The online versions of legislation provided on this website are not official. Enrolled bills are the final version passed by the Ohio General Assembly and presented to the Governor for signature. The official version of acts signed by the Governor are available from the Secretary of State's Office in the Continental Plaza, 180 East Broad St., Columbus.
|
H. B. No. 571 As IntroducedAs Introduced
130th General Assembly | Regular Session | 2013-2014 |
| |
Cosponsor:
Representative Hagan, R.
A BILL
To amend sections 9.65, 319.301, 505.43, 505.51,
742.33, 742.34, and 5705.26 and to enact section
5705.73 of the Revised Code to authorize
subdivisions to levy a fixed-sum emergency
property tax for police, fire, or emergency
medical services purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section 1. That sections 9.65, 319.301, 505.43, 505.51,
742.33, 742.34, and 5705.26 be amended and section 5705.73 of the
Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:
Sec. 9.65. (A) A board of township trustees, a board of fire
district trustees of a joint fire district, or the legislative
authority of a municipal corporation may establish, by resolution
or ordinance, as appropriate, an annuity program for the volunteer
fire fighters serving the political subdivision, including those
affiliated with a private entity that provides fire-fighting or
emergency medical services. The program may permit the board or
the legislative authority to contract for, purchase, or otherwise
procure from an insurer or insurers licensed to do business by
this state an annuity for such fire fighters. The program may also
permit the board or the legislative authority at any time to
cancel or otherwise terminate an annuity with any particular
insurer or insurers. The board or the legislative authority may
pay all or any portion of the cost, premium, or charge of the
annuity. The board or the legislative authority may create a fund
in the treasury of the township, the joint fire district, or the
municipal corporation, as appropriate, for the annuity program.
The resolution or ordinance creating the program shall include a
plan to assure the proper administration and operation of the
program. The plan shall include, but not be limited to, all of the
following:
(1) The requirements a person must meet in order to be
eligible to participate in the program;
(2) The requirements an eligible person must meet annually in
order to participate in the program;
(3) A requirement that an audit of the accounts, financial
reports, records, and files pertaining to the program be performed
in the same manner and with the same frequency that an audit of a
public office is performed under section 117.11 of the Revised
Code. The audit required under division (A)(3) of this section
shall be in addition to and separate from any audit of a township,
joint fire district, or municipal corporation required under
section 117.11 of the Revised Code but may be performed at the
same time as such an audit.
(4) Provisions for termination of the program.
(B) A political subdivision that has established an annuity
program under division (A) of this section may appropriate general
revenue fund moneys of the political subdivision not appropriated
for any other purpose to the annuity program and may use moneys
raised under section 505.37, 505.371,
or 505.39, or 5705.73 or
under division (I) or (U) of section 5705.19 of the Revised Code
for the annuity program. Income from the investment of moneys in
any fund established in the treasury of a political subdivision
for the annuity program shall be paid into the annuity fund.
(C) As used in this section:
(1) "Volunteer fire fighter" means a person who performs
service as a fire fighter, or who performs emergency medical
service, on a less than full-time basis for a political
subdivision.
(2) "Political subdivision" means a municipal corporation, a
township, a township fire district, or a joint fire district.
Sec. 319.301. (A) The reductions required by division (D) of
this section do not apply to any of the following:
(1) Taxes levied at whatever rate is required to produce a
specified amount of tax money, including a tax levied under
section 5705.199, 5705.211, 5705.73, or 5748.09 of the Revised
Code, or an amount to pay debt charges;
(2) Taxes levied within the one per cent limitation imposed
by Section 2 of Article XII, Ohio Constitution;
(3) Taxes provided for by the charter of a municipal
corporation.
(B) As used in this section:
(1) "Real property" includes real property owned by a
railroad.
(2) "Carryover property" means all real property on the
current year's tax list except:
(a) Land and improvements that were not taxed by the district
in both the preceding year and the current year;
(b) Land and improvements that were not in the same class in
both the preceding year and the current year.
(3) "Effective tax rate" means with respect to each class of
property:
(a) The sum of the total taxes that would have been charged
and payable for current expenses against real property in that
class if each of the district's taxes were reduced for the current
year under division (D)(1) of this section without regard to the
application of division (E)(3) of this section divided by
(b) The taxable value of all real property in that class.
(4) "Taxes charged and payable" means the taxes charged and
payable prior to any reduction required by section 319.302 of the
Revised Code.
(C) The tax commissioner shall make the determinations
required by this section each year, without regard to whether a
taxing district has territory in a county to which section 5715.24
of the Revised Code applies for that year. Separate determinations
shall be made for each of the two classes established pursuant to
section 5713.041 of the Revised Code.
