CHAPTER 307: BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS -- POWERS

(A) A courthouse, jail, public comfort station, offices for county officers, and a county home shall be provided by the board of county commissioners when, in its judgment, any of them are needed. The buildings and offices shall be of such style, dimensions, and expense as the board determines. All new jails and renovations to existing jails shall be designed, and all existing jails shall be operated in such a manner as to comply substantially with the minimum standards for jails in Ohio adopted by the department of rehabilitation and correction. The board shall also provide equipment, stationery, and postage, as it considers reasonably necessary for the proper and convenient conduct of county offices, and such facilities as will result in expeditious and economical administration of such offices, except that, for the purpose of obtaining federal or state reimbursement, the board may impose on the public children services agency reasonable charges, not exceeding the amount for which reimbursement will be made and consistent with cost-allocation standards adopted by the department of job and family services, for the provision of office space, supplies, stationery, utilities, telephone use, postage, and general support services.

The board of county commissioners shall provide all rooms, fireproof and burglarproof vaults, safes, and other means of security in the office of the county treasurer that are necessary for the protection of public moneys and property in the office.

(B) The court of common pleas shall annually submit a written request for an appropriation to the board of county commissioners that shall set forth estimated administrative expenses of the court that the court considers reasonably necessary for its operation. The board shall conduct a public hearing with respect to the written request submitted by the court and shall appropriate the amount of money each year that it determines, after conducting the public hearing and considering the written request of the court, is reasonably necessary to meet all administrative expenses of the court.

If the court considers the appropriation made by the board pursuant to this division insufficient to meet all the administrative expenses of the court, it shall commence an action under Chapter 2731. of the Revised Code in the court of appeals for the judicial district for a determination of the duty of the board of county commissioners to appropriate the amount of money in dispute. The court of appeals shall give priority to the action filed by the court of common pleas over all cases pending on its docket. The burden shall be on the court of common pleas to prove that the appropriation requested is reasonably necessary to meet all its administrative expenses. If, prior to the filing of an action under Chapter 2731. of the Revised Code or during the pendency of the action, any judge of the court exercises the contempt power of the court of common pleas in order to obtain the amount of money in dispute, the judge shall not order the imprisonment of any member of the board of county commissioners notwithstanding sections 2705.02 to 2705.06 of the Revised Code.

(C) Division (B) of this section does not apply to appropriations for the probate court or the juvenile court that are subject to section 2101.11 or 2151.10 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 07-01-2000

The board of county commissioners of any county, in addition to its other powers, may purchase, for cash or by installment payments, enter into lease-purchase agreements, lease with option to purchase, lease, appropriate, construct, enlarge, improve, rebuild, equip, and furnish a courthouse, county offices, jail, county home, juvenile court building, detention facility, public market houses, retail store rooms and offices, if located in a building acquired to house county offices, for which store rooms or offices the board of county commissioners may establish and collect rents or enter into leases as provided in section 307.09 of the Revised Code, county children’s home, community mental health facility, community mental retardation or developmental disability facility, facilities for senior citizens, alcohol treatment and control center, other necessary buildings, public stadiums, public auditorium, exhibition hall, zoological park, public library buildings, golf courses, and off-street parking facilities determined by the board of county commissioners to be so situated as to be useful for any of such purposes or any combination of such purposes, for the use of which parking facilities the board of county commissioners may establish and collect rates, charges, or rents, and sites therefor, such real estate adjoining an existing site as is necessary for any of such purposes, including real estate necessary to afford light, air, protection from fire, suitable surroundings, ingress, and egress; such copies of any public records of such county, made or reproduced by miniature photography or microfilm, as are necessary for the protection and preservation of public records of such county.

The board of county commissioners of any county may lease for a period not to exceed forty years, pursuant to a contract providing for the construction thereof under a lease-purchase plan, those buildings, structures, and other improvements enumerated in the first paragraph of this section, and in conjunction therewith, may grant leases, easements, or licenses for lands under the control of the county for a period not to exceed forty years. Such lease-purchase plan shall provide that at the end of the lease period such buildings, structures, and related improvements, together with the land on which they are situated, shall become the property of the county without cost.

Whenever any building, structure or other improvement is to be so leased by a county, the board of county commissioners shall file in the office of the board, if the board has a full-time clerk, or in the office of the county auditor such basic plans, specifications, bills of materials, and estimates of cost with sufficient detail to afford bidders all needed information, or alternatively, shall file the following plans, details, bills of materials, and specifications:

(A) Full and accurate plans, suitable for the use of mechanics and other builders in such construction, improvement, addition, alteration, or installation;

(B) Details to scale and full sized, so drawn and represented as to be easily understood;

(C) Accurate bills showing the exact quantity of different kinds of material necessary to the construction;

(D) Definite and complete specifications of the work to be performed, together with such directions as will enable a competent mechanic or other builder to carry them out and afford bidders all needed information;

(E) A full and accurate estimate of each item of expense and of the aggregate cost thereof.

The board of county commissioners shall invite bids in the manner prescribed in sections 307.86 to 307.92 of the Revised Code. Such bids shall contain the terms upon which the builder would propose to lease the building, structure, or other improvement to the county. The form of the bid approved by the board of county commissioners shall be used and a bid shall be invalid and not considered unless such form is used without change, alteration, or addition.

Before submitting bids pursuant to this section, any builder shall have complied with sections 153.50 to 153.52 of the Revised Code.

On the day and at the place named for receiving bids for entering into lease agreements with the county, the board of county commissioners shall open the bids, and shall publicly proceed immediately to tabulate the bids. No such lease agreement shall be entered into until the bureau of workers’ compensation has certified that the corporation, partnership, or person to be awarded the lease agreement has complied with Chapter 4123. of the Revised Code, and until, if the builder submitting the lowest and best bid is a foreign corporation, the secretary of state has certified that such corporation is authorized to do business in this state, and until, if the builder submitting the lowest and best bid is a person or partnership nonresident of this state, such person or partnership has filed with the secretary of state a power of attorney designating the secretary of state as its agent for the purpose of accepting service of summons in any action brought under Chapter 4123. of the Revised Code, and until the agreement is submitted to the county prosecutor and the county prosecutor’s approval certified thereon. Within thirty days after the day on which the bids are received, the board of county commissioners shall investigate the bids received and shall determine that the bureau and the secretary of state have made the certifications required by this section of the builder who has submitted the lowest and best bid. Within ten days of the completion of the investigation of the bids the board of county commissioners may award the lease agreement to the builder who has submitted the lowest and best bid and who has been certified by the bureau and secretary of state as required by this section. If bidding for the lease agreement has been conducted upon the basis of basic plans, specifications, bills of materials, and estimates of costs, upon the award to the builder, the board of county commissioners, or the builder with the approval of the board of county commissioners, shall appoint an architect or engineer licensed in Ohio to prepare such further detailed plans, specifications, and bills of materials as are required to construct the buildings, structures, and other improvements enumerated in the first paragraph of this section. The board of county commissioners may reject any bid. Where there is reason to believe there is collusion or combination among the bidders, the bids of those concerned therein shall be rejected.

Effective Date: 01-01-2002

(A) It is hereby declared to be a public purpose and function of the state, and a matter of urgent necessity, that the state acquire, construct, or renovate capital facilities for use as county, multicounty, municipal-county, and multicounty-municipal jail facilities or workhouses, as single county or district community-based correctional facilities authorized under section 2301.51 of the Revised Code, as minimum security misdemeanant jails under sections 341.34 and 753.21 of the Revised Code, and as single-county or joint-county juvenile facilities authorized under section 2151.65 of the Revised Code in order to comply with constitutional standards and laws for the incarceration of alleged and convicted offenders against state and local laws, and for use as county family court centers. For these purposes, counties and municipal corporations are designated as state agencies to perform duties of the state in relation to such facilities, workhouses, jails, and centers, and such facilities, workhouses, jails, and centers are designated as state capital facilities. The Ohio building authority is authorized to issue revenue obligations under sections 152.09 to 152.33 of the Revised Code to pay all or part of the cost of such state capital facilities as are designated by law.

