produced in Ohio and the United States adopted
pursuant to section 307.90 of the Revised Code.
(C) The contracting authority shall also maintain in a public
place in its office or other suitable public place a bulletin
board upon which it shall post and maintain a copy of such notice
for at least two weeks preceding the day of the opening of the
bids.
Sec. 307.88. (A) Bids submitted pursuant to sections 307.86
to 307.92 of the Revised Code shall be in a form prescribed by the
contracting authority and filed in the manner and at the time and
place mentioned in the notice. The bids received shall be opened
and tabulated at the time stated in the notice. Each bid shall
contain the full name of each person submitting the bid. If the
bid is in excess of twenty-five fifty thousand dollars and for a
contract for the construction, demolition, alteration, repair, or
reconstruction of an improvement, it shall meet the requirements
of section 153.54 of the Revised Code. If the bid is in excess of
twenty-five fifty thousand dollars and for any other contract
authorized by sections 307.86 to 307.92 of the Revised Code, it
shall may be accompanied by a bond or certified check, cashier's
check, or money order on a solvent bank or savings and loan
association in a reasonable amount stated in the notice but not to
exceed five per cent of the bid, conditioned that the bidder, if
the bidder's bid is accepted, shall execute a contract in
conformity to the invitation and the bid.
(B) The board of county commissioners, by a unanimous vote of
the entire board, may permit a contracting authority to exempt a
bid from any or all of the requirements of section 153.54 of the
Revised Code if the estimated cost is twenty-five one hundred
thousand dollars or less. If the board exempts a bid from any but
not all of those requirements, the bid notice published in the
newspaper pursuant to section 307.87 of the Revised Code shall
state the specific bid guaranty requirements that apply. If the
board exempts a bid from all requirements of section 153.54 of the
Revised Code, the notice shall state that none of the requirements
of that section apply.
Sec. 308.13. (A) The board of trustees of a regional airport
authority or any officer or employee designated by such board may
make without competitive bidding any contract for the
any
purchase
of supplies or material or for labor, lease, lease with
option or agreement to purchase any property, or any construction
contract for any work, under the supervision of the board, the
cost of which shall not exceed fifteen fifty thousand dollars.
Except where the contract is for equipment, materials, or supplies
available from a qualified nonprofit agency pursuant to sections
4115.31 to 4115.35 of the Revised Code, when an expenditure, other
than for the acquisition of real estate, the discharge of
noncontractual claims, personal services, or for the product or
services of public utilities, exceeds fifteen Any purchase, lease,
lease with option or agreement to purchase, or construction
contract in excess of fifty thousand dollars, such expenditure
shall be made only after require that a notice calling for bids
has been be published once a week for three not less than two
consecutive weeks preceding the day of the opening of the bids in
a newspaper of general circulation within the territorial
boundaries of the regional airport authority, or as provided in
section 7.16 of the Revised Code. If The regional airport
authority also may cause notice to be inserted in trade papers or
other publications designated by it or to be distributed by
electronic means, including posting the notice on the internet
site on the world wide web of the regional airport authority. If
the contracting authority posts the notice on that internet web
site, the requirement that a second notice be published in a
newspaper of general circulation within the territorial boundaries
of the regional airport authority does not apply provided the
first notice published in that newspaper meets all of the
following requirements:
(1) It is published at least two weeks prior to the day of
the opening of the bids.
(2) It includes a statement that the notice is posted on the
internet site on the world wide web of the regional airport
authority.
(3) It includes the internet address of the internet site on
the world wide web of the regional airport authority.
(4) It includes instructions describing how the notice may be
accessed on the internet site on the world wide web of the
regional airport authority.
If the bid is for a contract for the construction,
demolition, alteration, repair, or reconstruction of an
improvement, it shall meet the requirements of section 153.54 of
the Revised Code. If the bid is for any other contract authorized
by this section, it shall be accompanied by a good and approved
bond with ample security conditioned on the carrying out of the
contract as determined by the board. The board may let the
contract to the lowest and best bidder. Such contract shall be in
writing and shall be accompanied by or shall refer to plans and
specifications for the work to be done, as approved by the board.
The plans and specifications shall at all times shall be made and
considered part of the contract. Said The contract shall be
approved by the board and signed by its chief executive officer
and by the contractor, and shall be executed in duplicate.
(B) Whenever a board of trustees of a regional airport
authority or any officer or employee designated by the board makes
a contract for the purchase of supplies or material or for labor
for any work, the cost of which is greater than one thousand
dollars but no more than fifteen thousand dollars, the board or
designated officer or employee shall solicit informal estimates
from no fewer than three potential suppliers before awarding the
contract. With regard to each such contract, the board shall
maintain a record of such estimates, including the name of each
person from whom an estimate is solicited, for no less than one
year after the contract is awarded The competitive bidding
procedures described in division (A) of this section do not apply
in any of the following circumstances:
(1) The board of trustees of a regional airport authority, by
a majority vote of its members present at any meeting, determines
that a real and present emergency exists under any of the
following conditions, and the board enters its determination and
the reasons for it in its proceedings:
(a) Affecting safety, welfare, or the ability to deliver
services;
(b) Arising out of an interruption of contracts essential to
the provision of daily air services and other services related to
the airport;
(c) Involving actual physical damage to structures, supplies,
equipment, or property requiring immediate repair or replacement.
(2) The purchase consists of goods or services, or any
combination thereof, and after reasonable inquiry the board or any
officer or designee of the board finds that only one source of
supply is reasonably available.
(3) The expenditure is for a renewal or renegotiation of a
lease or license for telecommunications or informational
technology equipment, services, or systems, or for the upgrade of
such equipment, services, or systems, or for the maintenance
thereof as supplied by the original source or its successors or
assigns.
(4) The purchase of goods or services is made from another
political subdivision, public agency, public transit system,
regional transit authority, the state, or the federal government,
or as a third-party beneficiary under a state or federal
procurement contract, or as a participant in a department of
administrative services contract under division (B) of section
125.04 of the Revised Code or under an approved purchasing plan of
this state.
(5) The purchase substantially involves services of a
personal, professional, highly technical, or scientific nature,
including the services of an attorney, physician, engineer,
architect, surveyor, appraiser, investigator, adjuster,
advertising consultant, or licensed broker, or involves the
special skills or proprietary knowledge required for the operation
of the airport owned by the regional transit authority.
(6) Services or supplies are available from a qualified
nonprofit agency pursuant to sections 4115.31 to 4115.35 of the
Revised Code.
(7) The purchase consists of the product or services of a
public utility.
Sec. 319.09. The county auditor, if authorized by a
resolution of the board of county commissioners, may serve as the
fiscal officer of any department, office, or agency of the county,
except that the county auditor may not serve as the fiscal officer
for the office of any county elected officer or any agency
governed by an appointed board or commission without the written
agreement of that elected officer or agency.
Sec. 329.40. (A)(1) The boards of county commissioners of
the counties of Hocking, Ross, and Vinton, by entering into a
written agreement, may form a joint county department of job and
family services to perform the duties, provide the services, and
operate the programs required under this chapter. The formation of
this joint county department of job and family services is a pilot
project. The agreement shall be ratified by resolution of the
board of county commissioners of each county that entered into the
agreement. Each board of county commissioners that enters into the
agreement shall give notice of the agreement to the Ohio
department of job and family services at least ninety days before
the agreement's effective date. The agreement shall take effect
not earlier than the first day of the calendar quarter following
the ninety-day notice period. The director of job and family
services shall adopt, as an internal management rule under section
111.15 of the Revised Code, the form in which the notice shall be
given.
(2) The boards of county commissioners of the counties
forming the joint county department shall constitute,
collectively, the board of directors of the joint county
department of job and family services. On the effective date of
the agreement, the board of directors shall take control of and
manage the joint county department subject to this chapter and all
other sections of the Revised Code that govern the authority and
responsibilities of a single board of county commissioners in the
operation of a single county department of job and family
services.
(B)(1) The agreement to establish the joint county department
shall specify all of the following:
(a) The obligations of each board of county commissioners in
operating the joint county department, including requiring each
board to provide state, federal, and county funds to the operation
of the joint county department and the schedule for provision of
those funds;
(b) How and which facilities, equipment, and personnel will
be shared;
(c) Procedures for the division of resources and obligations
should a county or counties withdraw from the joint county
department, or should the department cease to exist;
(d) Any contributions of participating counties establishing
the joint county department and the rights of those counties in
lands or personal property, or rights or interests therein,
contributed to or otherwise acquired by the joint county
department.
(2) The agreement to establish the joint county department
may set forth any or all of the following:
(a) Quality, timeliness, and other standards to be met by
each county;
(b) Which family service programs and functions are to be
included in the joint county department;
(c) Procedures for the operation of the board of directors,
including procedures governing the frequency of meetings and the
number of members of the board required to constitute a quorum to
take action;
(d) Any other procedures or standards necessary for the joint
county department to perform its duties and operate efficiently.
(C) The agreement may be amended by a majority vote of the
board of directors of the joint county department, but no
amendment shall divest a participating county of any right or
interest in lands or personal property without its consent.
(D) Costs incurred in operating the joint county department
shall be paid from a joint general fund created by the board of
directors, except as may be otherwise provided in the agreement.
(E) A joint county department established under this section
is a public office as defined in section 117.01 of the Revised
Code.
Sec. 505.012. A member of a board of township trustees may be
elected or appointed to serve on the governing body of any
district that is organized or created by the board of township
trustees, including a district organized or created under section
505.28, 505.37, 505.371, 505.375, 505.482, 505.71, 511.18, or
6119.02 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 505.60. The following applies until the department of
administrative services implements for townships the health care
plans under section 9.901 of the Revised Code. If those plans do
not include or address any benefits listed in division (A) of this
section, the following provisions continue in effect for those
benefits.
(A) As provided in this section and section 505.601 of the
Revised Code, the board of township trustees of any township may
procure and pay all or any part of the cost of insurance policies
that may provide benefits for hospitalization, surgical care,
major medical care, disability, dental care, eye care, medical
care, hearing aids, prescription drugs, or sickness and accident
insurance, or a combination of any of the foregoing types of
insurance for township officers and employees. The board of
township trustees of any township may negotiate and contract for
the purchase of a policy of long-term care insurance for township
officers and employees pursuant to section 124.841 of the Revised
Code.
If the board procures any insurance policies under this
section, the board shall provide uniform coverage under these
policies for township officers and full-time township employees
and their immediate dependents, and may provide coverage under
these policies for part-time township employees and their
immediate dependents, from the funds or budgets from which the
officers or employees are compensated for services, such policies
to be issued by an insurance company duly authorized to do
business in this state.
(B) The board may also provide coverage for any or all of the
benefits described in division (A) of this section by entering
into a contract for group health care services with health
insuring corporations holding certificates of authority under
Chapter 1751. of the Revised Code for township officers and
employees and their immediate dependents. If the board so
contracts, it shall provide uniform coverage under any such
contracts for township officers and full-time township employees
and their immediate dependents, from the funds or budgets from
which the officers or employees are compensated for services, and
may provide coverage under such contracts for part-time township
employees and their immediate dependents, from the funds or
budgets from which the officers or employees are compensated for
services, provided that each officer and employee so covered is
permitted to:
(1) Choose between a plan offered by an insurance company and
a plan offered by a health insuring corporation, and provided
further that the officer or employee pays any amount by which the
cost of the plan chosen exceeds the cost of the plan offered by
the board under this section;
(2) Change the choice made under this division at a time each
year as determined in advance by the board.