(D) With respect to each tax authorized to be levied by each
taxing district, the tax commissioner, annually, shall do both of
the following:
(1) Determine by what percentage, if any, the sums levied by
such tax against the carryover property in each class would have
to be reduced for the tax to levy the same number of dollars
against such property in that class in the current year as were
charged against such property by such tax in the preceding year
subsequent to the reduction made under this section but before the
reduction made under section 319.302 of the Revised Code. In the
case of a tax levied for the first time that is not a renewal of
an existing tax, the commissioner shall determine by what
percentage the sums that would otherwise be levied by such tax
against carryover property in each class would have to be reduced
to equal the amount that would have been levied if the full rate
thereof had been imposed against the total taxable value of such
property in the preceding tax year. A tax or portion of a tax that
is designated a replacement levy under section 5705.192 of the
Revised Code is not a renewal of an existing tax for purposes of
this division.
(2) Certify each percentage determined in division (D)(1) of
this section, as adjusted under division (E) of this section, and
the class of property to which that percentage applies to the
auditor of each county in which the district has territory. The
auditor, after complying with section 319.30 of the Revised Code,
shall reduce the sum to be levied by such tax against each parcel
of real property in the district by the percentage so certified
for its class. Certification shall be made by the first day of
September except in the case of a tax levied for the first time,
in which case certification shall be made within fifteen days of
the date the county auditor submits the information necessary to
make the required determination.
(E)(1) As used in division (E)(2) of this section, "pre-1982
joint vocational taxes" means, with respect to a class of
property, the difference between the following amounts:
(a) The taxes charged and payable in tax year 1981 against
the property in that class for the current expenses of the joint
vocational school district of which the school district is a part
after making all reductions under this section;
(b) The following percentage of the taxable value of all real
property in that class:
(i) In 1987, five one-hundredths of one per cent;
(ii) In 1988, one-tenth of one per cent;
(iii) In 1989, fifteen one-hundredths of one per cent;
(iv) In 1990 and each subsequent year, two-tenths of one per
cent.
If the amount in division (E)(1)(b) of this section exceeds
the amount in division (E)(1)(a) of this section, the pre-1982
joint vocational taxes shall be zero.
As used in divisions (E)(2) and (3) of this section, "taxes
charged and payable" has the same meaning as in division (B)(4) of
this section and excludes any tax charged and payable in 1985 or
thereafter under sections 5705.194 to 5705.197 or section
5705.199, 5705.213, 5705.219, or 5748.09 of the Revised Code.
(2) If in the case of a school district other than a joint
vocational or cooperative education school district any percentage
required to be used in division (D)(2) of this section for either
class of property could cause the total taxes charged and payable
for current expenses to be less than two per cent of the taxable
value of all real property in that class that is subject to
taxation by the district, the commissioner shall determine what
percentages would cause the district's total taxes charged and
payable for current expenses against that class, after all
reductions that would otherwise be made under this section, to
equal, when combined with the pre-1982 joint vocational taxes
against that class, the lesser of the following:
(a) The sum of the rates at which those taxes are authorized
to be levied;
(b) Two per cent of the taxable value of the property in that
class. The auditor shall use such percentages in making the
reduction required by this section for that class.
(3)(a) If in the case of a joint vocational school district
any percentage required to be used in division (D)(2) of this
section for either class of property could cause the total taxes
charged and payable for current expenses for that class to be less
than the designated amount, the commissioner shall determine what
percentages would cause the district's total taxes charged and
payable for current expenses for that class, after all reductions
that would otherwise be made under this section, to equal the
designated amount. The auditor shall use such percentages in
making the reductions required by this section for that class.
(b) As used in division (E)(3)(a) of this section, the
designated amount shall equal the taxable value of all real
property in the class that is subject to taxation by the district
times the lesser of the following:
(i) Two-tenths of one per cent;
(ii) The district's effective rate plus the following
percentage for the year indicated:
|
WHEN COMPUTING THE |
|
ADD THE FOLLOWING |
|
|
|
TAXES CHARGED FOR |
|
PERCENTAGE: |
|
|
|
1987 |
|
0.025% |
|
|
|
1988 |
|
0.05% |
|
|
|
1989 |
|
0.075% |
|
|
|
1990 |
|
0.1% |
|
|
|
1991 |
|
0.125% |
|
|
|
1992 |
|
0.15% |
|
|
|
1993 |
|
0.175% |
|
|
|
1994 and thereafter |
|
0.2% |
|
|
(F) No reduction shall be made under this section in the rate
at which any tax is levied.