The office of the sheriff, due to its responsibilities concerning alleged and convicted offenders against state laws, is designated as the state agency having jurisdiction over such jail, workhouse, community-based correctional, or county minimum security misdemeanant jail capital facilities in any one county or over any district community-based correctional facilities. The corrections commission, due to its responsibilities in relation to such offenders, is designated as the state agency having jurisdiction over any such multicounty, municipal-county, or multicounty-municipal jail, workhouse, or correctional capital facilities. The office of the chief of police or marshal of a municipal corporation, due to its responsibilities concerning certain alleged and convicted criminal offenders, is designated as the state agency having jurisdiction over any such municipal corporation minimum security misdemeanant jail capital facilities in the municipal corporation. The juvenile court, as defined in section 2151.011 of the Revised Code, is designated as the branch of state government having jurisdiction over any such family court center or single-county or joint-county juvenile capital facilities. It is hereby determined and declared that such capital facilities are for the purpose of housing such state agencies, their functions, equipment, and personnel.

(B) The capital facilities provided for in this section may be included in capital facilities in which one or more governmental entities are participating or in which other facilities of the county or counties, or any municipal corporations, are included pursuant to section 152.31 or 152.33 of the Revised Code or in an agreement between any county or counties and any municipal corporation or municipal corporations for participating in the joint construction, acquisition, or improvement of public works, public buildings, or improvements benefiting the parties in the same manner as set forth in section 153.61 of the Revised Code.

(C) A county or counties or a municipal corporation or municipal corporations may contribute to the cost of capital facilities authorized under this section.

(D) A county or counties, and any municipal corporations, shall lease capital facilities described in this section that are constructed, reconstructed, otherwise improved, or financed by the Ohio building authority pursuant to sections 152.09 to 152.33 of the Revised Code for the use of the county or counties and any municipal corporations, and may enter into other agreements ancillary to the construction, reconstruction, improvement, financing, leasing, or operation of such capital facilities, including, but not limited to, any agreements required by the applicable bond proceedings authorized by sections 152.09 to 152.33 of the Revised Code.

Such lease may obligate the county or counties and any municipal corporation, as using state agencies under Chapter 152. of the Revised Code, to occupy and operate such capital facilities for such period of time as may be specified by law and to pay such rent as the authority determines to be appropriate. Notwithstanding any other section of the Revised Code, any county or counties or municipal corporation may enter into such a lease, and any such lease is legally sufficient to obligate the political subdivision for the term stated in the lease. Any such lease constitutes an agreement described in division (E) of section 152.24 of the Revised Code.

(E) If rental payments required from the county or counties or municipal corporation by a lease established pursuant to this section are not paid in accordance with such lease, the funds which otherwise would be apportioned to the lessees from the county undivided local government fund, pursuant to sections 5747.51 to 5747.53 of the Revised Code, shall be reduced by the amount of rent payable to the authority. The county treasurer immediately shall pay the amount of such reductions to the authority.

(F) Any lease of capital facilities authorized by this section, the rentals of which are payable in whole or in part from appropriations made by the general assembly, is governed by division (D) of section 152.24 of the Revised Code. Such rentals constitute available receipts as defined in section 152.09 of the Revised Code and may be pledged for the payment of bond service charges as provided in section 152.10 of the Revised Code.

(G) Any provision of section 152.21, 152.22, or 152.26 of the Revised Code that applies to buildings and facilities described in section 152.19 of the Revised Code also applies to the buildings and facilities described in this section, unless it is inconsistent with this section.

Effective Date: 07-01-1992

(A) The board of county commissioners of any county may do both of the following without following the competitive bidding requirements of section 307.86 of the Revised Code:

(1) Enter into a lease, including a lease with an option to purchase, of correctional facilities for a term not in excess of forty years. Before entering into the lease, the board shall publish, once a week for three consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, a notice that the board is accepting proposals for a lease pursuant to this division. The notice shall state the date before which the proposals are required to be submitted in order to be considered by the board.

(2) Subject to compliance with this section, grant leases, easements, and licenses with respect to, or sell, real property owned by the county if the real property is to be leased back by the county for use as correctional facilities.

The lease under division (A)(1) of this section shall require the county to contract, in accordance with Chapter 153., sections 307.86 to 307.92, and Chapter 4115. of the Revised Code, for the construction, improvement, furnishing, and equipping of correctional facilities to be leased pursuant to this section. Prior to the board’s execution of the lease, it may require the lessor under the lease to cause sufficient money to be made available to the county to enable the county to comply with the certification requirements of division (D) of section 5705.41 of the Revised Code.

A lease entered into pursuant to division (A)(1) of this section by a board may provide for the county to maintain and repair the correctional facility during the term of the leasehold, may provide for the county to make rental payments prior to or after occupation of the correctional facilities by the county, and may provide for the board to obtain and maintain any insurance that the lessor may require, including, but not limited to, public liability, casualty, builder’s risk, and business interruption insurance. The obligations incurred under a lease entered into pursuant to division (A)(1) of this section shall not be considered to be within the debt limitations of section 133.07 of the Revised Code.

(B) The correctional facilities leased under division (A)(1) of this section may include any or all of the following:

(1) Facilities in which one or more other governmental entities are participating or in which other facilities of the county are included;

(2) Facilities acquired, constructed, renovated, or financed by the Ohio building authority and leased to the county pursuant to section 307.021 of the Revised Code;

(3) Correctional facilities that are under construction or have been completed and for which no permanent financing has been arranged.

(C) As used in this section:

(1) “Correctional facilities” includes, but is not limited to, jails, detention facilities, workhouses, community-based correctional facilities, and family court centers.

(2) “Construction” has the same meaning as in division (B) of section 4115.03 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 01-01-2002

A board of county commissioners may acquire, construct, improve, maintain, operate, lease, or otherwise contract for the acquisition or use of sports facilities, as defined in section 307.696 of the Revised Code. The authority granted by this section is not subject to the limitations imposed under sections 307.02 and 307.09 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 09-19-1996

The board of county commissioners may, by resolution, permit the use of public grounds or buildings under its control for a public library or any other public purpose, upon such terms as it prescribes.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

Effective Date: 09-05-2001

The board of county commissioners may, at any time before or after the completion of any county building, award contracts for supplying such building with light, heat, or power for any period of time not exceeding ten years. Sections 5705.41 and 5705.44 of the Revised Code shall not apply to any such contracts.

Effective Date: 10-27-1981

(A) As used in this section, “energy conservation measure” means an installation or modification of an installation in, or remodeling of, an existing building, to reduce energy consumption. “Energy conservation measure” includes the following:

(1) Insulation of the building structure and of systems within the building;

(2) Storm windows and doors, multiglazed windows and doors, heat-absorbing or heat-reflective glazed and coated window and door systems, additional glazing, reductions in glass area, and other window and door system modifications that reduce energy consumption;

(3) Automatic energy control systems;

(4) Heating, ventilating, or air conditioning system modifications or replacements;

(5) Caulking and weatherstripping;

(6) Replacement or modification of lighting fixtures to increase the energy efficiency of the system without increasing the overall illumination of a facility, unless such an increase in illumination is necessary to conform to the applicable state or local building code for the proposed lighting system;

(7) Energy recovery systems;

(8) Cogeneration systems that produce steam or forms of energy such as heat, as well as electricity, for use primarily within a building or complex of buildings;

(9) Acquiring, constructing, furnishing, equipping, improving the site of, and otherwise improving a central utility plant to provide heating and cooling services to a building or buildings together with distribution piping and ancillary distribution controls, equipment, and related facilities from the central utility plant to the building or buildings;

(10) Any other modification, installation, or remodeling approved by the board of county commissioners as an energy conservation measure.