An addition of a class or change of definition of coverage to
the plan offered under this division by the board may be made at
any time that it is determined by the board to be in the best
interest of the township. If the total cost to the township of the
revised plan for any trustee's coverage does not exceed that cost
under the plan in effect during the prior policy year, the
revision of the plan does not cause an increase in that trustee's
compensation.
(C) Any township officer or employee may refuse to accept any
coverage authorized by this section without affecting the
availability of such coverage to other township officers and
employees.
(D) If any township officer or employee is denied coverage
under a health care plan procured under this section or if any
township officer or employee elects not to participate in the
township's health care plan, the township may reimburse the
officer or employee for each out-of-pocket premium attributable to
the coverage provided for the officer or employee for insurance
benefits described in division (A) of this section that the
officer or employee otherwise obtains, but not to exceed an amount
equal to the average premium paid by the township for its officers
and employees under any health care plan it procures under this
section.
(E) The board may provide the benefits authorized under this
section, without competitive bidding, by contributing to a health
and welfare trust fund administered through or in conjunction with
a collective bargaining representative of the township employees.
The board may also provide the benefits described in this
section through an individual self-insurance program or a joint
self-insurance program as provided in section 9.833 of the Revised
Code.
(F) If a board of township trustees fails to pay one or more
premiums for a policy, contract, or plan of insurance or health
care services authorized under this section and the failure causes
a lapse, cancellation, or other termination of coverage under the
policy, contract, or plan, it may reimburse a township officer or
employee for, or pay on behalf of the officer or employee, any
expenses incurred that would have been covered under the policy,
contract, or plan.
(G) As used in this section and section 505.601 of the
Revised Code:
(1) "Part-time township employee" means a township employee
who is hired with the expectation that the employee will work not
more than one thousand five hundred hours in any year.
(2) "Premium" does not include any deductible or health care
costs paid directly by a township officer or employee.
Sec. 505.601. The following applies until the department of
administrative services implements for townships the health care
plans under section 9.901 of the Revised Code.
If a board of township trustees does not procure an insurance
policy or group health care services as provided in section 505.60
of the Revised Code, the board of township trustees may reimburse
any township officer or employee for each out-of-pocket premium
attributable to the coverage provided for that officer or employee
for insurance benefits described in division (A) of section 505.60
of the Revised Code that the officer or employee otherwise
obtains, if all of the following conditions are met:
(A) The board of township trustees adopts a resolution that
states that the township has chosen not to procure a health care
plan under section 505.60 of the Revised Code and has chosen
instead to reimburse its officers and employees for each
out-of-pocket premium attributable to the coverage provided for
them for insurance benefits described in division (A) of section
505.60 of the Revised Code that they otherwise obtain.
(B) That resolution provides for a uniform maximum monthly or
yearly payment amount for each officer or employee to cover
themselves and their immediate dependents, beyond which the
township will not reimburse the officer or employee.
(C) That resolution states the specific benefits listed in
division (A) of section 505.60 of the Revised Code for which the
township will reimburse all officers and employees of the
township. The township may not reimburse officers and employees
for benefits other than those listed in division (A) of section
505.60 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 505.603. The following applies until the department of
administrative services implements for townships the health care
plans under section 9.901 of the Revised Code. If those plans do
not include or address any benefits incorporated in this section,
the following provisions continue in effect for those benefits.
(A) In addition to or in lieu of providing benefits to
township officers and employees under section 505.60, 505.601, or
505.602 of the Revised Code, a board of township trustees may
offer benefits to officers and employees through a cafeteria plan
that meets the requirements of section 125 of the "Internal
Revenue Code of 1986," 100 Stat. 2085, 26 U.S.C.A. 125, as
amended, after first adopting a policy authorizing an officer or
employee to receive a cash payment in lieu of a benefit otherwise
offered to township officers or employees under any of those
sections, but only if the cash payment does not exceed twenty-five
per cent of the cost of premiums or payments that otherwise would
be paid by the board for benefits for the officer or employee
under an offered policy, contract, or plan. No cash payment in
lieu of a benefit shall be made pursuant to this section unless
the officer or employee signs a statement affirming that the
officer or employee is covered under another health insurance or
health care policy, contract, or plan in the case of a health
benefit, or a life insurance policy in the case of a life
insurance benefit, and setting forth the name of the employer, if
any, that sponsors the coverage, the name of the carrier that
provides the coverage, and an identifying number of the applicable
policy, contract, or plan.
(B) In addition to providing the benefits to township
officers and employees under section 505.60, 505.601, or 505.602
of the Revised Code, a board of township trustees may offer a
health and wellness benefit program through which the township
provides a benefit or incentive to township officers, employees,
and their immediate dependents to maintain a healthy lifestyle,
including, but not limited to, programs to encourage healthy
eating and nutrition, exercise and physical activity, weight
control or the elimination of obesity, and cessation of smoking or
alcohol use.
(C) The township fiscal officer may deduct from a township
employee's salary or wages the amount authorized to be paid by the
employee for one or more qualified benefits available under
section 125 of the "Internal Revenue Code of 1986," 26 U.S.C. 125,
and under the sections listed in division (B) of this section, if
the employee authorizes in writing that the township fiscal
officer may deduct that amount from the employee's salary or
wages, and the benefit is offered to the employee on a group basis
and at least ten per cent of the township employees voluntarily
elect to participate in the receipt of that benefit. The township
fiscal officer may issue warrants for amounts deducted under this
division to pay program administrators or other insurers for
benefits authorized under this section or those sections listed in
division (B) of this section.
Sec. 511.23. (A) When the vote under section 511.22 of the
Revised Code is in favor of establishing one or more public parks,
the board of park commissioners shall constitute a board, to be
called the board of park commissioners of that township park
district, and they shall be a body politic and corporate. Their
office is not a township office within the meaning of section
703.22 of the Revised Code but is an office of the township park
district. The members of the board shall serve without
compensation but shall be allowed their actual and necessary
expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.
(B) The board may locate, establish, improve, maintain, and
operate a public park or parks in accordance with division (B) of
section 511.18 of the Revised Code, with or without recreational
facilities. Any township park district that contains only
unincorporated territory and that operated a public park or parks
outside the township immediately prior to July 18, 1990, may
continue to improve, maintain, and operate these parks outside the
township, but further acquisitions of land shall not affect the
boundaries of the park district itself or the appointing authority
for the board of park commissioners.
The board may lease, accept a conveyance of, or purchase
suitable lands for cash, by purchase by installment payments with
or without a mortgage, by lease or lease-purchase agreements, or
by lease with option to purchase, may acquire suitable lands
through an exchange under section 511.241 of the Revised Code, or
may appropriate suitable lands and materials for park district
purposes. The board also may lease facilities from other political
subdivisions or private sources. The board shall have careful
surveys and plats made of the lands acquired for park district
purposes and shall establish permanent monuments on the boundaries
of the lands. Those plats, when executed according to sections
711.01 to 711.38 of the Revised Code, shall be recorded in the
office of the county recorder, and those records shall be
admissible in evidence for the purpose of locating and
ascertaining the true boundaries of the park or parks.
(C) In furtherance of the use and enjoyment of the lands
controlled by it, the board may accept donations of money or other
property or act as trustees of land, money, or other property, and
may use and administer the land, money, or other property as
stipulated by the donor or as provided in the trust agreement.
The board may receive and expend grants for park purposes
from agencies and instrumentalities of the United States and this
state and may enter into contracts or agreements with those
agencies and instrumentalities to carry out the purposes for which
the grants were furnished.
(D) In exercising any powers conferred upon the board under
divisions (B) and (C) of this section and for other types of
assistance that the board finds necessary in carrying out its
duties, the board may hire and contract for professional,
technical, consulting, and other special services and may purchase
goods and award contracts. The procuring of goods and awarding of
contracts with a cost in excess of fifty thousand dollars shall be
done in accordance with the procedures established for the board
of county commissioners by sections 307.86 to 307.91 of the
Revised Code.
(E) The board may appoint an executive for the park or parks
and may designate the executive or another person as the clerk of
the board. It may appoint all other necessary officers and
employees, fix their compensation, and prescribe their duties, or
it may require the executive to appoint all other necessary
officers and employees, and to fix their compensation and
prescribe their duties, in accordance with guidelines and policies
adopted by the board.
(F) The board may adopt bylaws and rules that it considers
advisable for the following purposes:
(1) To prohibit selling, giving away, or using any
intoxicating liquors in the park or parks;
(2) For the government and control of the park or parks and
the operation of motor vehicles in the park or parks;
(3) To provide for the protection and preservation of all
property and natural life within its jurisdiction.
Before the bylaws and rules take effect, the board shall
provide for a notice of their adoption to be published once a week
for two consecutive weeks or as provided in section 7.16 of the
Revised Code, in a newspaper of general circulation in the county
within which the park district is located.
No person shall violate any of the bylaws or rules. Fines
levied and collected for violations shall be paid into the
treasury of the township park district. The board may use moneys
collected from those fines for any purpose that is not
inconsistent with sections 511.18 to 511.37 of the Revised Code.
(G) The board may do either of the following:
(1) Establish and charge fees for the use of any facilities
and services of the park or parks regardless of whether the park
or parks were acquired before, on, or after September 21, 2000;
(2) Enter into a lease agreement with an individual or
organization that provides for the exclusive use of a specified
portion of the park or parks within the township park district by
that individual or organization for the duration of an event
produced by the individual or organization. The board, for the
specific portion of the park or parks covered by the lease
agreement, may charge a fee to, or permit the individual or
organization to charge a fee to, participants in and spectators at
the event covered by the agreement.
(H) If the board finds that real or personal property owned
by the township park district is not currently needed for park
purposes, the board may lease that property to other persons or
organizations during any period of time the board determines the
property will not be needed. If the board finds that competitive
bidding on a lease is not feasible, it may lease the property
without taking bids.
(I) The board may exchange property owned by the township
park district for property owned by the state, another political
subdivision, or the federal government on terms that it considers
desirable, without the necessity of competitive bidding.
(J) Any rights or duties established under this section may
be modified, shared, or assigned by an agreement pursuant to
section 755.16 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 703.21. The surrender of corporate powers by a village
under section 703.20 or 703.201 of the Revised Code does not
affect vested rights or accrued liabilities of the village, or the
power to settle claims, dispose of property, or levy and collect
taxes to pay existing obligations. But, after the presentation of
the petition mentioned in section 703.20 of the Revised Code or
receipt of the audit report and notice mentioned in section
703.201 of the Revised Code, the legislative authority of the
village shall not create any new liability until the result of the
election under section 703.20 of the Revised Code is declared or
the decision of the court of common pleas under division (C) of
section 703.201 of the Revised Code is declared, or thereafter, if
the result, in either case, is for the surrender of the village's
corporate powers. If the auditor of state notifies the village
that the attorney general may file a legal action under section
703.201 of the Revised Code, but the attorney general does not
file such an action, the village shall not create any new
liability for thirty days after receipt of the auditor of state's
notice.
Due and unpaid taxes may be collected after the surrender of
corporate powers, and all moneys or property remaining after the
surrender belongs to the township or townships located wholly or
partly within the village. If more than one township is to receive
the remaining money or property, the money and property shall be
divided among the townships in proportion to the amount of
territory that each township has within the village boundaries as
compared to the total territory within the village.
After the surrender of corporate powers, all resolutions of
the township or townships into which the village's territory was
dissolved shall apply throughout the township's newly included
territory.
