Fiscal Note & Local Impact Statement
126 th General Assembly of Ohio
STATE FUND |
FY 2007 |
FY 2008 |
FUTURE YEARS |
Ohio Ballot Board - GRF |
|||
Revenues |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
|
Expenditures |
Potential increase in
election costs |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
Note: The state
fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.
For example, FY 2006 is July 1, 2005 – June 30, 2006.
·
Ballot Printing Costs. Revises the
apportionment process for General Assembly and Congressional districts. If this measure appears on the ballot in
November, the state will experience a one-time increase in election costs for
whatever costs counties incur from adding this additional measure to their
ballots.
·
Ballot Advertising Costs. The state will also experience costs of $200,000 or more
associated with the required advertising of this issue in a newspaper of
general circulation in each county. The
state reimburses counties via the Ohio Ballot Board.
LOCAL
GOVERNMENT |
FY 2006 |
FY 2007 |
FUTURE YEARS |
|
County Boards of Elections |
||||
Revenues |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
|
Expenditures |
Increase in ballot
advertising costs; however, these will be reimbursed by the state |
- 0 - |
- 0 - |
|
Note: For most local governments, the fiscal year is the calendar year. The school district fiscal year is July 1 through June 30.
·
Local Ballot Advertising Costs. Generally, counties initially pay for the costs of the required
ballot advertisement, and then later submit an invoice to the Secretary of
State's Office for reimbursement.
|
Bill Overview
The bill revises the
apportionment process for General Assembly and Congressional districts. The bill would replace the current
Apportionment Board of seven members with the Ohio Apportionment Commission,
consisting of seven members, four of which must be appointed by the leaders of
the General Assembly, and three of which must be appointed unanimously by the
first four. The bill prohibits persons
who have, within ten years, held or have been a candidate for a state or
federal office for which candidates may be nominated by political parties from
being appointed to the Ohio Apportionment Commission. It also prohibits members of the Apportionment Commission from
being a candidate for the Ohio General Assembly at the first general election
after the adoption of a new Congressional or General Assembly plan.
Fiscal Effect
The General Assembly will
appropriate whatever funds it deems are necessary for the Commission to
complete its task. This should result
in no new additional costs as the previous Apportionment Board was funded in
the same manner. The General Assembly
is also responsible for appropriating whatever funds deemed necessary to defend
the adopted Congressional and General Assembly plan from any lawsuit arising
from the adopted plan. The Attorney
General is responsible for defending it.
There would be temporary
local costs associated with the passage of this bill, which the state will
reimburse, for the required advertising of this issue in a newspaper of general
circulation in each county. Generally,
counties initially pay for the costs of producing the required ballot
advertisement, and then later submit an invoice to the Secretary of State's
Office for reimbursement. The Ohio
Ballot Board then gets Controlling Board approval to reimburse the counties after
the invoices have been received.
In the previous election,
ballot issues 1-5, which proposed various changes to the state's campaign
finance and elections process, had a combined advertising cost of approximately
$1.1 million. Thus, it could be
reasonably estimated that adding a single issue to the ballot would result in
approximately $200,000 or more in additional advertising costs. Note, however, that, these costs vary
depending upon the length of the amendment.
LSC fiscal staff: Terry Steele, Budget Analyst