(B) For the purpose of evaluating county buildings for energy conservation measures, a county may contract with an architect, professional engineer, energy services company, contractor, or other person experienced in the design and implementation of energy conservation measures for an energy conservation report . The report shall include all of the following:

(1) Analyses of the buildings’ energy needs and recommendations for building installations, modifications of existing installations, or building remodeling that would significantly reduce energy consumption in the buildings owned by that county;

(2) Estimates of all costs of those installations, those modifications, or that remodeling, including costs of design, engineering, installation, maintenance, and repairs;

(3) Estimates of the amounts by which energy consumption could be reduced;

(4) The interest rate used to estimate the costs of any energy conservation measures that are to be financed;

(5) The average system life of the energy conservation measures;

(6) Estimates of the likely savings that will result from the reduction in energy consumption over the average system life of the energy conservation measure, including the methods used to estimate the savings;

(7) A certification under the seal of a registered professional engineer that the energy conservation report uses reasonable methods of analysis and estimation.

(C)(1) A county desiring to implement energy conservation measures may proceed under either of the following methods:

(a) Using a report or any part of an energy conservation report prepared under division (B) of this section, advertise for bids and, except as otherwise provided in this section, comply with sections 307.86 to 307.92 of the Revised Code;

(b) Notwithstanding sections 307.86 to 307.92 of the Revised Code, request proposals from at least three vendors for the implementation of energy conservation measures. A request for proposals shall require the installer that is awarded a contract under division (C)(2)(b) of this section to prepare an energy conservation report in accordance with division (B) of this section. Prior to sending any installer of energy conservation measures a copy of any request for proposals, the county shall advertise its intent to request proposals for the installation of energy conservation measures in a newspaper of general circulation in the county once a week for two consecutive weeks. The notice shall state that the county intends to request proposals for the installation of energy conservation measures; indicate the date, which shall be at least ten days after the second publication, on which the request for proposals will be mailed to installers of energy conservation measures; and state that any installer of energy conservation measures interested in receiving the request for proposals shall submit written notice to the county not later than noon of the day on which the request for proposals will be mailed.

(2)(a) Upon receiving bids under division (C)(1)(a) of this section, the county shall analyze them and select the lowest and best bid or bids most likely to result in the greatest energy savings considering the cost of the project and the county’s ability to pay for the improvements with current revenues or by financing the improvements.

(b) Upon receiving proposals under division (C)(1)(b) of this section, the county shall analyze the proposals and the installers’ qualifications and select the most qualified installer to prepare an energy conservation report in accordance with division (B) of this section. After receipt and review of the energy conservation report, the county may award a contract to the selected installer to install the energy conservation measures that are most likely to result in the greatest energy savings considering the cost of the project and the county’s ability to pay for the improvements with current revenues or by financing the improvements.

(c) The awarding of a contract to install energy conservation measures under division (C)(2)(a) or (b) of this section shall be conditioned upon a finding by the contracting authority that the amount of money spent on the energy conservation measures is not likely to exceed the amount of money the county would save in energy , operating, maintenance, and avoided capital costs over the average system life of the energy conservation measures as specified in the energy conservation report. In making such a finding, the contracting authority may take into account increased costs due to inflation as shown in the energy conservation report. Nothing in this division prohibits a county from rejecting all bids or proposals under division (C)(1)(a) or (b) of this section or from selecting more than one bid or proposal.

(D) A board of county commissioners may enter into an installment payment contract for the purchase and installation of energy conservation measures. Provisions of installment payment contracts that deal with interest charges and financing terms shall not be subject to the competitive bidding requirements of section 307.86 of the Revised Code, and shall be on the following terms:

(1) Not less than a specified percentage, as determined and approved by the board of county commissioners, of the costs of the contract shall be paid within two years from the date of purchase.

(2) The remaining balance of the costs of the contract shall be paid within the lesser of the average system life of the energy conservation measures as specified in the energy conservation report or thirty years.

(E) The board of county commissioners may issue the notes of the county specifying the terms of a purchase of energy conservation measures under this section and securing any deferred payments provided for in division (D) of this section. The notes shall be payable at the times provided and bear interest at a rate not exceeding the rate determined as provided in section 9.95 of the Revised Code. The notes may contain an option for prepayment and shall not be subject to Chapter 133. of the Revised Code. Revenues derived from local taxes or otherwise for the purpose of conserving energy or for defraying the current operating expenses of the county may be pledged and applied to the payment of interest and the retirement of the notes. The notes may be sold at private sale or given to the contractor under an installment payment contract authorized by division (D) of this section.

(F) Debt incurred under this section shall not be included in the calculation of the net indebtedness of a county under section 133.07 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 07-01-1994; 2008 HB295 07-31-2008

Unless provided for by contract between a county and a municipal corporation, a county may not regulate the utility rates of users of a municipal utility.

Effective Date: 03-12-2001

As used in this section, “emergency medical service organization” has the same meaning as in section 4765.01 of the Revised Code.

A board of county commissioners may operate an ambulance service organization or emergency medical service organization, or, in counties with a population of forty thousand or less, may operate a nonemergency patient transport service organization, or may enter into a contract with one or more counties, townships, municipal corporations, nonprofit corporations, joint emergency medical services districts, fire and ambulance districts, or private ambulance owners, regardless of whether such counties, townships, municipal corporations, nonprofit corporations, joint emergency medical services districts, fire and ambulance districts, or private ambulance owners are located within or without the state, in order to furnish or obtain the services of ambulance service organizations, to furnish or obtain additional services from ambulance service organizations in times of emergency, to furnish or obtain the services of emergency medical service organizations, or, in counties with a population of forty thousand or less, to furnish or obtain services of nonemergency patient transport service organizations, or may enter into a contract with any such entity to furnish or obtain the interchange of services from ambulance or emergency medical service organizations, or, within counties with a population of forty thousand or less, to furnish or obtain the interchange of services from nonemergency patient transport service organizations, within the territories of the contracting subdivisions. Except in the case of a contract with a joint emergency medical services district to obtain the services of emergency medical service organizations, such contracts shall not be entered into with a public agency or nonprofit corporation that receives more than half of its operating funds from governmental entities with the intention of directly competing with the operation of other ambulance service organizations, nonemergency patient transport service organizations, or emergency medical service organizations in the county unless the public agency or nonprofit corporation is awarded the contract after submitting the lowest and best bid to the board of county commissioners. Any county wishing to commence operation of a nonemergency patient transport service organization or wishing to enter into a contract for the first time to furnish or obtain services from a nonemergency patient transport service organization on or after March 1, 1993, including a county in which a private provider has been providing the service, shall demonstrate the need for public funding for the service to, and obtain approval from, the state board of emergency medical services or its immediate successor board prior to operating or funding the organization.

When such an organization is operated by the board, the organization may be administered by the board, by the county sheriff, or by another county officer or employee designated by the board. All rules, including the determining of reasonable rates, necessary for the establishment, operation, and maintenance of such an organization shall be adopted by the board.