Sec. 731.141. In those villages that have established the
position of village administrator, as provided by section 735.271
of the Revised Code, the village administrator shall make
contracts, purchase supplies and materials, and provide labor for
any work under the administrator's supervision involving not more
than twenty-five fifty thousand dollars. When an expenditure,
other than the compensation of persons employed by the village,
exceeds
twenty-five fifty thousand dollars, the expenditure shall
first be authorized and directed by ordinance of the legislative
authority of the village. When so authorized and directed, except
where the contract is for equipment, services, materials, or
supplies to be purchased under division (D) of section 713.23 or
section 125.04 or 5513.01 of the Revised Code, available from a
qualified nonprofit agency pursuant to sections 4115.31 to 4115.35
of the Revised Code, or required to be purchased from a qualified
nonprofit agency under sections 125.60 to 125.6012 of the Revised
Code, the village administrator shall make a written contract with
the lowest and best bidder after advertisement for not less than
two nor more than four consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general
circulation within the village or as provided in section 7.16 of
the Revised Code. The bids shall be opened and shall be publicly
read by the village administrator or a person designated by the
village administrator at the time, date, and place as specified in
the advertisement to bidders or specifications. The time, date,
and place of bid openings may be extended to a later date by the
village administrator, provided that written or oral notice of the
change shall be given to all persons who have received or
requested specifications no later than ninety-six hours prior to
the original time and date fixed for the opening. All contracts
shall be executed in the name of the village and signed on its
behalf by the village administrator and the clerk.
The legislative authority of a village may provide, by
ordinance, for central purchasing for all offices, departments,
divisions, boards, and commissions of the village, under the
direction of the village administrator, who shall make contracts,
purchase supplies or materials, and provide labor for any work of
the village in the manner provided by this section.
Sec. 735.05. The director of public service may make any
contract, purchase supplies or material, or provide labor for any
work under the supervision of the department of public service
involving not more than twenty-five fifty thousand dollars. When
an expenditure within the department, other than the compensation
of persons employed in the department, exceeds twenty-five fifty
thousand dollars, the expenditure shall first be authorized and
directed by ordinance of the city legislative authority. When so
authorized and directed, except where the contract is for
equipment, services, materials, or supplies to be purchased under
division (D) of section 713.23 or section 125.04 or 5513.01 of the
Revised Code or available from a qualified nonprofit agency
pursuant to sections 4115.31 to 4115.35 of the Revised Code, the
director shall make a written contract with the lowest and best
bidder after advertisement for not less than two nor more than
four consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation
within the city or as provided in section 7.16 of the Revised
Code.
Sec. 737.03. The director of public safety shall manage and
make all contracts with reference to police stations, fire houses,
reform schools, infirmaries, hospitals other than municipal
hospitals operated pursuant to Chapter 749. of the Revised Code,
workhouses, farms, pesthouses, and all other charitable and
reformatory institutions. In the control and supervision of those
institutions, the director shall be governed by the provisions of
Title VII of the Revised Code relating to those institutions.
The director may make all contracts and expenditures of money
for acquiring lands for the erection or repairing of station
houses, police stations, fire department buildings, fire cisterns,
and plugs, that are required, for the purchase of engines,
apparatus, and all other supplies necessary for the police and
fire departments, and for other undertakings and departments under
the director's supervision, but no obligation involving an
expenditure of more than twenty-five fifty thousand dollars shall
be created unless first authorized and directed by ordinance. In
making, altering, or modifying those contracts, the director shall
be governed by sections 735.05 to 735.09 of the Revised Code,
except that all bids shall be filed with and opened by the
director. The director shall make no sale or disposition of any
property belonging to the city without first being authorized by
resolution or ordinance of the city legislative authority.
Sec. 749.26. The board of hospital trustees, before entering
into any contract for the erection of a hospital building, or for
the rebuilding or repair of a hospital building, the cost of which
exceeds ten fifty thousand dollars, shall have plans,
specifications, detailed drawings, and forms of bids prepared, and
when adopted by the board it shall have them printed for
distribution among the bidders.
Sec. 749.28. The board of hospital trustees shall not enter
into a contract for work or supplies where the estimated cost
exceeds ten fifty thousand dollars, without first giving thirty
days' notice in one newspaper of general circulation in the
municipal corporation that sealed proposals will be received for
doing the work or furnishing the materials and supplies.
Sec. 749.31. Except where the contract is for equipment,
services, materials, or supplies available from a qualified
nonprofit agency pursuant to sections 4115.31 to 4115.35 of the
Revised Code, the board of hospital trustees shall enter into a
contract for work or supplies where the estimated cost exceeds
ten
fifty thousand dollars with the lowest and best bidder. Where the
contract is for other than the construction, demolition,
alteration, repair, or reconstruction of an improvement, the board
shall enter into the contract when the bidder gives bond to the
board, with such security as the board approves, that he the
bidder will perform the work and furnish materials or supplies in
accordance with the contract. On the failure of such bidder within
a reasonable time, to be fixed by the board, to enter into bond
with such security, a contract may be made with the next lowest
and best bidder, and so on until a contract is effected by a
contractor giving such bond. The board may reject any bid.
Sec. 753.15. (A) Except as provided in division (B) of this
section, in a city, a workhouse erected for the joint use of the
city and the county in which such city is located shall be managed
and controlled by a joint board composed of the board of county
commissioners and the board of control of the city, and in a
village by the board of county commissioners and the board of
trustees of public affairs. Such joint board shall have all the
powers and duties in the management, control, and maintenance of
such workhouse as are conferred upon the director of public safety
in cities, and in addition thereto it may construct sewers for
such workhouse and pay therefor from funds raised by taxation for
the maintenance of such institution.
The joint board may lease or purchase suitable property and
buildings for a workhouse, or real estate for the purpose of
erecting and maintaining a workhouse thereon, but it shall not
expend more than ten fifty thousand dollars for any such purpose
unless such amount is approved by a majority of the voters of the
county, exclusive of the municipal corporation, voting at a
general election.
(B) In lieu of forming a joint board to manage and control a
workhouse erected for the joint use of the city and the county in
which the city is located, the board of county commissioners and
the legislative authority of the city may enter into a contract
for the private operation and management of the workhouse as
provided in section 9.06 of the Revised Code, but only if the
workhouse is used solely for misdemeanant inmates. In order to
enter into a contract under section 9.06 of the Revised Code, both
the board and the legislative authority shall approve and be
parties to the contract.
Sec. 755.29. The board of park trustees, before entering
into any contract for the performance of any work, the cost of
which exceeds twenty-five fifty thousand dollars, shall cause
plans and specifications and forms of bids to be prepared, and
when adopted by the board, shall have them printed for
distribution among bidders.
Sec. 755.30. The board of park trustees shall not enter into
any contract for work or supplies, where the estimated cost
thereof exceeds ten fifty thousand dollars, without first giving
thirty days' notice in one newspaper of general circulation in the
municipal corporation that sealed proposals may be received for
doing the work or furnishing such materials and supplies.
Sec. 1545.07. The commissioners appointed in accordance with
section 1545.05 or pursuant to section 1545.041 of the Revised
Code shall constitute the board of park commissioners of the park
district. Such board shall be a body politic and corporate, and
may sue and be sued as provided in sections 1545.01 to 1545.28 of
the Revised Code. Such board may employ a secretary and such other
employees as are necessary in the performance of the powers
conferred in such sections. The board may appoint a treasurer to
act as custodian of the board's funds and as fiscal officer for
the park district. For the purposes of acquiring, planning,
developing, protecting, maintaining, or improving lands and
facilities thereon under section 1545.11 of the Revised Code, and
for other types of assistance which it finds necessary in carrying
out its duties under Chapter 1545. of the Revised Code, the board
may hire and contract for professional, technical, consulting, and
other special services, including, in accordance with division (D)
of section 309.09 of the Revised Code, the legal services of the
prosecuting attorney of the county in which the park district is
located, and may purchase goods. In procuring any goods with a
cost in excess of fifty thousand dollars, the board shall contract
as a contracting authority under sections 307.86 to 307.91 of the
Revised Code, to the same extent and with the same limitations as
a board of county commissioners. In procuring services, the board
shall contract in the manner and under procedures established by
the bylaws of the board as required in section 1545.09 of the
Revised Code.
Sec. 2907.27. (A)(1) If a person is charged with a violation
of section 2907.02, 2907.03, 2907.04, 2907.24, 2907.241, or
2907.25 of the Revised Code or with a violation of a municipal
ordinance that is substantially equivalent to any of those
sections, the arresting authorities or a court, upon the request
of the prosecutor in the case or upon the request of the victim,
shall cause the accused to submit to one or more appropriate tests
to determine if the accused is suffering from a venereal disease.
The court, upon the request of the prosecutor in the case or upon
the request of the victim shall cause the accused to submit to one
or more appropriate tests to determine if the accused is suffering
from the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) within forty-eight
hours after the date on which the complaint, information, or
indictment is filed or within forty-eight hours after the date on
which the complaint, information, or indictment is served on the
accused, whichever date is later. Nothing in this section shall be
construed to prevent the court from ordering at any time during
which the complaint, information, or indictment is pending, that
the accused submit to one or more appropriate tests to determine
if the accused is suffering from a venereal disease or from the
human immunodeficiency virus (HIV).
(2) If the accused is found to be suffering from a venereal
disease in an infectious stage, the accused shall be required to
submit to medical treatment for that disease. The cost of the
medical treatment shall be charged to and paid by the accused who
undergoes the treatment. If the accused is indigent, the court
shall order the accused to report to a facility operated by a city
health district or a general health district for treatment. If the
accused is convicted of or pleads guilty to the offense with which
the accused is charged and is placed under a community control
sanction, a condition of community control shall be that the
offender submit to and faithfully follow a course of medical
treatment for the venereal disease. If the offender does not seek
the required medical treatment, the court may revoke the
offender's community control and order the offender to undergo
medical treatment during the period of the offender's
incarceration and to pay the cost of that treatment.
(B)(1)(a) If a person is charged with a violation of division
(B) of section 2903.11 or of section 2907.02, 2907.03, 2907.04,
2907.05, 2907.12, 2907.24, 2907.241, or 2907.25 of the Revised
Code or with a violation of a municipal ordinance that is
substantially equivalent to that division or any of those
sections, the court, upon the request of the prosecutor in the
case, upon the request of the victim, or upon the request of any
other person whom the court reasonably believes had contact with
the accused in circumstances related to the violation that could
have resulted in the transmission to that person the human
immunodeficiency virus, shall cause the accused to submit to one
or more tests designated by the director of health under section
3701.241 of the Revised Code to determine if the accused is
infected with HIV. The court, upon the request of the prosecutor
in the case, upon the request of the victim with the agreement of
the prosecutor, or upon the request of any other person with the
agreement of the prosecutor, may cause an accused who is charged
with a violation of any other section of the Revised Code or with
a violation of any other municipal ordinance to submit to one or
more tests so designated by the director of health if the
circumstances of the violation indicate probable cause to believe
that the accused, if the accused is infected with HIV, might have
transmitted HIV to any of the following persons in committing the
violation:
(i) In relation to a request made by the prosecuting
attorney, to the victim or to any other person;
(ii) In relation to a request made by the victim, to the
victim making the request;
(iii) In relation to a request made by any other person, to
the person making the request.
