To enact sections 3318.75 and 3318.751 of the Revised Code to permit a school district resulting from the consolidation of two or more school districts or from the voluntary transfer of the entire territory of a school district to receive a loan from the Ohio school facilities commission for the construction of a new facility to support the consolidated district if specified conditions are satisfied, and to make an appropriation.

Section 1. That sections 3318.75 and 3318.751 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 3318.75.  (A) For purposes of this section, an "eligible school district" is a city, local, or exempted village school district that results from the consolidation of two or more school districts under section 3311.37 of the Revised Code or from a voluntary transfer of the entire territory of a school district in accordance with section 3311.38 or division (A)(1)(a) of section 3311.24 of the Revised Code, provided all of the following conditions are satisfied:

(1) With respect to the districts as they exist prior to the consolidation or transfer:

(a) The districts are located in the same county.

(b) The county in which the districts are located has a population of less than one hundred thousand as of the most recent federal decennial census.

(c) Each of the districts has a student enrollment of less than one thousand seven hundred students on the effective date of the consolidation or transfer.

(d) Neither of the districts has previously received state assistance under this chapter.

(2) Prior to applying for a loan under this section, the department of education, in consultation with the Ohio school facilities commission and the auditor of state, determined in a study conducted under section 3318.751 of the Revised Code that the school district resulting from the consolidation or transfer would be able to repay a loan made under this section within fifteen years after receiving the loan by using up to eighty per cent of the savings from the consolidation or transfer.

(B) In addition to receiving state assistance under any other section of this chapter, an eligible school district may apply for a loan of up to ten million dollars from the commission for the purpose of constructing a new classroom facility to meet the district's needs. The application shall be submitted in a form and manner specified by the commission.

(C) The commission shall adopt rules regarding the making and repayment of loans under this section.

Sec. 3318.751. (A) Upon the request of a city, local, or exempted village school district that may be eligible for a loan under section 3318.75 of the Revised Code, the department of education, in consultation with the Ohio school facilities commission and the auditor of state, shall conduct a study in order to identify any savings that resulted from the consolidation or transfer that led to the district's formation. The department shall use the information provided by the district under division (B) of this section when conducting the study.

(B) When making a request under division (A) of this section, a city, local, or exempted village school district must submit all of the following information to the department:

(1) The district's effective tax rate;

(2) A description of the district's buildings obtained through the consolidation or transfer that led to the district's formation that have been or will be closed;

(3) The district's teacher and staffing levels.

Section 2. All items in this section are hereby appropriated as designated out of any moneys in the state treasury to the credit of the designated fund. For all appropriations made in this act, those in the first column are for fiscal year 2014 and those in the second column are for fiscal year 2015. The appropriations made in this act are in addition to any other appropriations made for the FY 2014-FY 2015 biennium.

General Revenue Fund

CONSOLIDATED DISTRICT LOAN PROGRAM

The foregoing appropriation item 230501, Consolidated District Loan Program, shall be used to award loans to school districts under section 3318.75 of the Revised Code.

Section 3. Within the limits set forth in this act, the Director of Budget and Management shall establish accounts indicating the source and amount of funds for each appropriation made in this act, and shall determine the form and manner in which appropriation accounts shall be maintained. Expenditures from appropriations contained in this act shall be accounted for as though made in Am. Sub. H.B. 59 of the 130th General Assembly.

The appropriations made in this act are subject to all provisions of Am. Sub. H.B. 59 of the 130th General Assembly that are generally applicable to such appropriations.