A contract for services of an ambulance service, nonemergency patient transport service, or emergency medical service organization shall include the terms, conditions, and stipulations as agreed to by the parties to the contract. It may provide for a fixed annual charge to be paid at the times agreed upon and stipulated in the contract, or for compensation based upon a stipulated price for each run, call, or emergency or the number of persons or pieces of apparatus employed, or the elapsed time of service required in such run, call, or emergency, or any combination thereof.

Effective Date: 05-06-1998; 09-16-2004

As used in this section, “emergency medical service organization” has the same meaning as in section 4766.01 of the Revised Code.

A board of county commissioners, by adoption of an appropriate resolution, may choose to have the Ohio medical transportation board license any emergency medical service organization it operates. If a board adopts such a resolution, Chapter 4766. of the Revised Code, except for sections 4766.06 and 4766.99 of the Revised Code, applies to the county emergency medical service organization. All rules adopted under the applicable sections of that chapter also apply to the organization. A board, by adoption of an appropriate resolution, may remove its emergency medical service organization from the jurisdiction of the Ohio medical transportation board.

Effective Date: 03-09-2004

The boards of county commissioners of two or more counties may, by adoption of a joint resolution by a majority of the members of each such board, create a joint emergency medical services district for the purpose of providing emergency medical services to the district. The joint resolution shall provide for the financial support of the district by the participating counties, and shall provide for the division of the district’s assets among the participating counties in the event the district is dissolved. A district so created shall be composed of all or any portions of the counties as are mutually agreed upon and shall be given a name different from the name of any participating county. No part of a county that is in a joint ambulance district may become part of a joint emergency medical services district without the approval of the board of trustees of the joint ambulance district.

As used in sections 307.052 to 307.058, “emergency medical service” has the same meaning as in section 4765.01 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 10-01-1996

(A) A joint emergency medical services district shall be governed by a board of trustees composed of an equal number of representatives, not to exceed three, as specified in the joint resolution creating the district, appointed by the board of county commissioners of each county participating in the district. Each person appointed to the board shall be a resident of the district. Any member of an appointing board of county commissioners may be appointed to serve on the district’s board of trustees.

Membership on the board does not constitute the holding of an incompatible public office or employment in violation of any statutory or common law prohibition against the simultaneous holding of more than one public office or employment. Members of the board are not disqualified from holding any other public office by reason of that membership, and do not forfeit by reason of that membership the public office or employment held when appointed to the board, notwithstanding any contrary disqualification or forfeiture requirement under a section of the Revised Code or the common law of this state.

Each member of the board shall serve a one-year term. The resolution creating the district shall provide for any qualifications for appointment to the district’s board of trustees in addition to the residency requirement. Members of the board of trustees shall receive no compensation but may be reimbursed for all necessary expenses incurred in the performance of their official duties.

(B) For the purposes of sections 102.03, 102.04, and 2921.42 of the Revised Code, a member of the board of a joint emergency medical services district shall not be considered to be directly or indirectly interested in, or improperly influenced by, any of the following:

(1) A contract entered into pursuant to sections 307.052 to 307.058 of the Revised Code between the district and any county participating in the district or any municipal corporation, township, or other political subdivision located within the district, but only to the extent that any interest or influence could arise from the member’s public office or employment with that political subdivision;

(2) An expenditure of money by the district for the benefit of any county participating in the district or any municipal corporation, township, or other political subdivision located within the district, of which a member of the district’s board of trustees is also an official or employee, but only to the extent that any interest or influence could arise from the member’s public office or employment with that political subdivision;

(3) An expenditure of money made for the benefit of the district by any county participating in the district or any municipal corporation, township, or political subdivision located within the district, of which a member of the district’s board of trustees is also an official or employee, but only to the extent that any interest or influence could arise from the member’s public office or employment with that political subdivision.

For the purposes of sections 102.03, 2921.42, and 2921.43 of the Revised Code, no joint emergency medical services district and no county, municipal corporation, or township located within that district shall be considered the business associate of any member of the district’s board of trustees where the member is also an official or employee of that municipal corporation, county, or township.

Nothing in this section shall be construed to exempt any board member of a conflict of interest arising because of a personal or private business interest.

(C) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, no member of the district’s board of trustees who is also an official or employee of a municipal corporation, county, or township located within that district shall be disqualified from participating in deliberations concerning, or from voting on or otherwise participating in the approval or disapproval of, any contract or expenditure of funds described in divisions (B)(1) to (3) of this section either in the member’s role as a member of the district’s board or in the member’s role as an official or employee of the county, municipal corporation, or township.

(D) The board of trustees shall adopt a code of regulations that provides for the annual election of a president and any other officers the board desires. That code shall also provide for the appointment of both a treasurer and a fiscal officer in one of the following ways:

(1) By designating the county auditor, or the official acting in that capacity in a participating charter county, as the district’s fiscal officer and designating the county treasurer, or the official acting in that capacity in a participating charter county, of that same county as the district’s treasurer. Each such designated official shall perform for the district any applicable duties the official performs for the county, except as otherwise provided in any bylaws or resolutions adopted by the district’s board of trustees. The board may pay to the county in which the designated officials serve any amount agreed upon by both the district’s board and the board of county commissioners of that county to reimburse that county for the services of its officials as fiscal officer and treasurer of the district.

(2) By employing or appointing one individual who is not a county auditor to serve as the fiscal officer of the district and appointing or electing one individual who is not a county treasurer, but may be a member of the board of trustees, to serve as the treasurer of the district. The fiscal officer shall maintain all the district’s accounts and establish a general fund and any other necessary funds for the district. The treasurer shall act as custodian of the district’s funds and, unless restricted by the board, may invest any moneys of the district in any instruments or accounts in which the county treasurer is authorized to invest county funds.

Effective Date: 10-01-1996

(A) The board of trustees of a joint emergency medical services district shall employ an executive director, who shall be in the unclassified service, and fix his compensation. In addition to that compensation, the director shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses incurred in the performance of his official duties. The board may enter into an employment contract with the executive director for a period not to exceed three years. In the absence of contrary contractual provisions, the board may remove the director by a majority vote of the full membership, but only after holding a hearing on the matter if the director requests such a hearing.

Except as otherwise provided in this division, the board shall prescribe the director’s duties and may authorize the director to act on its behalf in the performance of its administrative duties. In addition to those duties prescribed by the board, the director shall do all the following:

(1) Subject to the board’s approval for each contract, execute contracts on the board’s behalf;

(2) Supervise all services provided or contracted for and all facilities operated or contracted for, and ensure that emergency medical services are being lawfully administered in conformity with the Revised Code and the resolution creating the district;

(3) Recommend changes to the board that may increase the effectiveness of emergency medical services within the district;

(4) Employ persons for all positions authorized by the board and approve all personnel actions that affect classified employees;

(5) Approve compensation for employees within the limits set by the salary schedule and budget established by the board;

(6) Prepare an annual report of the services provided by the district, including a fiscal accounting, for the board to approve.

(B) Except as otherwise provided in this section, employees of the district shall be treated the same as county employees for the purposes of Chapter 124. of the Revised Code and any other provisions of state law applicable to county employees. Instead of or in addition to appointing employees of the district, the board of trustees may contract with one or more of the participating counties for county employees to serve the district and for the district to share in their compensation in any manner that may be agreed upon in the joint resolution creating the district.

Effective Date: 11-11-1994

(A) Subject to the terms and conditions of the joint resolution creating it, each joint emergency medical services district may furnish ambulance services and emergency medical services by one of the following methods:

(1) By operating an emergency medical service organization as defined in section 4765.01 of the Revised Code;

(2) By contracting for the operation of one or more facilities pursuant to division (C) or (D) of this section;

(3) By providing necessary services and equipment to the district either directly or under a contract entered into pursuant to division (B) of this section;

(4) By providing service through any combination of methods described in divisions (A)(1) to (3) of this section.