(b) The results of a test performed under division (B)(1)(a)
of this section shall be communicated in confidence to the court,
and the court shall inform the accused of the result. The court
shall inform the victim that the test was performed and that the
victim has a right to receive the results on request. If the test
was performed upon the request of a person other than the
prosecutor in the case and other than the victim, the court shall
inform the person who made the request that the test was performed
and that the person has a right to receive the results upon
request. Additionally, regardless of who made the request that was
the basis of the test being performed, if the court reasonably
believes that, in circumstances related to the violation, a person
other than the victim had contact with the accused that could have
resulted in the transmission of HIV to that person, the court may
inform that person that the test was performed and that the person
has a right to receive the results of the test on request. If the
accused tests positive for HIV, the test results shall be reported
to the department of health in accordance with section 3701.24 of
the Revised Code and to the sheriff, head of the state
correctional institution, or other person in charge of any jail or
prison in which the accused is incarcerated. If the accused tests
positive for HIV and the accused was charged with, and was
convicted of or pleaded guilty to, a violation of section 2907.24,
2907.241, or 2907.25 of the Revised Code or a violation of a
municipal ordinance that is substantially equivalent to any of
those sections, the test results also shall be reported to the law
enforcement agency that arrested the accused, and the law
enforcement agency may use the test results as the basis for any
future charge of a violation of division (B) of any of those
sections or a violation of a municipal ordinance that is
substantially equivalent to division (B) of any of those sections.
No other disclosure of the test results or the fact that a test
was performed shall be made, other than as evidence in a grand
jury proceeding or as evidence in a judicial proceeding in
accordance with the Rules of Evidence. If the test result is
negative, and the charge has not been dismissed or if the accused
has been convicted of the charge or a different offense arising
out of the same circumstances as the offense charged, the court
shall order that the test be repeated not earlier than three
months nor later than six months after the original test.
(2) If an accused who is free on bond refuses to submit to a
test ordered by the court pursuant to division (B)(1) of this
section, the court may order that the accused's bond be revoked
and that the accused be incarcerated until the test is performed.
If an accused who is incarcerated refuses to submit to a test
ordered by the court pursuant to division (B)(1) of this section,
the court shall order the person in charge of the jail or prison
in which the accused is incarcerated to take any action necessary
to facilitate the performance of the test, including the forcible
restraint of the accused for the purpose of drawing blood to be
used in the test.
(3) A state agency, a political subdivision of the state, or
an employee of a state agency or of a political subdivision of the
state is immune from liability in a civil action to recover
damages for injury, death, or loss to person or property allegedly
caused by any act or omission in connection with the performance
of the duties required under division (B)(2) of this section
unless the acts or omissions are with malicious purpose, in bad
faith, or in a wanton or reckless manner.
(C) As used in this section:
(1) "Community control sanction" has the same meaning as in
section 2929.01 of the Revised Code.
(2) "HIV" means the human immunodeficiency virus.
Sec. 3316.04. (A) Within sixty days of the auditor's
declaration under division (A) of section 3316.03 of the Revised
Code, the board of education of the school district shall prepare
and submit to the superintendent of public instruction a financial
plan delineating the steps the board will take to eliminate the
district's current operating deficit and avoid incurring operating
deficits in ensuing years, including the implementation of
spending reductions. The financial plan also shall evaluate the
feasibility of entering into shared services agreements with other
political subdivisions for the joint exercise of any power,
performance of any function, or rendering of any service, if so
authorized by statute. The superintendent of public instruction
shall evaluate the initial financial plan, and either approve or
disapprove it within thirty calendar days from the date of its
submission. If the initial financial plan is disapproved, the
state superintendent shall recommend modifications that will
render the financial plan acceptable. No school district board
shall implement a financial plan submitted to the superintendent
of public instruction under this section unless the superintendent
has approved the plan.
(B) Upon request of the board of education of a school
district declared to be in a state of fiscal watch, the auditor of
state and superintendent of public instruction shall provide
technical assistance to the board in resolving the fiscal problems
that gave rise to the declaration, including assistance in
drafting the board's financial plan.
(C) A financial plan adopted under this section may be
amended at any time with the approval of the superintendent. The
board of education of the school district shall submit an updated
financial plan to the superintendent, for the superintendent's
approval, every year that the district is in a state of fiscal
watch. The updated plan shall be submitted in a form acceptable to
the superintendent. The superintendent shall approve or disapprove
each updated plan no later than the anniversary of the date on
which the first such plan was approved.
(D) A school district that has restructured or refinanced a
loan under section 3316.041 of the Revised Code shall be declared
to be in a state of fiscal emergency if any of the following
occurs:
(1) An operating deficit is certified for the district under
section 3313.483 of the Revised Code for any year prior to the
repayment of the restructured or refinanced loan;
(2) The superintendent determines, in consultation with the
auditor of state, that the school district is not satisfactorily
complying with the terms of the financial plan required by this
section;
(3) The board of education of the school district fails to
submit an updated plan that is acceptable to the superintendent
under division (C) of this section.
Sec. 3316.06. (A) Within one hundred twenty days after the
first meeting of a school district financial planning and
supervision commission, the commission shall adopt a financial
recovery plan regarding the school district for which the
commission was created. During the formulation of the plan, the
commission shall seek appropriate input from the school district
board and from the community. This plan shall contain the
following:
(1) Actions to be taken to:
(a) Eliminate all fiscal emergency conditions declared to
exist pursuant to division (B) of section 3316.03 of the Revised
Code;
(b) Satisfy any judgments, past-due accounts payable, and all
past-due and payable payroll and fringe benefits;
(c) Eliminate the deficits in all deficit funds, except that
any prior year deficits in the capital and maintenance fund
established pursuant to section 3315.18 of the Revised Code shall
be forgiven;
(d) Restore to special funds any moneys from such funds that
were used for purposes not within the purposes of such funds, or
borrowed from such funds by the purchase of debt obligations of
the school district with the moneys of such funds, or missing from
the special funds and not accounted for, if any;
(e) Balance the budget, avoid future deficits in any funds,
and maintain on a current basis payments of payroll, fringe
benefits, and all accounts;
(f) Avoid any fiscal emergency condition in the future;
(g) Restore the ability of the school district to market
long-term general obligation bonds under provisions of law
applicable to school districts generally.
(2) The management structure that will enable the school
district to take the actions enumerated in division (A)(1) of this
section. The plan shall specify the level of fiscal and management
control that the commission will exercise within the school
district during the period of fiscal emergency, and shall
enumerate respectively, the powers and duties of the commission
and the powers and duties of the school board during that period.
The commission may elect to assume any of the powers and duties of
the school board it considers necessary, including all powers
related to personnel, curriculum, and legal issues in order to
successfully implement the actions described in division (A)(1) of
this section.
(3) The target dates for the commencement, progress upon, and
completion of the actions enumerated in division (A)(1) of this
section and a reasonable period of time expected to be required to
implement the plan. The commission shall prepare a reasonable time
schedule for progress toward and achievement of the requirements
for the plan, and the plan shall be consistent with that time
schedule.
(4) The amount and purpose of any issue of debt obligations
that will be issued, together with assurances that any such debt
obligations that will be issued will not exceed debt limits
supported by appropriate certifications by the fiscal officer of
the school district and the county auditor. Debt obligations
issued pursuant to section 133.301 of the Revised Code shall
include assurances that such debt shall be in an amount not to
exceed the amount certified under division (B) of such section. If
the commission considers it necessary in order to maintain or
improve educational opportunities of pupils in the school
district, the plan may include a proposal to restructure or
refinance outstanding debt obligations incurred by the board under
section 3313.483 of the Revised Code contingent upon the approval,
during the period of the fiscal emergency, by district voters of a
tax levied under section 718.09, 718.10, 5705.194, 5705.21,
5748.02, 5748.08, or 5748.09 of the Revised Code that is not a
renewal or replacement levy, or a levy under section 5705.199 of
the Revised Code, and that will provide new operating revenue.
Notwithstanding any provision of Chapter 133. or sections 3313.483
to 3313.4811 of the Revised Code, following the required approval
of the district voters and with the approval of the commission,
the school district may issue securities to evidence the
restructuring or refinancing. Those securities may extend the
original period for repayment, not to exceed ten years, and may
alter the frequency and amount of repayments, interest or other
financing charges, and other terms of agreements under which the
debt originally was contracted, at the discretion of the
commission, provided that any loans received pursuant to section
3313.483 of the Revised Code shall be paid from funds the district
would otherwise receive under Chapter 3317. of the Revised Code,
as required under division (E)(3) of section 3313.483 of the
Revised Code. The securities issued for the purpose of
restructuring or refinancing the debt shall be repaid in equal
payments and at equal intervals over the term of the debt and are
not eligible to be included in any subsequent proposal for the
purpose of restructuring or refinancing debt under this section.
(5) An evaluation of the feasibility of entering into shared
services agreements with other political subdivisions for the
joint exercise of any power, performance of any function, or
rendering of any service, if so authorized by statute.
(B) Any financial recovery plan may be amended subsequent to
its adoption. Each financial recovery plan shall be updated
annually.
(C) Each school district financial planning and supervision
commission shall submit the financial recovery plan it adopts or
updates under this section to the state superintendent of public
instruction for approval immediately following its adoption or
updating. The state superintendent shall evaluate the plan and
either approve or disapprove it within thirty calendar days from
the date of its submission. If the plan is disapproved, the state
superintendent shall recommend modifications that will render it
acceptable. No financial planning and supervision commission shall
implement a financial recovery plan that is adopted or updated on
or after April 10, 2001, unless the state superintendent has
approved it.
Sec. 3709.08. (A) A city constituting board of health of a
city or general health district or the authority having the duties
of a board of health under section 3709.05 of the Revised Code may
enter into a contract for to provide some or all public health
service with the chief executive services for a board of health of
another city constituting a city or general health district with
the approval of a majority of the members of the legislative
authority of such city or with the chairman of the district
advisory council of the general health district with the approval
of a majority of the members of the district advisory council.
Such proposal shall be made by the city seeking health service and
shall be approved by a majority of the members of the legislative
authority of such city. Such a
(B) Each contract entered under division (A) of this section
shall do all of the following:
(A)(1) State the amount of money or the proportion of
expenses to be paid by the city board of health or authority
having the duties of a board of health for such service services
and how it is to be paid;
(B) Provide for (2) Specify the amount and character of the
public health service services to be given to the city health
district provided;
(C)(3) State the date on which such service shall the
provision of services is to begin;
(D)(4) State the length of time such the contract shall is to
be in effect.
No such (C) Except as provided in division (D) of this
section, no contract entered into under division (A) of this
section shall be in effect until the department both of the
following are the case:
(1) The director of health determines that the health
department or board of health
of the city or general or authority
having the duties of a board of health district providing such
service that is to provide the services is organized and equipped
to provide adequate health service the services. After such
contract has been approved by the department of health a
determination is made, the board of health or health department of
the city or general authority having the duties of a board of
health district providing such service the services shall have,
within the
city health district receiving such service the
services, all the powers and shall perform all the duties required
of the board of health of a city or the authority having the
duties of a board of health district.
(2) One of the following, as applicable, is the case:
(a) If the contract is with a city constituting a city health
district, the chief executive of that city, with the approval of
the majority of the members of the legislative authority of that
city, approves the contract.
(b) If the contract is with the board of health of a general
health district, the chairperson of the district advisory council
of the general health district, with the approval of a majority of
the members of the district advisory council, approves the
contract.
(c) If the contract is with an authority having the duties of
a board of health under section 3709.05 of the Revised Code, the
majority of the members of the authority's governing body approves
the contract.
(D) A contract entered into under division (A) of this
section that is for not all but for only one or some public health
services provided by a board of health or the authority having the
duties of a board of health shall neither require a determination
by the director of health described in division (C)(1) of this
section nor an approval by the persons described in division
(C)(2)(a), (b), or (c), as applicable, to be effective.
