Ohio Code § 5705.215

§ 5705.215.

(A) The governing board of an educational service center that is the taxing authority

of a county school financing district, upon receipt of identical resolutions adopted

within a sixty-day period by a majority of the members of the board of education of

each school district that is within the territory of the county school financing district,

may submit a tax levy to the electors of the territory in the same manner as a school

board may submit a levy under division (C) of section 5705.21 of the Revised Code , except that: (1) The levy may be for a period not to exceed ten years, or, if the levy is solely for

the purpose or purposes described in division (A)(2)(a), (c), or (f) of this section,

for a continuing period of time. (2) The purpose of the levy shall be one or more of the following: (a) For current expenses for the provision of special education and related services

within the territory of the district; (b) For permanent improvements within the territory of the district for special education

and related services; (c) For current expenses for specified educational programs within the territory of the

district; (d) For permanent improvements within the territory of the district for specified educational

programs; (e) For permanent improvements within the territory of the district; (f) For current expenses for school safety and security and mental health services, including

training and employment of or contracting for the services of safety personnel, mental

health personnel, social workers, and counselors. (B) If the levy provides for but is not limited to current expenses, the resolutions

shall apportion the annual rate of the levy between current expenses and the other

purposes.  The apportionment need not be the same for each year of the levy, but the respective

portions of the rate actually levied each year for current expenses and the other

purposes shall be limited by that apportionment. (C) Prior to the application of section 319.301 of the Revised Code , the rate of a levy that is limited to, or to the extent that it is apportioned to,

purposes other than current expenses shall be reduced in the same proportion in which

the district's total valuation increases during the life of the levy because of additions

to such valuation that have resulted from improvements added to the tax list and duplicate. (D) After the approval of a county school financing district levy under this section,

the taxing authority may anticipate a fraction of the proceeds of such levy and may

from time to time during the life of such levy, but in any given year prior to the

time when the tax collection from such levy can be made for that year, issue anticipation

notes in an amount not exceeding fifty per cent of the estimated proceeds of the levy

to be collected in each year up to a period of five years after the date of the issuance

of such notes, less an amount equal to the proceeds of such levy obligated for each

year by the issuance of anticipation notes, provided that the total amount maturing

in any one year shall not exceed fifty per cent of the anticipated proceeds of the

levy for that year.  Each issue of notes shall be sold as provided in Chapter 133. of the Revised Code,

and shall, except for the limitation that the total amount of such notes maturing

in any one year shall not exceed fifty per cent of the anticipated proceeds of such

levy for that year, mature serially in substantially equal installments during each

year over a period not to exceed five years after their issuance. (E)(1) In a resolution to be submitted to the taxing authority of a county school financing

district under division (A) of this section calling for a ballot issue on the question

of the levying of a tax for a continuing period of time by the taxing authority, the

board of education of a school district that is part of the territory of the county

school financing district also may propose to reduce the rate of one or more of that

school district's property taxes levied for a continuing period of time in excess

of the ten-mill limitation.  The reduction in the rate of a property tax may be any amount, not exceeding the

rate at which the tax is authorized to be levied.  The reduction in the rate of a tax shall first take effect in the same year that

the county school financing district tax takes effect, and shall continue for each

year that the county school financing district tax is in effect.  A board of education's resolution proposing to reduce the rate of one or more of

its school district property taxes shall, in addition to including information required

for a resolution under division (B)(1) of section 5705.03 of the Revised Code , specifically identify each such tax and shall state for each tax the maximum rate

at which it currently may be levied and the maximum rate at which it could be levied

after the proposed reduction, expressed in mills for each one dollar of taxable value. Before submitting the resolution to the taxing authority of the county school financing

district, the board of education of the school district shall certify a copy of it

to the tax commissioner and the county auditor.  The county auditor shall certify to the board all information required under division (B)(2) of section 5705.03 of the Revised Code , in the manner required under that division, and both of the following: (a) An estimate of the levy's annual collections beginning for the first year for which

the reduction applies, rounded to the nearest dollar, which shall be calculated assuming

that the amount of the tax list of the taxing authority remains throughout the life

of the reduced levy the same as the amount of the tax list most recently certified

by the county auditor under division (A) of section 319.28 of the Revised Code . If a school district is located in more than one county, the county auditor shall

obtain from the county auditor of each other county in which the district is located

the current tax valuation for the portion of the district in that county. (b) The effective rate of the levy for the last year before the proposed reduction and

the first year that the reduction applies, both expressed in dollars for each one

hundred thousand dollars of the county auditor's market value. The tax commissioner, within ten days of receiving the resolution, shall certify to

the board the reduction in the school district's total effective tax rate for each

class of property that would have resulted if the proposed reduction in the rate or

rates had been in effect the previous year.  As used in this paragraph, “effective tax rate” has the same meaning as in section 323.08 of the Revised Code . After receiving these certifications from the commissioner and the auditor, the board