(B) In order to obtain ambulance service, to obtain additional ambulance service in times of emergency, or to obtain emergency medical services, a joint emergency medical services district may enter into a contract, for a period not to exceed three years, with one or more counties, townships, municipal corporations, joint fire districts, other governmental units that provide ambulance service or emergency medical services, nonprofit corporations, or private ambulance owners, regardless of whether the entities contracted with are located within or outside this state, upon such terms as are agreed to, to furnish or receive ambulance services or the interchange of ambulance services or emergency medical services within the several territories of the contracting subdivisions, if the contract is first authorized by all boards of trustees and legislative authorities in the territories to be served.

Such a contract may provide for a fixed annual charge to be paid at the times agreed upon and stipulated in the contract; or for compensation based on a stipulated price for each run, call, or emergency or based on the elapsed time of service required for each run, call, or emergency, or based on any combination of these.

Expenditures of a district for ambulance service or emergency medical service, whether pursuant to contract or otherwise, are lawful expenditures, regardless of whether the district or the party with which it contracts charges an additional fee to users of the service.

(C) The board of trustees may enter into a contract with any person, municipal corporation, township, or other political subdivision, and any political subdivision may contract with the board, for the operation and maintenance of emergency medical services facilities regardless of whether the facilities used are owned or leased by the district, by another political subdivision, or by the contractor.

(D) The district may purchase, lease, and maintain all materials, buildings, land, and equipment, including vehicles, the board considers necessary for the district.

When the board finds, by resolution, that the district has personal property that is not needed for public use, or is obsolete or unfit for the use for which it was acquired, the board may dispose of the property in the same manner as provided in section 307.12 of the Revised Code.

(E) Except in the case of a contract with a board of county commissioners for the provision of services of an emergency medical service organization, any contract entered into by a joint emergency medical services district shall conform to the same bidding requirements that apply to county contracts under sections 307.86 to 307.92 of the Revised Code.

(F) A county participating in a joint district may contribute any of its rights or interests in real or personal property, including money, and may contribute services to the district. Any such contributions shall be made by a written agreement between the contributing county and the district, specifying the contribution as well as the rights of the participating counties in the contributed property. Written agreements shall also be prepared specifying the rights of participating counties in property acquired by the district other than by contribution of a participating county. Written agreements required by this division may be amended only by written agreement of all parties to the original agreement.

(G) A district’s board of trustees, by adoption of an appropriate resolution, may choose to have the Ohio medical transportation board license any emergency medical service organization the district operates. If a board adopts such a resolution, Chapter 4766. of the Revised Code, except for sections 4766.06 and 4766.99 of the Revised Code, applies to the district emergency medical service organization. All rules adopted under the applicable sections of that chapter also apply to the organization. A board, by adoption of an appropriate resolution, may remove the district emergency medical service organization from the jurisdiction of the Ohio medical transportation board.

Effective Date: 03-09-2004; 09-16-2004

In addition to exercising its powers granted by section 307.055 of the Revised Code, the board of trustees of a joint emergency medical services district may do any of the following:

(A) Maintain an office and such other facilities as may be necessary for the operation and maintenance of emergency medical services;

(B) Pay all or any part of the cost of group hospitalization, surgical, major medical, and sickness and accident insurance and group life insurance for its employees;

(C) Procure insurance against loss to the district from damage to its properties resulting from fire, theft, accident, or other casualty, or its liability for injury to persons or property occurring in the construction or operation of facilities under its jurisdiction or resulting from the conduct of its activities;

(D) Procure policies insuring members of the board of trustees against liability on account of damages or injury to persons and property resulting from any act or omission of a member in his official capacity as a member of the board or resulting solely from his membership on the board;

(E) Sue or be sued;

(F) Make contracts in the exercise of the district’s rights, powers, and duties;

(G) Accept gifts, devises, and bequests for the district;

(H) Employ an attorney to serve as the district’s legal advisor;

(I) Do all acts necessary or proper to carry out the duties and responsibilities imposed on or powers granted to the board to provide emergency medical services, and to control and manage the district under this chapter.

Effective Date: 11-11-1994

Upon notification by the board of trustees of a joint emergency medical services district to the board of county commissioners of each county located in whole or in part within the district that taxes need to be levied pursuant to Chapter 5705. of the Revised Code or that bonds or other evidences of indebtedness need to be issued pursuant to Chapter 133. of the Revised Code in order to provide the services and equipment necessary for the operation of the district, the boards of county commissioners of those counties may form themselves into a joint board for the purposes of levying taxes under Chapter 5705. of the Revised Code as the taxing authority of the district or issuing bonds or other evidences of indebtedness pursuant to Chapter 133. of the Revised Code as the bond issuing authority for the district, for those taxes or indebtedness the joint board finds to be necessary for those district purposes.

Effective Date: 11-11-1994

(A) Once a joint emergency medical services district is formed, any joint ambulance district located in a county that is a participant in the joint emergency medical services district may join that joint emergency medical services district by adopting a resolution requesting inclusion and presenting it to the board of trustees of the joint emergency medical services district. Upon the board’s approval of this request, the joint ambulance district shall become a part of the joint emergency medical services district and the joint ambulance district shall be considered to have ceased to exist by operation of law for purposes of section 505.72 of the Revised Code.

(B) Any county may join an existing joint emergency medical services district by adopting a resolution requesting such membership and upon approval of the board of trustees of the district. Any county may withdraw from a district by adopting a resolution ordering withdrawal and giving written notice of the resolution to the district on or before the first day of September of the year preceding the year in which the withdrawal is to become effective. On or after the first day of January of the year following the adoption of the resolution of withdrawal, the withdrawing county ceases to be a part of that district and the power of the district to levy a tax on taxable property in the withdrawing county terminates, except that the district shall continue to levy and collect taxes for the payment of indebtedness within the territory of the district as it existed at the time the indebtedness was incurred.

(C) Upon the withdrawal of any county from a district, the board of trustees shall ascertain, apportion, and order a division of the funds on hand, credits, moneys and taxes in the process of collection, except for taxes levied for the payment of indebtedness, and real and personal property, either in money or in kind, between the district and the withdrawing county on any equitable basis consistent with the joint resolution creating the district and any agreements between the withdrawing county and the district, taking into consideration the prior contributions of the withdrawing county.

(D) The district may dissolve upon the adoption by the board of trustees of a resolution to dissolve. Such a dissolution shall be effective on the first day of January of the year following the adoption of the resolution.

Whenever the withdrawal of one or more counties would leave only one county participating in a joint district, the district shall be dissolved and the board of trustees shall ascertain, apportion, and order a final division of the funds on hand, credits, and real and personal property of the joint district consistent with the provisions regarding dissolution of the district in the joint resolution creating the district. On the first day of January of the year following the adoption of the latest resolution or resolutions ordering withdrawal that would leave only one county in the district, the joint district shall be dissolved.

Whenever a joint district is dissolved and an indebtedness remains unpaid, the boards of county commissioners shall continue to levy and collect taxes for the payment of the indebtedness in support of the joint district in the amounts established by the agreement at the time the indebtedness was incurred.