Sec. 3709.28. The (A) If a general health district will
receive any part of its revenue for a fiscal year from an
appropriation apportioned among the townships and municipal
corporations composing the district, the board of health of a
general health the district shall, annually, on or before the
first Monday of April, adopt an itemized appropriation measure.
Such under this section for that fiscal year on or before the
first day of April of the immediately preceding fiscal year. If a
general health district will not receive any part of its revenue
for a fiscal year from an appropriation apportioned among the
townships and municipal corporations composing the district, the
board of health of the district shall adopt an annual
appropriation measure for that fiscal year under this section or
sections 5705.38, 5705.39, and 5705.40 of the Revised Code.
(B) An appropriation measure adopted under this section shall
set forth the amounts for the current expenses of
such the
district for the ensuing fiscal year beginning on the first day of
January next ensuing. The appropriation measure, together with an
estimate in itemized form, of the several sources of revenue
available to the district, including the amount due from the state
for the next fiscal year as provided in section 3709.32 of the
Revised Code and the amount which the board anticipates will be
collected in fees or from any tax levied for the benefit of the
district under this chapter or Chapter 5705. of the Revised Code
during the next ensuing fiscal year, shall be certified to the
county auditor and by the county auditor submitted to the county
budget commission, which may reduce any item in such the
appropriation measure but may not increase any item or the
aggregate of all items to be apportioned among the townships and
municipal corporations composing the district in accordance with
division (C) of this section.
(C) The aggregate appropriation, as fixed by the commission,
less the amounts available to the general health district from
the
several all sources of revenue, including the estimated balance
from the previous appropriation certified for the ensuing fiscal
year, including any amounts in the district health fund from the
previous appropriation, and after considering and allowing for
funds needed to fund ongoing operations in the ensuing fiscal
year, shall be apportioned, by the county auditor among the
townships and municipal corporations composing the health district
on the basis of taxable valuations in such townships and municipal
corporations. The auditor, when making the auditor's semiannual
apportionment of funds, shall retain at each semiannual
apportionment one-half of the amount apportioned to each township
and municipal corporation. Such moneys and all other sources of
revenue shall be placed in a separate fund, to be known as the
"district health fund." When Unless otherwise required by a
provision of the Revised Code or a rule adopted pursuant thereto,
all other sources of revenue of the district shall be placed in
the district health fund, provided that the revenue is used and
maintained in accordance with the purpose for which the revenue
was received.
(D) When a general health district is composed of townships
and municipal corporations in two or more counties, the county
auditor making the original apportionment shall certify to the
auditor of each county concerned the amount apportioned to each
township and municipal corporation in such county. Each auditor
shall withhold from the semiannual apportionment to each such
township or municipal corporation the amount certified, and shall
pay the amounts withheld to the custodian of the funds of the
health district concerned, to be credited to the district health
fund. In making the apportionment under this paragraph for each
year from 2002 through 2016, the county auditor shall add to the
taxable valuation of each township and municipal corporation the
tax value loss determined for each township and municipal
corporation under divisions (D) and (E) of section 5727.84 of the
Revised Code multiplied by the percentage used for that year in
determining replacement payments under division (A)(1) of section
5727.86 of the Revised Code. The tax commissioner shall certify to
the county auditor the tax value loss for each township and
municipal corporation for which the auditor must make an
apportionment.
(E) Subject to the aggregate amount as has been apportioned
among the townships and municipalities and as may become available
from the several sources of revenue, the board of health may, by
resolution, transfer funds from one item in their appropriation to
another item, reduce or increase any item, create new items, and
make additional appropriations or reduce the total appropriation.
Any such action shall forthwith be certified by the secretary of
the board of health to the auditor for submission to and approval
by the budget commission.
(F) When any general health district has been united with or
has contracted with a city health district located therein, the
chief executive of the city shall, annually, on or before the
first day of June, certify to the county auditor the total amount
due for the ensuing fiscal year from the municipal corporations
and townships in the district as provided in the contract between
such city and the district advisory council of the original
general health district. After approval by the county budget
commission, the county auditor shall thereupon apportion the
amount certified to the townships and municipal corporations, and
shall withhold the sums apportioned as provided in this section.
Sec. 3709.36. The board of health of a city or general
health district hereby created shall exercise all the powers and
perform all the duties formerly conferred and imposed by law upon
the board of health of a municipal corporation, and all such
powers, duties, procedure, and penalties for violation of the
sanitary regulations of a board of health of a municipal
corporation are transferred to the board of health of a city or
general health district by sections 3701.10, 3701.29, 3701.81,
3707.08, 3707.14, 3707.16, 3707.47, and 3709.01 to 3709.36 of the
Revised Code.
The board of health of a city or general health district or
the authority having the duties of a board of health under section
3709.05 of the Revised Code shall, for the purpose of providing
public health services, be a body politic and corporate. As such,
it is capable of suing and being sued, contracting and being
contracted with, acquiring, holding, possessing, and disposing of
real and personal property, and taking and holding in trust for
the use and benefit of such district or authority any grant or
devise of land and any domain or bequest of money or other
personal property.
Sec. 3729.05. (A)(1) On or after the first day of April, but
before the first day of May of each year, every person who intends
to operate a recreational vehicle park, recreation camp, or
combined park-camp shall procure a license to operate the park or
camp from the licensor. If the applicable license fee prescribed
under section 3729.07 of the Revised Code is not received by the
licensor by the close of business on the last day of April, the
applicant for the license shall pay a penalty equal to twenty-five
per cent of the applicable license fee. The penalty shall
accompany the license fee. If the last day of April is not a
business day, the penalty attaches upon the close of business on
the next business day.
(2) Every person who intends to operate a temporary park-camp
shall obtain a license to operate the temporary park-camp from the
licensor at any time before the person begins operation of the
temporary park-camp during the calendar year.
(3) No recreational vehicle park, recreation camp, combined
park-camp, or temporary park-camp shall be maintained or operated
in this state without a license. However, no person who neither
intends to receive nor receives anything of value arising from the
use of, or the sale of goods or services in connection with the
use of, a recreational vehicle park, recreation camp, combined
park-camp, or temporary park-camp is required to procure a license
under this division. If any health hazard exists at such an
unlicensed park, camp, or park-camp, the health hazard shall be
corrected in a manner consistent with the appropriate rule adopted
under division (A) or (B) of section 3729.02 of the Revised Code.
(4) No person who has received a license under division
(A)(1) of this section, upon the sale or disposition of the
recreational vehicle park, recreation camp, or combined park-camp,
may have the license transferred to the new operator. A person
shall obtain a separate license to operate each recreational
vehicle park, recreation camp, or combined park-camp. No license
to operate a temporary park-camp shall be transferred. A person
shall obtain a separate license for each temporary park-camp that
the person intends to operate, and the license shall be valid for
a period of not longer than seven consecutive days. A person who
operates a temporary park-camp on a tract of land for more than
twenty-one days or parts thereof in a calendar year shall obtain a
license to operate a recreational vehicle park, recreation camp,
or combined park-camp.
(B)(1) Before a license is initially issued under division
(A)(1) of this section and annually thereafter, or more often if
necessary, the licensor shall cause each recreational vehicle
park, recreation camp, or combined park-camp to be inspected to
determine compliance with this chapter and rules adopted under it.
A record shall be made of each inspection on a form prescribed by
the director of health.
(2) When a license is initially issued under division (A)(2)
of this section, and more often if necessary, the licensor shall
cause each temporary park-camp to be inspected to determine
compliance with this chapter and rules adopted under it during the
period that the temporary park-camp is in operation. A record
shall be made of each inspection on a form prescribed by the
director.
(C) Each person applying for an initial license to operate a
recreational vehicle park, recreation camp, combined park-camp, or
temporary park-camp shall provide acceptable proof to the
director, or to the licensor in the case of a temporary park-camp,
that adequate fire protection will be provided and that applicable
fire codes will be adhered to in the construction and operation of
the park, camp, or park-camp.
(D) Any person that operates a county or state fair or any
independent agricultural society organized pursuant to section
1711.02 of the Revised Code that operates a fair shall not be
required to obtain a license under this chapter if recreational
vehicles, portable camping units, or any combination of them are
parked at the site of the fair only during the time of preparation
for, operation of, and dismantling of the fair and if the
recreational vehicles, portable camping units, or any combination
of them belong to participants in the fair.
(E) The following entities that operate a fair and that hold
a license issued under this chapter are not required to comply
with the requirements normally imposed on a licensee under this
chapter and rules adopted under it during the time of preparation
for, operation of, and dismantling of the fair:
(1) A county agricultural society organized pursuant to
section 1711.01 of the Revised Code;
(2) An independent agricultural society organized pursuant to
section 1711.02 of the Revised Code;
(3) The Ohio expositions commission.
Sec. 4123.41. (A) By the first day of January of each year,
the bureau of workers' compensation shall furnish to the county
auditor of each county and the chief fiscal officer of each taxing
district in a county and of each district activity and institution
mentioned in section 4123.39 of the Revised Code forms containing
the premium rates applicable to the county, district, district
activity, or institution as an employer, on which to report the
amount of money expended by the county, district, district
activity, or institution during the previous twelve calendar
months for the services of employees under this chapter.
(B) Each county auditor and each fiscal officer of a
district, district activity, and institution shall calculate on
the form it receives from the bureau under division (A) of this
section the premium due as its proper contribution to the public
insurance fund and issue a warrant in favor of the bureau for the
amount due from the county, district, district activity, or
institution to the public insurance fund according to the
following schedule:
(1) On or before the fifteenth day of May of each year, no
less than forty-five per cent of the amount due;
(2) On or before the first day of September of each year, no
less than the total amount due.
(C) The legislative body of any county, district, district
activity, or institution may reimburse the fund from which the
contribution is workers' compensation payments are made by
transferring to the fund from any other fund of the county,
district, district activity, or institution, the proportionate
amount of the contribution payments that should be chargeable to
the fund, whether the fund is derived from taxation or otherwise.
The proportionate amount of the contribution payments chargeable
to the fund may be based on payroll, relative exposure, relative
loss experience, or any combination of these factors, as
determined by the legislative body. Within
(1) The workers' compensation program payments of any county,
district, district activity, or institution may include all
payments required by any bureau of workers' compensation rating
plan.
(2) The workers' compensation program payments of any county,
district, district activity, or institution, except for a county
board of developmental disabilities, a board of alcohol, drug
addiction, and mental health services, a board of mental health
services, and a board of alcohol and drug addiction services, also
may include any of the following:
(a) Direct administrative costs incurred in the management of
the county, district, district activity, or institution's workers'
compensation program;
(b) Indirect costs that are necessary and reasonable for the
proper and efficient administration of the workers' compensation
program as documented in a cost allocation plan. The indirect cost
plan shall conform to the United States office of management and
budget circular A-87 "cost principles for state and local
governments," 2 C.F.R. 225, as most recently amended on May 10,
2004. The plan shall not authorize payment from the fund of any
general government expense required to carry out the overall
governmental responsibilities.
(3) Within sixty days before a legislative body changes the
method used for calculating the proportionate amount of the
contribution payments chargeable to the fund, it shall notify,
consult with, and give information supporting the change to any
elected official affected by the change. A transfer made pursuant
to division (B)(2) of this section is not subject to section
5705.16 of the Revised Code.