(G) The commissioner may order a county auditor to furnish
any information the commissioner needs to make the determinations
required under division (D) or (E) of this section, and the
auditor shall supply the information in the form and by the date
specified in the order. If the auditor fails to comply with an
order issued under this division, except for good cause as
determined by the commissioner, the commissioner shall withhold
from such county or taxing district therein fifty per cent of
state revenues to local governments pursuant to section 5747.50 of
the Revised Code or shall direct the department of education to
withhold therefrom fifty per cent of state revenues to school
districts pursuant to Chapter 3317. of the Revised Code. The
commissioner shall withhold the distribution of such revenues
until the county auditor has complied with this division, and the
department shall withhold the distribution of such revenues until
the commissioner has notified the department that the county
auditor has complied with this division.
(H) If the commissioner is unable to certify a tax reduction
factor for either class of property in a taxing district located
in more than one county by the last day of November because
information required under division (G) of this section is
unavailable, the commissioner may compute and certify an estimated
tax reduction factor for that district for that class. The
estimated factor shall be based upon an estimate of the
unavailable information. Upon receipt of the actual information
for a taxing district that received an estimated tax reduction
factor, the commissioner shall compute the actual tax reduction
factor and use that factor to compute the taxes that should have
been charged and payable against each parcel of property for the
year for which the estimated reduction factor was used. The amount
by which the estimated factor resulted in an overpayment or
underpayment in taxes on any parcel shall be added to or
subtracted from the amount due on that parcel in the ensuing tax
year.
A percentage or a tax reduction factor determined or computed
by the commissioner under this section shall be used solely for
the purpose of reducing the sums to be levied by the tax to which
it applies for the year for which it was determined or computed.
It shall not be used in making any tax computations for any
ensuing tax year.
(I) In making the determinations under division (D)(1) of
this section, the tax commissioner shall take account of changes
in the taxable value of carryover property resulting from
complaints filed under section 5715.19 of the Revised Code for
determinations made for the tax year in which such changes are
reported to the commissioner. Such changes shall be reported to
the commissioner on the first abstract of real property filed with
the commissioner under section 5715.23 of the Revised Code
following the date on which the complaint is finally determined by
the board of revision or by a court or other authority with
jurisdiction on appeal. The tax commissioner shall account for
such changes in making the determinations only for the tax year in
which the change in valuation is reported. Such a valuation change
shall not be used to recompute the percentages determined under
division (D)(1) of this section for any prior tax year.
Sec. 505.43. In order to obtain police protection, or to
obtain additional police protection, any township may enter into a
contract with one or more townships, municipal corporations, park
districts created pursuant to section 511.18 or 1545.01 of the
Revised Code, county sheriffs, joint police districts, or with a
governmental entity of an adjoining state upon any terms that are
agreed to by them, for services of police departments or use of
police equipment, or the interchange of the service of police
departments or use of police equipment within the several
territories of the contracting subdivisions, if the contract is
first authorized by respective boards of township trustees or
other legislative bodies. The cost of the contract may be paid for
from the township general fund or from funds received pursuant to
the passage of a levy authorized pursuant to division (J) of
section 5705.19 and section 5705.25 or section 5705.73 of the
Revised Code.
Chapter 2744. of the Revised Code, insofar as it is
applicable to the operation of police departments, applies to the
contracting political subdivisions and police department members
when the members are rendering service outside their own
subdivision pursuant to the contract.
Police department members acting outside the subdivision in
which they are employed may participate in any pension or
indemnity fund established by their employer to the same extent as
while acting within the employing subdivision, and are entitled to
all the rights and benefits of Chapter 4123. of the Revised Code,
to the same extent as while performing service within the
subdivision.
The contract may provide for a fixed annual charge to be paid
at the times agreed upon and stipulated in the contract.
Sec. 505.51. (A) In the case of a township police district,
the board of trustees of the township police district may levy a
tax upon all of the taxable property in the township police
district pursuant to sections 5705.19 and 5705.25 or section
5705.73 of the Revised Code to defray all or a portion of expenses
of the township police district in providing police protection.
(B) In the case of a joint police district, the joint police
district board may levy a tax upon all of the taxable property in
the joint police district pursuant to sections 5705.19 and 5705.25
or section 5705.73 of the Revised Code to defray all or a portion
of expenses of the joint police district in providing police
protection.
Sec. 742.33. (A) Each employer shall pay monthly, on such
dates as the board of trustees of the Ohio police and fire pension
fund requires, from its general fund, or from a levy imposed
pursuant to division (J) or (W) of section 5705.19 or section
5705.73 of the Revised Code, to the fund an amount known as the
"police officer employers' contribution," which shall be nineteen
and one-half per cent of the salaries as defined in division (L)
of section 742.01 of the Revised Code of the members of the police
department of the employer.