may amend its resolution to change the proposed property tax rate reduction before

submitting the resolution to the financing district taxing authority, provided the

board certifies a copy of the amended resolution to the county auditor with a request

to provide the information required under divisions (E)(1)(a) and (b) of this section

and the auditor transmits that information to the taxing authority. If the board of education of a school district that is part of the territory of a

county school financing district adopts a resolution proposing to reduce the rate

of one or more of its property taxes in conjunction with the levying of a tax by the

financing district, the resolution submitted by the board to the taxing authority

of the financing district under division (A) of this section does not have to be identical

in this respect to the resolutions submitted by the boards of education of the other

school districts that are part of the territory of the county school financing district. (2) Each school district that is part of the territory of a county school financing district

may tailor to its own situation a proposed reduction in one or more property tax rates

in conjunction with the proposed levying of a tax by the county school financing district;

 if one such school district proposes a reduction in one or more tax rates, another

school district may propose a reduction of a different size or may propose no reduction.  Within each school district that is part of the territory of the county school financing

district, the electors shall vote on one ballot issue combining the question of the

levying of the tax by the taxing authority of the county school financing district

with, if any such reduction is proposed, the question of the reduction in the rate

of one or more taxes of the school district.  If a majority of the electors of the county school financing district voting on

the question of the proposed levying of a tax by the taxing authority of the financing

district vote to approve the question, any tax reductions proposed by school districts

that are part of the territory of the financing district also are approved. (3) The form of the ballot for an issue proposing to levy a county school financing district

tax in conjunction with the reduction of the rate of one or more school district taxes

shall be as follows: “Shall the ________ (name of the county school financing district) be authorized to levy an additional

tax for ________ (purpose stated in the resolutions), that the county auditor estimates will collect

$________ annually, at a rate not exceeding ________ mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $________ for each $100,000 of the county auditor's market value, for a continuing period of

time? If the county school financing district tax is approved, the rate of an existing tax

currently levied by the ________ (name of the school district of which the elector is a resident) at the rate of ________ mills shall be reduced to ________ mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to a reduction from $________ (effective rate) to $________ (effective rate) for each $100,000 of the county auditor's market value, that the

county auditor estimates will collect $________ annually, until any such time as the county school financing district tax is decreased

or repealed. FOR THE TAX LEVY ” AGAINST THE TAX LEVY If the board of education of the school district proposes to reduce the rate of more

than one of its existing taxes, the second sentence of the ballot language shall be

modified for residents of that district to express the rates and effective rates at

which those taxes currently are levied and the rates and effective rates to which

they would be reduced as well as each levy's estimated annual collections, as provided

by the county auditor under division (E)(1)(a) of this section.  If the board of education of the school district does not propose to reduce the

rate of any of its taxes, the second sentence of the ballot language shall not be

used for residents of that district.  In any case, the first sentence of the ballot language shall be the same for all

the electors in the county school financing district, but the second sentence shall

be different in each school district depending on whether and in what amount the board

of education of the school district proposes to reduce the rate of one or more of

its property taxes. (4) If the rate of a school district property tax is reduced pursuant to this division,

the tax commissioner shall compute the percentage required to be computed for that

tax under division (D) of section 319.301 of the Revised Code each year the rate is reduced as if the tax had been levied in the preceding year

at the rate to which it has been reduced.  If the reduced rate of a tax is increased under division (E)(5) of this section,

the commissioner shall compute the percentage required to be computed for that tax

under division (D) of section 319.301 of the Revised Code each year the rate is increased as if the tax had been levied in the preceding year

at the rate to which it has been increased. (5) After the levying of a county school financing district tax in conjunction with the

reduction of the rate of one or more school district taxes is approved by the electors

under this division, if the rate of the county school financing district tax is decreased

pursuant to an election under section 5705.261 of the Revised Code , the rate of each school district tax that had been reduced shall be increased by

the number of mills obtained by multiplying the number of mills of the original reduction

by the same percentage that the financing district tax rate is decreased.  If the county school financing district tax is repealed pursuant to an election

under section 5705.261 of the Revised Code , each school district may resume levying the property taxes that had been reduced

at the full rate originally approved by the electors.  A reduction in the rate of a school district property tax under this division is

a reduction in the rate at which the board of education may levy that tax only for

the period during which the county school financing district tax is levied prior to

any decrease or repeal under section 5705.261 of the Revised Code .  The resumption of the authority of the board of education to levy an increased or

the full rate of tax does not constitute the levying of a new tax in excess of the

ten-mill limitation. (F) If a county school financing district has a tax in effect under this section, the

territory of a city, local, or exempted village school district that is not a part

of the county school financing district shall not become a part of the county school

financing district unless approved by the electors of the city, local, or exempted

village school district in accordance with division (C) of section 3311.50 of the Revised Code .