(C)(D) The bureau may investigate the correctness of the
information provided by the county auditor and chief fiscal
officer under division (B) of this section, and if the bureau
determines at any time that the county, district, district
activity, or institution has not reported the correct information,
the administrator of workers' compensation may make deductions or
additions as the facts warrant and take those facts into
consideration in determining the current or future contributions
to be made by the county, district, district activity, or
institution. If the county, district, district activity, or
institution does not furnish the report in the time required by
this section, the administrator may fix the amount of contribution
the county, district, district activity, or institution must make
and certify that amount for payment.
(D)(E) The administrator shall provide a discount to any
county, district, district activity, or institution that pays its
total amount due to the public insurance fund on or before the
fifteenth day of May of each year as its proper contribution for
premiums. The administrator shall base the discount provided under
this division on the savings generated by the early payment to the
public insurance fund. The administrator may provide the discount
through a refund to the county, district, district activity, or
institution or an offset against the future contributions due to
the public insurance fund from the county, district, district
activity, or institution.
(E)(F) The administrator may impose an interest penalty for
late payment of any amount due from a county, district, district
activity, and institution at the interest rate established by the
state tax commissioner pursuant to section 5703.47 of the Revised
Code.
Sec. 5301.68. An owner of land may grant a conservation
easement to the department of natural resources, a park district
created under Chapter 1545. of the Revised Code, a township park
district created under section 511.18 of the Revised Code, a
conservancy district created under Chapter 6101. of the Revised
Code, a soil and water conservation district created under Chapter
1515. of the Revised Code, a regional water and sewer district
created under Chapter 6119. of the Revised Code, a county, a
township, a municipal corporation, or a charitable organization
that is authorized to hold conservation easements by division (B)
of section 5301.69 of the Revised Code, in the form of articles of
dedication, easement, covenant, restriction, or condition. An
owner of land also may grant an agricultural easement to the
director of agriculture; to a municipal corporation, county,
township, or soil and water conservation district; or to a
charitable organization described in division (B) of section
5301.69 of the Revised Code. An owner of land may grant an
agricultural easement only on land that is valued for purposes of
real property taxation at its current value for agricultural use
under section 5713.31 of the Revised Code or that constitutes a
homestead when the easement is granted.
All conservation easements and agricultural easements shall
be executed and recorded in the same manner as other instruments
conveying interests in land.
Sec. 5301.69. (A) The director of natural resources, the
board of park commissioners of a park district created under
Chapter 1545. of the Revised Code, the board of park commissioners
of a township park district created under section 511.18 of the
Revised Code, the board of directors of a conservancy district
created under Chapter 6101. of the Revised Code, the board of
supervisors of a soil and water conservation district created
under Chapter 1515. of the Revised Code, the board of trustees of
a regional water and sewer district created under Chapter 6119. of
the Revised Code, the board of county commissioners of a county,
the board of township trustees of a township, or the legislative
authority of a municipal corporation may acquire conservation
easements in the name of the state, the district, or the county,
township, or municipal corporation in the same manner as other
interests in land may be acquired under section 307.02, 307.18,
505.10, 505.261, 511.23, 717.01, 1501.01, 1515.08, 1545.11, or
6101.15, or 6119.111 of the Revised Code. Each officer, board, or
authority acquiring a conservation easement shall name an
appropriate administrative officer, department, or division to
supervise and enforce the easement.
(B) A charitable organization may acquire and hold
conservation easements if it is exempt from federal taxation under
subsection 501(a) and is described in subsection 501(c) of the
"Internal Revenue Code of 1954," 68A Stat. 3, 26 U.S.C. 1, as
amended, and organized for any of the following purposes: the
preservation of land areas for public outdoor recreation or
education, or scenic enjoyment; the preservation of historically
important land areas or structures; or the protection of natural
environmental systems. Such a charitable organization also may
acquire and hold agricultural easements subject to the limitation
that it may do so only on land that is valued for purposes of real
property taxation at its current value for agricultural use under
section 5713.31 of the Revised Code or that constitutes a
homestead when the easement is granted.
Sec. 5705.392. (A) A board of county commissioners may adopt
as a part of its annual appropriation measure a spending plan, or
in the case of an amended appropriation measure, an amended
spending plan, setting forth a quarterly schedule of expenses and
expenditures of all appropriations for the fiscal year from the
county general fund. The spending plan shall be classified to set
forth separately a quarterly schedule of expenses and expenditures
for each office, department, and division, and within each, the
amount appropriated for personal services. Each office,
department, and division shall be limited in its expenses and
expenditures of moneys appropriated from the general fund during
any quarter by the schedule established in the spending plan. The
schedule established in the spending plan shall serve as a
limitation during a quarter on the making of contracts and giving
of orders involving the expenditure of money during that quarter
for purposes of division (D) of section 5705.41 of the Revised
Code.
(B)(1) A board of county commissioners, by resolution, may
adopt a spending plan or an amended spending plan setting forth
separately a quarterly schedule of expenses and expenditures of
appropriations from any county fund, except as provided in
division (C) of this section, for the second half of a fiscal year
and any subsequent fiscal year, for any county office, department,
or division that has spent or encumbered more than six-tenths of
the amount appropriated for personal services and payrolls during
the first half of any fiscal year.
(2) During any fiscal year, a board of county commissioners,
by resolution, may adopt a spending plan or an amended spending
plan setting forth separately a quarterly schedule of expenses and
expenditures of appropriations from any county fund, except as
provided in division (C) of this section, for any county office,
department, or division that, during the previous fiscal year,
spent one hundred ten per cent or more of the total amount
appropriated for personal services and payrolls by the board in
its annual appropriation measure required by section 5705.38 of
the Revised Code. The spending plan or amended spending plan shall
remain in effect for not more than two fiscal years, or until. But
if the county administrative officer of the office, department, or
division for which the plan was adopted is no longer in office,
including terms of office to which the county officer is
re-elected, whichever is later an elected official, the spending
plan shall not be in effect during a fiscal year in which that
elected official is no longer the administrative officer of that
office, department, or division.
(3) At least thirty days before adopting a resolution under
division (B)(1) or (2) of this section, the board of county
commissioners shall provide written notice to each county office,
department, or division for which it intends to adopt a spending
plan or an amended spending plan. The notice shall be sent by
regular first class mail or provided by personal service, and
shall include a copy of the proposed spending plan or proposed
amended spending plan. The county office, department, or division
may meet with the board at any regular session of the board to
comment on the notice, or to express concerns or ask questions
about the proposed spending plan or proposed amended spending
plan.
(C) Division (B) of this section shall not apply to any fund
that is subject to rules adopted by the tax commissioner under
division (O) of section 5703.05 of the Revised Code.
Sec. 5705.41. No subdivision or taxing unit shall:
(A) Make any appropriation of money except as provided in
Chapter 5705. of the Revised Code; provided, that the
authorization of a bond issue shall be deemed to be an
appropriation of the proceeds of the bond issue for the purpose
for which such bonds were issued, but no expenditure shall be made
from any bond fund until first authorized by the taxing authority;
(B) Make any expenditure of money unless it has been
appropriated as provided in such chapter;
(C) Make any expenditure of money except by a proper warrant
drawn against an appropriate fund;
(D)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (D)(2) of
this section and section 5705.44 of the Revised Code, make any
contract or give any order involving the expenditure of money
unless there is attached thereto a certificate of the fiscal
officer of the subdivision that the amount required to meet the
obligation or, in the case of a continuing contract to be
performed in whole or in part in an ensuing fiscal year, the
amount required to meet the obligation in the fiscal year in which
the contract is made, has been lawfully appropriated for such
purpose and is in the treasury or in process of collection to the
credit of an appropriate fund free from any previous encumbrances.
This certificate need be signed only by the subdivision's fiscal
officer. Every such contract made without such a certificate shall
be void, and no warrant shall be issued in payment of any amount
due thereon. If no certificate is furnished as required, upon
receipt by the taxing authority of the subdivision or taxing unit
of a certificate of the fiscal officer stating that there was at
the time of the making of such contract or order and at the time
of the execution of such certificate a sufficient sum appropriated
for the purpose of such contract and in the treasury or in process
of collection to the credit of an appropriate fund free from any
previous encumbrances, such taxing authority may authorize the
drawing of a warrant in payment of amounts due upon such contract,
but such resolution or ordinance shall be passed within thirty
days after the taxing authority receives such certificate;
provided that, if the amount involved is less than one hundred
dollars in the case of counties or three thousand dollars in the
case of all other subdivisions or taxing units, the fiscal officer
may authorize it to be paid without such affirmation of the taxing
authority of the subdivision or taxing unit, if such expenditure
is otherwise valid.
(2) Annually, the The board of county commissioners may adopt
a resolution exempting county purchases of one thousand dollars or
less from the requirement of division (D)(1) of this section that
a certificate be attached to any contract or order involving the
expenditure of money. The resolution shall state the dollar amount
that is exempted from the certificate requirement and whether the
exemption applies to all purchases, to one or more specific
classes of purchases, or to the purchase of one or more specific
items. Prior to the adoption of the resolution, the board shall
give written notice to the county auditor that it intends to adopt
the resolution. The notice shall state the dollar amount that is
proposed to be exempted and whether the exemption would apply to
all purchases, to one or more specific classes of purchases, or to
the purchase of one or more specific items. The county auditor may
review and comment on the proposal, and shall send any comments to
the board within fifteen days after receiving the notice. The
board shall wait at least fifteen days after giving the notice to
the auditor before adopting the resolution. A person authorized to
make a county purchase in a county that has adopted such a
resolution shall prepare and file with the county auditor, within
three business days after incurring an obligation not requiring a
certificate, or within any other period of time the board of
county commissioners specifies in the resolution, a written or
electronically transferred document specifying the purpose and
amount of the expenditure, the date of the purchase, the name of
the vendor, the specific appropriation items from which the
expenditures are to be made, and any additional information as the
auditor of state may prescribe.
(3) Upon certification by the auditor or other chief fiscal
officer that a certain sum of money, not in excess of an amount
established by resolution or ordinance adopted by a majority of
the members of the legislative authority of the subdivision or
taxing unit, has been lawfully appropriated, authorized, or
directed for a certain purpose and is in the treasury or in the
process of collection to the credit of a specific line-item
appropriation account in a certain fund free from previous and
then outstanding obligations or certifications, then for such
purpose and from such line-item appropriation account in such
fund, over a period not extending beyond the end of the fiscal
year, expenditures may be made, orders for payment issued, and
contracts or obligations calling for or requiring the payment of
money made and assumed; provided, that the aggregate sum of money
included in and called for by such expenditures, orders,
contracts, and obligations shall not exceed the sum so certified.
Such a certification need be signed only by the fiscal officer of
the subdivision or the taxing district and may, but need not, be
limited to a specific vendor. An itemized statement of obligations
incurred and expenditures made under such certificate shall be
rendered to the auditor or other chief fiscal officer before
another such certificate may be issued, and not more than one such
certificate shall be outstanding at a time.