Effective Date: 11-11-1994

Whenever it is necessary for the board of county commissioners to determine the value of any real property owned by the county, or which it proposes to acquire by purchase, lease, or appropriation, the board may employ competent appraisers to advise it of the value of such property, or expert witnesses to testify thereto in an appropriation proceeding, and shall pay a reasonable compensation for such services.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

(A) The board of county commissioners, by resolution, may create an office of economic development, to develop and promote plans and programs designed to assure that county resources are efficiently used, economic growth is properly balanced, and that county economic development is coordinated with that of the state and other local governments. For this purpose, the board may appropriate moneys from the county general fund, or, pursuant to section 307.64 of the Revised Code, moneys derived from a tax levied pursuant to division (EE) of section 5705.19 of the Revised Code, for the creation and operation of the office for, any economic development purpose of the office, and to provide for the establishment and operation of a program of economic development. The board may hire a director of economic development, who shall be a member of the unclassified civil service, and fix his compensation; or may do any of the following:

(1) Enter into an agreement with a county planning commission within the county, created under section 713.22 of the Revised Code, or a regional planning commission, created under section 713.21 of the Revised Code, regardless of whether the county is a member of the commission, to carry out all of the functions and duties of a director of economic development under division (B) of this section. Any agreement shall set forth the procedure by which the county or regional planning commission shall gain the approval of the board of county commissioners for any actions, functions, and duties under division (B) of this section. Any agreement may continue in effect for a period of one to three years and may be renewed with the consent of all parties. The civil service status of planning commission staff shall not be affected by any agreement under this division.

(2) Enter into an agreement with the Ohio cooperative extension service, providing for the use of employees hired by the Ohio state university under section 3335.36 of the Revised Code to carry out all of the functions and duties of a director of economic development under division (B) of this section. Any agreement shall set forth the procedure by which the Ohio cooperative extension service shall gain the approval of the board of county commissioners for any actions, functions, and duties under division (B) of this section. Any agreement may continue in effect for a period of one to three years and may be renewed with the consent of all parties. The employment classification of Ohio cooperative extension service employees shall not be affected by any agreement under this division.

Any moneys appropriated by the board of county commissioners to execute an agreement for the provision of services pursuant to this section by the Ohio cooperative extension service shall be paid to the Ohio state university to the credit of the Ohio cooperative extension service fund created under section 3335.35 of the Revised Code.

(3) Enter into an agreement with a public or private nonprofit organization to carry out all of the functions and duties of a director of economic development under division (B) of this section. The agreement shall set forth the procedure by which the nonprofit organization shall gain the approval of the board of county commissioners for any actions, functions, and duties under that division. The agreement may continue in effect for a period of one to three years and may be renewed with the consent of all parties. The employment classification of the nonprofit organization’s employees shall not be affected by an agreement under this division.

(B) The director of economic development may:

(1) With the approval of the board, hire such staff and employ such technical and advisory personnel as he sees fit to enable him to carry out the functions and duties of the office;

(2) With the approval of the board, contract for services necessary to enable him to carry out the functions and duties of the office;

(3) With the approval of the board, enter into agreements with federal, state, and local governments and agencies thereof, and with public, private, or nonprofit organizations to carry out the functions and duties of the office;

(4) Maintain membership in development organizations;

(5) With the approval of the board, make loans or grants and provide other forms of financial assistance for the purpose of economic development, including financial assistance for permanent public improvements, in compliance with applicable laws of this state, and fix the rate of interest and charges to be made for such financial assistance;

(6) With the approval of the board, receive and accept grants, gifts, and contributions of money, property, labor, and other things of value, to be held, used, and applied only for the purpose for which they are made, from individuals, private and public corporations, the United States government or any agency thereof, from the state or any agency thereof, or from any political subdivision or any agency thereof, and may agree to repay any contribution of money or return any property contributed or the value thereof in amounts, and on terms and conditions, excluding the payment of interest, as the director determines, and may evidence the obligations by written evidence;

(7) Establish with the board any funds that are necessary for the deposit and disbursement of gifts or contributions of money accepted for economic development purposes;

(8) With the approval of the board, design, implement, monitor, oversee, and evaluate economic development plans, programs, strategies, and policies;

(9) Perform all acts necessary to fulfill the functions and duties of the office.

(C) The boards of county commissioners of two or more counties, by resolution, may create a joint office of economic development for the purposes set forth in division (A) of this section. The counties participating in a joint office of economic development shall enter into an agreement that sets forth the contribution of funds, services, and property to the joint office from each participating county; establishes the person, public agency, or nonprofit organization that shall carry out the functions and duties of the office; and discloses any other terms by which the joint office shall operate.

The boards of county commissioners of counties participating in a joint office of economic development may appropriate moneys from their respective county general funds, or, pursuant to section 307.64 of the Revised Code, moneys derived from a tax levied pursuant to division (EE) of section 5705.19 of the Revised Code, for the creation and operation of the joint office, for any economic development purpose of the office, and to provide for the establishment and operation of a program of economic development. The participating counties may hire a director of economic development for the joint office or enter into an agreement with a public agency or nonprofit organization in a manner set forth in division (A) of this section to carry out the functions and duties set forth in division (B) of this section.

Any agreement establishing a joint office of economic development shall set forth the procedure by which the person, public agency, or nonprofit organization carrying out the functions and duties of the office shall gain the approval of the participating boards of county commissioners for any actions, functions, and duties under division (B) of this section.

(D) As used in this section, “economic development” has the same meaning as in section 307.64 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 10-29-1993

(A) Except as provided in division (B) of this section, when, in the opinion of the board of county commissioners, it is necessary to procure real estate, a right-of-way, or an easement for a courthouse, a jail, or public offices, for a bridge and the approaches to it, or for another structure, public market place, or market house, proceedings shall be had in accordance with sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code.

(B)(1) For the purposes of division (B) of this section, either of the following constitutes a public exigency:

(a) A finding by the director of environmental protection that a public health nuisance caused by an occasion of unavoidable urgency and suddenness due to unsanitary conditions compels the immediate construction of sewers for the protection of the public health and welfare;

(b) The issuance of an order by the board of health of a health district to mitigate or abate a public health nuisance that is caused by an occasion of unavoidable urgency and suddenness due to unsanitary conditions and compels the immediate construction of sewers for the protection of the public health and welfare.

(2) If the board of county commissioners is unable to purchase property for the purpose of the construction of sewers to mitigate or abate the public health nuisance that is the subject of a finding of the director or an order of the board of health, the board of county commissioners may adopt a resolution finding that it is necessary for the protection of the public health and welfare to appropriate property that the board of county commissioners considers needed for that purpose. The resolution shall contain a definite, accurate, and detailed description of the property and the name and place of residence, if known or with reasonable diligence ascertainable, of the owners of the property to be appropriated.

The board of county commissioners shall fix in its resolution what it considers to be the value of the property to be appropriated, which shall be the board’s determination of the compensation for the property and shall be supported by an independent appraisal, together with any damages to the residue. The board shall deposit the compensation so determined, together with an amount for the damages to the residue, with the probate court or the court of common pleas of the county in which the property, or a part of it, is situated. Except as otherwise provided in this division, the power to appropriate property for the purposes of this division shall be exercised in the manner provided in sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code for an appropriation in time of public exigency. The board’s resolution and a written copy of the independent appraisal shall accompany the petition filed under section 163.05 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 02-21-1967; 05-06-2005

A board of county commissioners may purchase or appropriate real property in the unincorporated territory of the county in order to do all of the following:

(A) Sell or lease the property;

(B) After the property is leased or purchased from the county, exempt from real property taxes under section 5709.78 of the Revised Code part or all of an improvement to the property;

(C) Once an improvement to the property is exempted from taxation under section 5709.78 of the Revised Code, charge the owner of the improvement a service payment under section 5709.79 of the Revised Code;

(D) Use the money collected from the service payments to finance the construction or repair of public infrastructure improvements that benefit the property and that are designated in the resolution adopted under section 5709.78 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 07-27-1990

(A) The board of county commissioners may, by resolution, enter into agreements to provide for the construction or repair of public infrastructure improvements that benefit a tract on which an improvement for which the county has granted an exemption from real property taxes under section 5709.78 of the Revised Code is located and that are designated in the resolution adopted under that section.