(B) The taxing authority of each municipal corporation in
which there was a police relief and pension fund on October 1,
1965, shall annually, in the manner provided for making other
municipal levies and in addition to all other levies authorized by
law, levy a tax of three-tenths of one mill upon all the real and
personal property as listed for taxation in the municipal
corporation for the purpose of paying the police officer
employers' contribution and the municipal corporation's accrued
liability for its former police relief and pension fund and
interest thereon, and of defraying the current operating expenses
of the municipal corporation. The annual revenues derived from the
tax shall be used in the following order:
(1) First, to pay the current police officer employers'
contribution and any interest related thereto;
(2) Second, to pay any accrued liability chargeable to the
municipal corporation during the current calendar year for its
former police relief and pension fund and any interest related
thereto;
(3) Third, to defray the current operating expenses of the
municipal corporation.
Sec. 742.34. (A) Each employer shall pay monthly, on such
dates as the board of trustees of the Ohio police and fire pension
fund requires, from its general fund, or from a levy imposed
pursuant to division (I) or (W) of section 5705.19 or section
5705.73 of the Revised Code, to the fund an amount known as the
"firefighter employers' contribution," which shall be twenty-four
per cent of the salaries as defined in division (L) of section
742.01 of the Revised Code of the members of the fire department
of the employer.
(B) The taxing authority of each municipal corporation in
which there was a firemen's relief and pension fund on October 1,
1965, shall annually, in the manner provided for making other
municipal levies and in addition to all other levies authorized by
law, levy a tax of three-tenths of one mill upon all the real and
personal property as listed for taxation in the municipal
corporation for the purpose of paying the firefighter employers'
contribution and the municipal corporation's accrued liability for
its former firemen's relief and pension fund and interest thereon,
and of defraying the current operating expenses of the municipal
corporation. The annual revenues derived from the tax shall be
used in the following order:
(1) First, to pay the current firefighter employers'
contribution and any interest related thereto;
(2) Second, to pay any accrued liability chargeable to the
municipal corporation during the current calendar year for its
former firemen's relief and pension fund and any interest related
thereto;
(3) Third, to defray the current operating expenses of the
municipal corporation.
Sec. 5705.26. Except as otherwise provided in section
5705.191 of the Revised Code, if the majority of the electors
voting on a levy authorized by sections 5705.19 to 5705.25 and
section 5705.73 of the Revised Code vote in favor of such levy at
such election, the taxing authority of the subdivision may levy a
tax within the subdivision or, in the case of a qualifying library
levy, within the library district or association library district,
at the additional rate in excess of the ten-mill limitation during
the period and for the purpose stated in the resolution, or at any
less rate, or for any of said years or purposes; provided that
levies for payment of debt charges shall not exceed the amount
necessary for such charges on the indebtedness mentioned in the
resolution. If such levy is for the payment of charges on debts
incurred prior to January 1, 1935, in excess of the ten-mill
limitation but within the fifteen-mill limitation, the taxing
authority of said subdivision shall levy in excess of the ten-mill
limitation such tax if a majority of the electors voting on the
levy vote in favor thereof.
Sec. 5705.73. The taxing authority of a subdivision, except
for a city, local, exempted village, cooperative education, or
joint vocational school district or a county school financing
district, by a vote of two-thirds of all the members of the taxing
authority, at any time may declare by resolution that the revenue
that will be raised by all tax levies that the subdivision is
authorized to impose will be insufficient to provide for the
emergency requirements of the subdivision or to avoid an operating
deficit, and that it is therefore necessary to levy a tax in
excess of the ten-mill limitation. The resolution shall be
confined to one of the purposes described in division (I), (J),
(U), or (JJ) of section 5705.19 of the Revised Code and shall
specify that purpose.
If the levy is proposed to renew all or a portion of the
proceeds derived from one or more existing levies imposed pursuant
to this section, it shall be called a renewal levy and shall be so
designated on the ballot. If two or more existing levies are to be
included in a single renewal levy but are not scheduled to expire
in the same year, the resolution shall specify that the existing
levies to be renewed shall not be levied after the year preceding
the year in which the renewal levy is first imposed. If the
original purpose of any one or more existing levies that are to be
in any single renewal levy was to provide for emergency
requirements or to avoid an operating deficit, the purpose of the
renewal levy may be either to avoid an operating deficit or to
provide for the emergency requirements.
