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 that meet specified conditions to receive a loan from the Ohio school facilities commission for the construction of a new facility to support the consolidated district.

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, provided all of the following conditions are satisfied:

(1) The consolidating districts are located in the same county;

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

(3) Each of the consolidating districts has a student enrollment of less than one thousand seven hundred students on the effective date of the consolidation;

(4) Neither of the consolidating districts has previously received state assistance under this chapter;

(5) Prior to the consolidation, the Ohio school facilities commission determined in a study conducted under section 3318.751 of the Revised Code that the school district resulting from the consolidation 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 projected savings from consolidation.

(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, including the interest rate for loans.

Sec. 3318.751.  Upon the request of two or more school districts that are seeking to consolidate into a single district that may be eligible for a loan under section 3318.75 of the Revised Code, the Ohio school facilities commission shall conduct a study in order to identify any savings that could result from the proposed consolidation.

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.