(B) The board may, by resolution, authorize the issuance of notes of the county to finance all costs pertaining to public infrastructure improvements to be made under division (A) of this section and division (D) of section 307.081 of the Revised Code. The notes shall be signed by the board, shall be attested by the signature of the clerk of the board, and shall bear interest in accordance with section 9.95 of the Revised Code. The notes are not subject to Chapter 133. of the Revised Code. The resolution authorizing the issuance of the notes shall pledge the appropriate account of the county’s redevelopment tax equivalent fund to pay the interest on and principal of the notes. The resolution may also pledge other available funds of the county for this purpose; the resolution, however, shall not pledge to levy or collect an ad valorem property tax to pay the interest on and principal of the notes. The notes may contain a clause permitting prepayment at the option of the board and shall have such other terms as are set forth in the resolution authorizing their issuance. The notes shall be offered at public or private sale as directed in the resolution.

Effective Date: 07-27-1990

A board of county commissioners may purchase real estate at public auction by designating an individual to represent the board and tender bids at the auction, subject to a maximum purchase amount established by the board or an appraisal obtained prior to sale. A purchase made under this section is subject to division (D) of section 5705.41 of the Revised Code.

Effective Date: 04-05-1991

When the board of county commissioners determines that it serves the interests of the county, the board may procure real estate within the county by purchase or by appropriation under sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code and donate it to the state, the department of rehabilitation and correction, or the United States bureau of prisons for the construction of a state correctional institution or a federal correctional facility or complex.

The board shall attempt to obtain the best possible terms and conditions in relation to the donation, such as priority over courts or law enforcement agencies of other jurisdictions in placement in the institution, facility, or complex of nonstate or nonfederal prisoners, or an option for the county to repurchase the property on reasonable terms should it no longer be used as a state correctional institution or federal correctional facility or complex.

Effective Date: 10-06-1994

(A) If the interests of the county so require, the board of county commissioners may sell any real property belonging to the county and not needed for public use, including all or portions of buildings acquired by the board to house county offices, or may lease or rent the same, but no such lease shall be for a longer term than five years, unless such lease is part of a lease-purchase agreement, in which case the lease may be for a period not exceeding twenty-five years, or unless the lease is to a commercial tenant who uses the property as a retail store room, office, or restaurant, and the leased property is located in a building initially acquired to house county offices or in a parking facility constructed or acquired to serve a building that houses county offices, in which case the lease may be for a period not exceeding twenty years, and may include provision for one or more renewals for lesser periods. In the case of real property used or to be used for the purpose of airports, landing fields, or air navigational facilities, including restaurants, parking lots, motels, gasoline service stations, public recreation facilities, public parks, office buildings, retail stores for merchandising or services, and industrial uses located or to be located thereon, or parts thereof, belonging to the county, the primary term of such lease shall not exceed twenty-five years and the board of county commissioners may renew such leases for one or more periods of years. The total of such renewal periods, when added to the primary term of such lease, shall not exceed sixty years.

(B) The board may grant leases, rights, and easements to the United States government, to the state or any department or agency thereof, or to municipal corporations or other governmental subdivisions of the state for public purposes, or to privately owned electric light and power companies, or natural gas companies, or telephone or telegraph companies for purposes of rendering their several public utilities services, or to corporations not for profit for hospital, charitable, water, sewer, or recreational purposes, including among other such purposes memorial structures, parks, golf courses, and underground structures, poles, piers, towers, wires, pipelines, underground cables, and manholes, on or in lands owned by the county where such lease, right, or easement is not deemed by the board to be inconsistent with the need of such land for public use by the county. Any such lease, right, or easement granted to the United States government, to the state or any department or agency thereof, or to a municipal corporation or other governmental subdivision of the state, or to privately owned electric light and power companies, or natural gas companies, or telephone or telegraph companies for purposes of rendering their several public utilities services, or to corporations not for profit for hospital, charitable, water, sewer, or recreational purposes, may be for such length of time, upon such terms, for such purposes, and may provide for such renewals thereof as the board deems for the best interests of the county.

(C) In case of the sale of such real property not used for county purposes, and in case of a lease of real property used or to be used for the purpose of airports, landing fields, or air navigational facilities, including restaurants, parking lots, motels, gasoline service stations, public recreation facilities, public parks, office buildings, retail stores for merchandising or services, and industrial uses, and in case of such a grant of lease, right, or easement to the United States government, to the state or any department or agency thereof or to a municipal corporation or other governmental subdivision of the state, or to privately owned electric light and power companies, or natural gas companies, or telephone or telegraph companies for purposes of rendering their several public utilities services, or to corporations not for profit for hospital, charitable, water, sewer, or recreational purposes, all or such part of the proceeds thereof as the board designates may be placed by the board in a separate fund to be used only for construction, equipment, furnishing, maintenance, or repair of the county buildings and the acquisition of sites therefor, or for the payment of principal of or interest on bonds of the county issued for any county building.

Effective Date: 03-12-2001

The board of county commissioners may sell, lease, or transfer all or any part of the property and assets of a hospital or medical and health care facility or institution owned by the county to a medical school or college established and supported by this state, upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed by the board of county commissioners and the board of trustees governing such medical school or college and subject to the approval of the Ohio board of regents.

Effective Date: 11-15-1991

Notwithstanding section 307.09 of the Revised Code, the board of county commissioners may sell, lease, or transfer any real property belonging to the county and not needed for public use to a nonprofit senior citizens’ organization to be used for public purposes involving the provision of housing, health, social services, or recreational activities for the benefit of older persons, upon such terms and conditions as may be agreed upon by the board of county commissioners and the organization. The nonprofit senior citizens’ organization shall report annually to the board of county commissioners on the nature of the activities for which the property is being used and shall provide such other information regarding the property that the board may require. Any deed conveying real property under this section may state that if the real property is used at any time for purposes other than those enumerated in this section, all right, title, and interest in the property shall revert to the county.

Effective Date: 05-17-1978

(A) No sale of real property, or lease of real property used or to be used for the purpose of airports, landing fields, or air navigational facilities, or parts thereof, as provided by section 307.09 of the Revised Code shall be made unless it is authorized by a resolution adopted by a majority of the board of county commissioners. When a sale of real property as provided by section 307.09 of the Revised Code is authorized, the board may either deed the property to the highest responsible bidder, after advertisement once a week for four consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the county or offer the real property for sale at a public auction, after giving at least thirty days’ notice of the auction by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the county. The board may reject any and all bids. The board may, as it considers best, sell real property pursuant to this section as an entire tract or in parcels. The board, by resolution adopted by a majority of the board, may lease real property, in accordance with division (A) of section 307.09 of the Revised Code, without advertising for bids.

(B) The board, by resolution, may transfer real property in fee simple belonging to the county and not needed for public use to the United States government, to the state or any department or agency thereof, to municipal corporations or other political subdivisions of the state, or to the county board of mental retardation and developmental disabilities, for public purposes upon the terms and in the manner that it may determine to be in the best interests of the county, without advertising for bids. The board shall execute a deed or other proper instrument when such a transfer is approved.

(C) The board, by resolution adopted by a majority of the board, may grant leases, rights, or easements to the United States government, to the state or any department or agency thereof, or to municipal corporations and other political subdivisions of the state, or to privately owned electric light and power companies, natural gas companies, or telephone or telegraph companies for purposes of rendering their several public utilities services, in accordance with division (B) of section 307.09 of the Revised Code, without advertising for bids. When such grant of lease, right, or easement is authorized, a deed or other proper instrument therefor shall be executed by the board.