In addition to providing the certification for expenditures
as specified in this division, a subdivision also may make
expenditures, issue orders for payment, and make contracts or
obligations calling for or requiring the payment of money made and
assumed for specified permitted purposes from a specific line-item
appropriation account in a specified fund for a sum of money upon
the certification by the fiscal officer of the subdivision that
this sum of money has been lawfully appropriated, authorized, or
directed for a permitted purpose and is in the treasury or in the
process of collection to the credit of the specific line-item
appropriation account in the specified fund free from previous and
then-outstanding obligations or certifications; provided that the
aggregate sum of money included in and called for by the
expenditures, orders, and obligations shall not exceed the
certified sum. The purposes for which a subdivision may lawfully
appropriate, authorize, or issue such a certificate are the
services of an accountant, architect, attorney at law, physician,
professional engineer, construction project manager, consultant,
surveyor, or appraiser by or on behalf of the subdivision or
contracting authority; fuel oil, gasoline, food items, roadway
materials, and utilities; and any purchases exempt from
competitive bidding under section 125.04 of the Revised Code and
any other specific expenditure that is a recurring and reasonably
predictable operating expense. Such a certification shall not
extend beyond the end of the fiscal year or, in the case of a
board of county commissioners that has established a quarterly
spending plan under section 5705.392 of the Revised Code, beyond
the quarter to which the plan applies. Such a certificate shall be
signed by the fiscal officer and may, but need not, be limited to
a specific vendor. An itemized statement of obligations incurred
and expenditures made under such a certificate shall be rendered
to the fiscal officer for each certificate issued. More than one
such certificate may be outstanding at any time.
In any case in which a contract is entered into upon a per
unit basis, the head of the department, board, or commission for
the benefit of which the contract is made shall make an estimate
of the total amount to become due upon such contract, which
estimate shall be certified in writing to the fiscal officer of
the subdivision. Such a contract may be entered into if the
appropriation covers such estimate, or so much thereof as may be
due during the current year. In such a case the certificate of the
fiscal officer based upon the estimate shall be a sufficient
compliance with the law requiring a certificate.
Any certificate of the fiscal officer attached to a contract
shall be binding upon the political subdivision as to the facts
set forth therein. Upon request of any person receiving an order
or entering into a contract with any political subdivision, the
certificate of the fiscal officer shall be attached to such order
or contract. "Contract" as used in this section excludes current
payrolls of regular employees and officers.
(E) Taxes and other revenue in process of collection, or the
proceeds to be derived from authorized bonds, notes, or
certificates of indebtedness sold and in process of delivery,
shall for the purpose of this section be deemed in the treasury or
in process of collection and in the appropriate fund. This section
applies neither to the investment of sinking funds by the trustees
of such funds, nor to investments made under sections 731.56 to
731.59 of the Revised Code.
No district authority shall, in transacting its own affairs,
do any of the things prohibited to a subdivision by this section,
but the appropriation referred to shall become the appropriation
by the district authority, and the fiscal officer referred to
shall mean the fiscal officer of the district authority.
Sec. 5715.13. (A) Except as provided in division (B) of this
section, the county board of revision shall not decrease any
valuation unless a party affected thereby or who is authorized to
file a complaint under section 5715.19 of the Revised Code makes
and files with the board a written application therefor, verified
by oath and signature, showing the facts upon which it is claimed
such decrease should be made.
(B) The county board of revision may authorize a policy for
the filing of an electronic complaint under section 5715.19 of the
Revised Code and the filing of an electronic application therefor
under this section, subject to the approval of the tax
commissioner. An electronic complaint need not be sworn to, but
shall contain an electronic verification and shall be subscribed
to by the person filing the complaint: "I declare under penalties
of perjury that this complaint has been examined by me and to the
best of my knowledge and belief is true, correct, and complete.
Sec. 5715.19. (A) As used in this section, "member" has the
same meaning as in section 1705.01 of the Revised Code.
(1) Subject to division (A)(2) of this section, a complaint
against any of the following determinations for the current tax
year shall be filed with the county auditor on or before the
thirty-first day of March of the ensuing tax year or the date of
closing of the collection for the first half of real and public
utility property taxes for the current tax year, whichever is
later:
(a) Any classification made under section 5713.041 of the
Revised Code;
(b) Any determination made under section 5713.32 or 5713.35
of the Revised Code;
(c) Any recoupment charge levied under section 5713.35 of the
Revised Code;
(d) The determination of the total valuation or assessment of
any parcel that appears on the tax list, except parcels assessed
by the tax commissioner pursuant to section 5727.06 of the Revised
Code;
(e) The determination of the total valuation of any parcel
that appears on the agricultural land tax list, except parcels
assessed by the tax commissioner pursuant to section 5727.06 of
the Revised Code;
(f) Any determination made under division (A) of section
319.302 of the Revised Code.
If such a complaint is filed by mail or certified mail, the
date of the United States postmark placed on the envelope or
sender's receipt by the postal service shall be treated as the
date of filing. A private meter postmark on an envelope is not a
valid postmark for purposes of establishing the filing date.
Any person owning taxable real property in the county or in a
taxing district with territory in the county; such a person's
spouse; an individual who is retained by such a person and who
holds a designation from a professional assessment organization,
such as the institute for professionals in taxation, the national
council of property taxation, or the international association of
assessing officers; a public accountant who holds a permit under
section 4701.10 of the Revised Code, a general or residential real
estate appraiser licensed or certified under Chapter 4763. of the
Revised Code, or a real estate broker licensed under Chapter 4735.
of the Revised Code, who is retained by such a person; if the
person is a firm, company, association, partnership, limited
liability company, or corporation, an officer, a salaried
employee, a partner, or a member of that person; if the person is
a trust, a trustee of the trust; the board of county
commissioners; the prosecuting attorney or treasurer of the
county; the board of township trustees of any township with
territory within the county; the board of education of any school
district with any territory in the county; or the mayor or
legislative authority of any municipal corporation with any
territory in the county may file such a complaint regarding any
such determination affecting any real property in the county,
except that a person owning taxable real property in another
county may file such a complaint only with regard to any such
determination affecting real property in the county that is
located in the same taxing district as that person's real property
is located. The county auditor shall present to the county board
of revision all complaints filed with the auditor.
(2) As used in division (A)(2) of this section, "interim
period" means, for each county, the tax year to which section
5715.24 of the Revised Code applies and each subsequent tax year
until the tax year in which that section applies again.
No person, board, or officer shall file a complaint against
the valuation or assessment of any parcel that appears on the tax
list if it filed a complaint against the valuation or assessment
of that parcel for any prior tax year in the same interim period,
unless the person, board, or officer alleges that the valuation or
assessment should be changed due to one or more of the following
circumstances that occurred after the tax lien date for the tax
year for which the prior complaint was filed and that the
circumstances were not taken into consideration with respect to
the prior complaint:
(a) The property was sold in an arm's length transaction, as
described in section 5713.03 of the Revised Code;
(b) The property lost value due to some casualty;
(c) Substantial improvement was added to the property;
(d) An increase or decrease of at least fifteen per cent in
the property's occupancy has had a substantial economic impact on
the property.
(3) If a county board of revision, the board of tax appeals,
or any court dismisses a complaint filed under this section or
section 5715.13 of the Revised Code for the reason that the act of
filing the complaint was the unauthorized practice of law or the
person filing the complaint was engaged in the unauthorized
practice of law, the party affected by a decrease in valuation or
the party's agent, or the person owning taxable real property in
the county or in a taxing district with territory in the county,
may refile the complaint, notwithstanding division (A)(2) of this
section.
(4) Notwithstanding division (A)(2) of this section, a
person, board, or officer may file a complaint against the
valuation or assessment of any parcel that appears on the tax list
if it filed a complaint against the valuation or assessment of
that parcel for any prior tax year in the same interim period if
the person, board, or officer withdrew the complaint before the
complaint was heard by the board.
(B) Within thirty days after the last date such complaints
may be filed, the auditor shall give notice of each complaint in
which the stated amount of overvaluation, undervaluation,
discriminatory valuation, illegal valuation, or incorrect
determination is at least seventeen thousand five hundred dollars
to each property owner whose property is the subject of the
complaint, if the complaint was not filed by the owner or the
owner's spouse, and to each board of education whose school
district may be affected by the complaint. Within thirty days
after receiving such notice, a board of education; a property
owner; the owner's spouse; an individual who is retained by such
an owner and who holds a designation from a professional
assessment organization, such as the institute for professionals
in taxation, the national council of property taxation, or the
international association of assessing officers; a public
accountant who holds a permit under section 4701.10 of the Revised
Code, a general or residential real estate appraiser licensed or
certified under Chapter 4763. of the Revised Code, or a real
estate broker licensed under Chapter 4735. of the Revised Code,
who is retained by such a person; or, if the property owner is a
firm, company, association, partnership, limited liability
company, corporation, or trust, an officer, a salaried employee, a
partner, a member, or trustee of that property owner, may file a
complaint in support of or objecting to the amount of alleged
overvaluation, undervaluation, discriminatory valuation, illegal
valuation, or incorrect determination stated in a previously filed
complaint or objecting to the current valuation. Upon the filing
of a complaint under this division, the board of education or the
property owner shall be made a party to the action.
(C) Each board of revision shall notify any complainant and
also the property owner, if the property owner's address is known,
when a complaint is filed by one other than the property owner, by
certified mail, not less than ten days prior to the hearing, of
the time and place the same will be heard. The board of revision
shall hear and render its decision on a complaint within ninety
days after the filing thereof with the board, except that if a
complaint is filed within thirty days after receiving notice from
the auditor as provided in division (B) of this section, the board
shall hear and render its decision within ninety days after such
filing.
(D) The determination of any such complaint shall relate back
to the date when the lien for taxes or recoupment charges for the
current year attached or the date as of which liability for such
year was determined. Liability for taxes and recoupment charges
for such year and each succeeding year until the complaint is
finally determined and for any penalty and interest for nonpayment
thereof within the time required by law shall be based upon the
determination, valuation, or assessment as finally determined.
Each complaint shall state the amount of overvaluation,
undervaluation, discriminatory valuation, illegal valuation, or
incorrect classification or determination upon which the complaint
is based. The treasurer shall accept any amount tendered as taxes
or recoupment charge upon property concerning which a complaint is
then pending, computed upon the claimed valuation as set forth in
the complaint. If a complaint filed under this section for the
current year is not determined by the board within the time
prescribed for such determination, the complaint and any
proceedings in relation thereto shall be continued by the board as
a valid complaint for any ensuing year until such complaint is
finally determined by the board or upon any appeal from a decision
of the board. In such case, the original complaint shall continue
in effect without further filing by the original taxpayer, the
original taxpayer's assignee, or any other person or entity
authorized to file a complaint under this section.
(E) If a taxpayer files a complaint as to the classification,
valuation, assessment, or any determination affecting the
taxpayer's own property and tenders less than the full amount of
taxes or recoupment charges as finally determined, an interest
charge shall accrue as follows:
(1) If the amount finally determined is less than the amount
billed but more than the amount tendered, the taxpayer shall pay
interest at the rate per annum prescribed by section 5703.47 of
the Revised Code, computed from the date that the taxes were due
on the difference between the amount finally determined and the
amount tendered. This interest charge shall be in lieu of any
penalty or interest charge under section 323.121 of the Revised
Code unless the taxpayer failed to file a complaint and tender an
amount as taxes or recoupment charges within the time required by
this section, in which case section 323.121 of the Revised Code
applies.
(2) If the amount of taxes finally determined is equal to or
greater than the amount billed and more than the amount tendered,
the taxpayer shall pay interest at the rate prescribed by section
5703.47 of the Revised Code from the date the taxes were due on
the difference between the amount finally determined and the
amount tendered, such interest to be in lieu of any interest
charge but in addition to any penalty prescribed by section
323.121 of the Revised Code.
(F) Upon request of a complainant, the tax commissioner shall
determine the common level of assessment of real property in the
county for the year stated in the request that is not valued under
section 5713.31 of the Revised Code, which common level of
assessment shall be expressed as a percentage of true value and
the common level of assessment of lands valued under such section,
which common level of assessment shall also be expressed as a
percentage of the current agricultural use value of such lands.
Such determination shall be made on the basis of the most recent
available sales ratio studies of the commissioner and such other
factual data as the commissioner deems pertinent.