The resolution shall specify the amount of money it is
necessary to raise for the specified purpose for each year the
millage is to be imposed; if a renewal levy, whether the levy is
to renew all, or a portion of, the proceeds derived from one or
more existing levies; and the number of years in which the millage
is to be in effect, which may include a levy upon the current
year's tax list. The number of years may be any number not
exceeding five.
The resolution shall go into immediate effect upon its
passage, and no publication of the resolution shall be necessary
other than that provided for in the notice of election. A copy of
the resolution shall immediately after its adoption be certified
to the county auditor of the proper county or counties. Within
five days after the resolution is certified to the county auditor,
the auditor shall calculate and certify to the taxing authority
the annual levy, expressed in dollars and cents for each one
hundred dollars of valuation and in mills for each one dollar of
valuation, throughout the life of the levy that will be required
to produce the annual amount set forth in the resolution assuming
that the amount of the tax list of the subdivision remains
throughout the life of the levy the same as the amount of the tax
list for the current year, and if this is not determined, the
estimated amount submitted by the auditor to the county budget
commission.
Upon receiving the certification from the county auditor, if
the taxing authority desires to proceed with the submission of the
question it shall, not less than ninety days before the day of the
election, certify its resolution to the board of elections,
together with the amount of the average tax levy, expressed in
dollars and cents for each one hundred dollars of valuation and in
mills for each one dollar of valuation, estimated by the auditor,
and the number of years the levy is to run. The board of elections
shall prepare the ballots and make other necessary arrangements
for the submission of the question to the voters of the
subdivision.
The question may be submitted to electors at a general
election or a special election held on a date consistent with
section 3501.01 of the Revised Code.
The form of the ballot to be used at the election shall be as
follows:
"Shall a levy be imposed by the . . . . . . . . . . (name of
subdivision) for the purpose of . . . . . . . . . . (purpose of
levy) in the sum of . . . . . . . . . . (annual amount the levy is
to produce) and a levy of taxes to be made outside of the ten-mill
limitation estimated by the county auditor to average . . . . . .
. . . . (number of mills) mills for each one dollar of valuation,
which amounts to . . . . . . . . . . (rate expressed in dollars
and cents) for each one hundred dollars of valuation, for a period
of . . . . . . . . . . (the number of years the millage is to be
imposed) years?
The purpose for which the tax is to be levied shall be
printed in the space indicated, in boldface type of at least twice
the size of the type immediately surrounding it.
If the tax is to be placed on the current tax list, the form
of the ballot shall be modified by adding, after "years," the
phrase ", commencing in . . . . . . . . . . (first year the tax is
to be levied), first due in calendar year . . . . . . . . . .
(first calendar year in which the tax shall be due)."
If the levy submitted is a proposal to renew all or a portion
of an existing levy, the form of the ballot specified in this
section may be changed by adding the following at the beginning of
the form, after the words "shall a levy":
(A) "Renewing an existing levy" in the case of a proposal to
renew an existing levy in the same amount;
(B) "Renewing . . . . . . . . . . dollars and providing an
increase of . . . . . . . . . . dollars" in the case of an
increase;
(C) "Renewing part of an existing levy, being a reduction of
. . . . . . . . . . dollars" in the case of a renewal of only part
of an existing levy.
If the levy submitted is a proposal to renew all or a portion
of more than one existing levy, the form of the ballot may be
changed in any of the manners provided in division (A), (B), or
(C) of this section, or any combination of those manners, as
appropriate, so long as the form of the ballot reflects the number
of levies to be renewed, whether the amount of any of the levies
will be increased or decreased, the amount of any such increase or
decrease for each levy, and that none of the existing levies to be
renewed will be levied after the year preceding the year in which
the renewal levy is first imposed. The form of the ballot shall be
changed by adding the following statement after "for a period of .
. . . . . . . . years?" and before "For the Tax Levy" and "Against
the Tax Levy":
"If approved, any remaining tax years on any of the above . .
. . . . . . . . (the number of existing levies) existing levies
will not be collected after . . . . . . . . . . (the current tax
year or, if not the current tax year, the applicable tax year)."
After the approval of the levy and before the first tax
collection from the levy can be made, the taxing authority may
anticipate a fraction of the proceeds of the levy and issue
anticipation notes in an amount not exceeding the total estimated
proceeds of the levy to be collected during the first year of the
levy.
The notes shall be issued as provided in section 133.24 of
the Revised Code, shall have principal payments during each year
after the year of their issuance over a period not to exceed five
years, and may have principal payments in the year of their
issuance.
Section 2. That existing sections 9.65, 319.301, 505.43,
505.51, 742.33, 742.34, and 5705.26 of the Revised Code are hereby
repealed.
|
|