(G) A complainant shall provide to the board of revision all
information or evidence within the complainant's knowledge or
possession that affects the real property that is the subject of
the complaint. A complainant who fails to provide such information
or evidence is precluded from introducing it on appeal to the
board of tax appeals or the court of common pleas, except that the
board of tax appeals or court may admit and consider the evidence
if the complainant shows good cause for the complainant's failure
to provide the information or evidence to the board of revision.
(H) In case of the pendency of any proceeding in court based
upon an alleged excessive, discriminatory, or illegal valuation or
incorrect classification or determination, the taxpayer may tender
to the treasurer an amount as taxes upon property computed upon
the claimed valuation as set forth in the complaint to the court.
The treasurer may accept the tender. If the tender is not
accepted, no penalty shall be assessed because of the nonpayment
of the full taxes assessed.
Sec. 6115.20. (A) When it is determined to let the work
relating to the improvements for which a sanitary district was
established by contract, contracts in amounts to exceed ten fifty
thousand dollars shall be advertised after notice calling for bids
has been published once a week for five consecutive weeks
completed on the date of last publication or as provided in
section 7.16 of the Revised Code, in a newspaper of general
circulation within the sanitary district where the work is to be
done. The board of directors of the sanitary district shall let
bids as provided in this section or, if applicable, section 9.312
of the Revised Code. If the bids are for a contract for the
construction, demolition, alteration, repair, or reconstruction of
an improvement, the board of directors of the sanitary district
shall let the contract to the lowest or best bidder who meets the
requirements of section 153.54 of the Revised Code. If the bids
are for a contract for any other work relating to the improvements
for which a sanitary district was established, the board of
directors of the sanitary district shall let the contract to the
lowest or best bidder who gives a good and approved bond, with
ample security, conditioned on the carrying out of the contract
and the payment for all labor and material. The contract shall be
in writing and shall be accompanied by or shall refer to plans and
specifications for the work to be done prepared by the chief
engineer. The plans and specifications at all times shall be made
and considered a part of the contract. The contract shall be
approved by the board and signed by the president of the board and
by the contractor and shall be executed in duplicate. In case of
emergency the advertising of contracts may be waived upon the
consent of the board with the approval of the court or judge in
vacation.
(B) In the case of a sanitary district organized wholly for
the purpose of providing a water supply for domestic, municipal,
and public use that includes two municipal corporations in two
counties, any service to be purchased, including the services of
an accountant, architect, attorney at law, physician, or
professional engineer, at a cost in excess of ten fifty thousand
dollars shall be obtained in the manner provided in sections
153.65 to 153.73 of the Revised Code. For the purposes of the
application of those sections to division (B) of this section, all
of the following apply:
(1) "Public authority," as used in those sections, shall be
deemed to mean a sanitary district organized wholly for the
purpose of providing a water supply for domestic, municipal, and
public use that includes two municipal corporations in two
counties;
(2) "Professional design firm," as used in those sections,
shall be deemed to mean any person legally engaged in rendering
professional design services as defined in division (B)(3) of this
section;
(3) "Professional design services," as used in those
sections, shall be deemed to mean accounting, architectural,
legal, medical, or professional engineering services;
(4) The use of other terms in those sections shall be adapted
accordingly, including, without limitation, for the purposes of
division (D) of section 153.67 of the Revised Code;
(5) Divisions (A) to (C) of section 153.71 of the Revised
Code do not apply.
(C) The board of directors of a district organized wholly for
the purpose of providing a water supply for domestic, municipal,
and public use may contract for, purchase, or otherwise procure
for the benefit of employees of the district and pay all or any
part of the cost of group insurance policies that may provide
benefits, including, but not limited to, hospitalization, surgical
care, major medical care, disability, dental care, vision care,
medical care, hearing aids, or prescription drugs. Any group
insurance policy purchased under this division shall be purchased
from the health care corporation that the board of directors
determines offers the most cost-effective group insurance policy.
Sec. 6119.02. (A) Proceedings for the organization of a
regional water and sewer district shall be initiated only by a
petition filed in the office of the clerk of the court of common
pleas of one of the counties all or part of which lies within the
proposed district. The petition shall be signed by one or more
municipal corporations, one or more counties, or one or more
townships, or by any combination of them, after having been
authorized by the legislative authority of the political
subdivision. The legislative authority of any municipal
corporation, the board of county commissioners of any county, and
the board of trustees of any township may act in behalf of any
part of their respective political subdivisions. The petition
shall specify all of the following:
(1) The proposed name of the district;
(2) The place in which its principal office is to be located;
(3) The necessity for the proposed district and that it will
be conducive to the public health, safety, convenience, or
welfare;
(4) A general description of the purpose of the proposed
district;
(5) A general description of the territory to be included in
the district, which need not be given by metes and bounds or by
legal subdivisions, but is sufficient if an accurate description
is given of the territory to be organized as a district. The
territory need not be contiguous, provided that it is so situated
that the public health, safety, convenience, or welfare will be
promoted by the organization as a single district of the territory
described.
(6) The manner of selection, the number, the term, and the
compensation of the members of the governing body of the district,
which shall be called a board of trustees. The petition may set
forth procedures for subsequent changes in the composition of and
other provisions relating to the board of trustees. The original
or properly amended petition may prohibit elected officials from
serving on the board and may permit one or more elected officials
from any appointing authority to serve on the board. However,
elected officials from the same political subdivision shall not
comprise a majority of the members of the board. Notwithstanding
the foregoing, a board appointed prior to the effective date of
this amendment may continue as prescribed in the petition and
rules and regulations of the district that were in effect prior to
the effective date of this amendment, and, if not prohibited in
the petition or rules and regulations, the board may include
elected officials. As used in this division, "elected official"
means an official elected to an office of municipal, township, or
county government, or a person appointed to fill a vacancy in such
an office.
(7) The plan for financing the cost of the operations of the
district until it is in receipt of revenue from its operations or
proceeds from the sale of bonds;
(8) A prayer for the organization of the district by the name
proposed, either before or after a preliminary hearing as provided
in section 6119.04 of the Revised Code.
(B) Prior to filing a petition under division (A) of this
section, a municipal corporation, county, or township shall hold a
public meeting for the purpose of receiving comments on the
proposed establishment of a regional water and sewer district. If
a combination of municipal corporations, counties, or townships
signed the petition, the signers jointly shall hold the public
meeting. At the meeting, a representative of the signer or signers
of the petition shall present a preliminary study of the reasons
for the proposed establishment of the district.
The signer or signers of the petition shall provide written
notice of the public meeting to each elector residing in the
territory of the proposed district. Failure to notify an elector
does not invalidate any proceeding before a court under this
chapter.
(C) Upon the filing of the petition, the judge of the court
of common pleas of the county in which the petition is filed or,
in the case of a county having more than one such judge, a judge
of that court assigned by its presiding judge shall determine if
the petition complies with the requirements of this section as to
form and content. No petition shall be declared void by the judge
on account of alleged defects. The court in subsequent proceedings
at any time may permit the petition to be amended in form and
substance to conform to the facts by correcting any errors in the
description of the territory or in any other particular.
Sec. 6119.10. The board of trustees of a regional water and
sewer district or any officer or employee designated by the board
may make any contract for the purchase of supplies or material or
for labor for any work, under the supervision of the board, the
cost of which shall not exceed twenty-five fifty thousand dollars.
When an expenditure, other than for the acquisition of real estate
and interests in real estate, the discharge of noncontractual
claims, personal services, the joint use of facilities or the
exercise of powers with other political subdivisions, or the
product or services of public utilities, exceeds twenty-five fifty
thousand dollars, the expenditures shall be made only after a
notice calling for bids has been published two consecutive weeks
in one newspaper of general circulation within the district or as
provided in section 7.16 of the Revised Code. If the bids are for
a contract for the construction, demolition, alteration, repair,
or reconstruction of an improvement, the board may let the
contract to the lowest and best bidder who meets the requirements
of section 153.54 of the Revised Code. If the bids are for a
contract for any other work relating to the improvements for which
a regional water and sewer district was established, the board of
trustees of the regional water and sewer district may let the
contract to the lowest or best bidder who gives a good and
approved bond with ample security conditioned on the carrying out
of the contract. The contract shall be in writing and shall be
accompanied by or shall refer to plans and specifications for the
work to be done, approved by the board. The plans and
specifications shall at all times be made and considered part of
the contract. The contract shall be approved by the board and
signed by its president or other duly authorized officer and by
the contractor. In case of a real and present emergency, the board
of trustees of the district, by two-thirds vote of all members,
may authorize the president or other duly authorized officer to
enter into a contract for work to be done or for the purchase of
supplies or materials without formal bidding or advertising. All
contracts shall have attached the certificate required by section
5705.41 of the Revised Code duly executed by the secretary of the
board of trustees of the district. The district may make
improvements by force account or direct labor, provided that, if
the estimated cost of supplies or material for any such
improvement exceeds twenty-five fifty thousand dollars, bids shall
be received as provided in this section. For the purposes of the
competitive bidding requirements of this section, the board shall
not sever a contract for supplies or materials and labor into
separate contracts for labor, supplies, or materials if the
contracts are in fact a part of a single contract required to be
bid competitively under this section.
Section 2. That existing sections 9.833, 118.023, 118.06,
118.31, 120.08, 120.53, 124.42, 305.171, 307.12, 307.86, 307.861,
307.87, 307.88, 308.13, 329.40, 505.60, 505.601, 505.603, 511.23,
703.21, 731.141, 735.05, 737.03, 749.26, 749.28, 749.31, 753.15,
755.29, 755.30, 1545.07, 2907.27, 3316.04, 3316.06, 3709.08,
3709.28, 3709.36, 3729.05, 4123.41, 5301.68, 5301.69, 5705.392,
5705.41, 5715.13, 5715.19, 6115.20, 6119.02, and 6119.10 and
sections 507.07 and 3709.081 of the Revised Code are hereby
repealed.
Section 3. Not later than November 1, 2012, the county
auditor of each county shall furnish to the Auditor of State a
statement showing both of the following:
(A) The formula used in that county for allocating the county
undivided local government fund pursuant to section 5747.53 of the
Revised Code if the fund is allocated by an alternative formula
under that section. If the fund is allocated by the statutory
formula under section 5747.51 of the Revised Code, the statement
shall so indicate.
(B) The dollar amount distributed in 2012 to each subdivision
in that county that received a distribution from the county
undivided local government fund.
Section 4. Notwithstanding any provision of the Revised Code
to the contrary, in 2012, the certification by the Secretary of
State on the seventieth day before the general election of the
forms of the official ballots to be used at that general election
required by division (A) of section 3505.01 of the Revised Code
shall not include the names of the major political party
presidential and vice-presidential candidates.
The major political parties shall certify to the Secretary of
State the names of the candidates for president and vice-president
nominated at their national conventions as soon as possible, but
in no case later than four p.m. on the sixtieth day before the
2012 general election.
The Secretary of State promptly shall amend the original
certification to the boards of elections of each county of the
forms of the official ballots to be used at that general election,
by adding the names of the major party presidential and
vice-presidential candidates that were not included in the
original certification.
For the purpose of this section, "major political party" has
the same meaning as in section 3501.01 of the Revised Code.
Section 5. Section 3 of 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 statutory deadline for political parties to certify
presidential and vice-presidential candidates to the Secretary of
State for placement on the ballot for the November 6, 2012,
general election is prior to the date the national conventions of
the major political parties are scheduled to take place.
Therefore, Section 3 of this act shall go into immediate effect.
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