Effective Date: 10-29-1993

When the county would be benefited, the board of county commissioners may make, execute, and deliver contracts or leases to mine iron ore, stone, coal, petroleum, gas, salt, and other minerals upon lands owned by such county, to any person complying with the terms prescribed by the board as to consideration, rights of way, and occupancy of ground for necessary purposes. All other matters of contract shall be such as the board deems most advantageous to the county.

Such contracts or leases shall be forfeited to the county for noncompliance with any of the terms of the contract, and shall not operate as a conveyance of the fee of any part of the realty. No contract or lease for the drilling or operation of a petroleum or gas well shall be valid for a longer term than forty years from the date of the contract or lease, and no contract or lease for the mining of iron ore, stone, coal, salt, or other minerals shall be valid for a longer term than fifteen years from such date. The consideration of such contracts and leases shall be a rental or royalty, payable at least once in each year to the county treasurer, who shall give a receipt for such amount, and be charged with it by the county auditor, with whom such receipts, contracts, and leases shall be deposited. The fund created by such payments shall be held and used for county purposes.

Effective Date: 09-24-1986

(A) Except as otherwise provided in divisions (D), (E), and (G) of this section, when the board of county commissioners finds, by resolution, that the county has personal property, including motor vehicles acquired for the use of county officers and departments, and road machinery, equipment, tools, or supplies, that is not needed for public use, is obsolete, or is unfit for the use for which it was acquired, and when the fair market value of the property to be sold or donated under this division is, in the opinion of the board, in excess of two thousand five hundred dollars, the board may do either of the following:

(1) Sell the property at public auction or by sealed bid to the highest bidder. Notice of the time, place, and manner of the sale shall be published in a newspaper of general circulation in the county at least ten days prior to the sale, and a typewritten or printed notice of the time, place, and manner of the sale shall be posted at least ten days before the sale in the offices of the county auditor and the board of county commissioners.

If a board conducts a sale of property by sealed bid, the form of the bid shall be as prescribed by the board, and each bid shall contain the name of the person submitting it. Bids received shall be opened and tabulated at the time stated in the notice. The property shall be sold to the highest bidder, except that the board may reject all bids and hold another sale, by public auction or sealed bid, in the manner prescribed by this section.

(2) Donate any motor vehicle that does not exceed four thousand five hundred dollars in value to a nonprofit organization exempt from federal income taxation pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 501(a) and (c)(3) for the purpose of meeting the transportation needs of participants in the Ohio works first program established under Chapter 5107. of the Revised Code and participants in the prevention, retention, and contingency program established under Chapter 5108. of the Revised Code.

(B) When the board of county commissioners finds, by resolution, that the county has personal property, including motor vehicles acquired for the use of county officers and departments, and road machinery, equipment, tools, or supplies, that is not needed for public use, is obsolete, or is unfit for the use for which it was acquired, and when the fair market value of the property to be sold or donated under this division is, in the opinion of the board, two thousand five hundred dollars or less, the board may do either of the following:

(1) Sell the property by private sale, without advertisement or public notification;

(2) Donate the property to an eligible nonprofit organization that is located in this state and is exempt from federal income taxation pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 501(a) and (c)(3). Before donating any property under this division, the board shall adopt a resolution expressing its intent to make unneeded, obsolete, or unfit-for-use county personal property available to these organizations. The resolution shall include guidelines and procedures the board considers necessary to implement a donation program under this division and shall indicate whether the county will conduct the donation program or the board will contract with a representative to conduct it. If a representative is known when the resolution is adopted, the resolution shall provide contact information such as the representative’s name, address, and telephone number.

The resolution shall include within its procedures a requirement that any nonprofit organization desiring to obtain donated property under this division shall submit a written notice to the board or its representative. The written notice shall include evidence that the organization is a nonprofit organization that is located in this state and is exempt from federal income taxation pursuant to 26 U.S.C. 501(a) and (c)(3); a description of the organization’s primary purpose; a description of the type or types of property the organization needs; and the name, address, and telephone number of a person designated by the organization’s governing board to receive donated property and to serve as its agent.

After adoption of the resolution, the board shall publish, in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, notice of its intent to donate unneeded, obsolete, or unfit-for-use county personal property to eligible nonprofit organizations. The notice shall include a summary of the information provided in the resolution and shall be published at least twice. The second and any subsequent notice shall be published not less than ten nor more than twenty days after the previous notice. A similar notice also shall be posted continually in a conspicuous place in the offices of the county auditor and the board of county commissioners, and, if the county maintains a web site on the internet, the notice shall be posted continually at that web site.

The board or its representative shall maintain a list of all nonprofit organizations that notify the board or its representative of their desire to obtain donated property under this division and that the board or its representative determines to be eligible, in accordance with the requirements set forth in this section and in the donation program’s guidelines and procedures, to receive donated property.

The board or its representatives also shall maintain a list of all county personal property the board finds to be unneeded, obsolete, or unfit for use and to be available for donation under this division. The list shall be posted continually in a conspicuous location in the offices of the county auditor and the board of county commissioners, and, if the county maintains a web site on the internet, the list shall be posted continually at that web site. An item of property on the list shall be donated to the eligible nonprofit organization that first declares to the board or its representative its desire to obtain the item unless the board previously has established, by resolution, a list of eligible nonprofit organizations that shall be given priority with respect to the item’s donation. Priority may be given on the basis that the purposes of a nonprofit organization have a direct relationship to specific public purposes of programs provided or administered by the board. A resolution giving priority to certain nonprofit organizations with respect to the donation of an item of property shall specify the reasons why the organizations are given that priority.

(C) Members of the board of county commissioners shall consult with the Ohio ethics commission, and comply with the provisions of Chapters 102. and 2921. of the Revised Code, with respect to any sale or donation under division (A) or (B) of this section to a nonprofit organization of which a county commissioner, any member of the county commissioner’s family, or any business associate of the county commissioner is a trustee, officer, board member, or employee.

(D) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in division (A), (B), or (E) of this section and regardless of the property’s value, the board of county commissioners may sell or donate county personal property, including motor vehicles, to the federal government, the state, or any political subdivision of the state without advertisement or public notification.

(E) Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in division (A), (B), or (G) of this section and regardless of the property’s value, the board of county commissioners may sell personal property, including motor vehicles acquired for the use of county officers and departments, and road machinery, equipment, tools, or supplies, that is not needed for public use, is obsolete, or is unfit for the use for which it was acquired, by internet auction. The board shall adopt, during each calendar year, a resolution expressing its intent to sell that property by internet auction. The resolution shall include a description of how the auctions will be conducted and shall specify the number of days for bidding on the property, which shall be no less than ten days, including Saturdays, Sundays, and legal holidays. The resolution shall indicate whether the county will conduct the auction or the board will contract with a representative to conduct the auction and shall establish the general terms and conditions of sale. If a representative is known when the resolution is adopted, the resolution shall provide contact information such as the representative’s name, address, and telephone number.

After adoption of the resolution, the board shall publish, in a newspaper of general circulation in the county, notice of its intent to sell unneeded, obsolete, or unfit-for-use county personal property by internet auction. The notice shall include a summary of the information provided in the resolution and shall be published at least twice. The second and any subsequent notice shall be published not less than ten nor more than twenty days after the previous notice. A similar notice also shall be posted continually throughout the calendar year in a conspicuous place in the offices of the county auditor and the board of county commissioners, and, if the county maintains a web site on the internet, the notice shall be posted continually throughout the calendar year at that web site.

When property is to be sold by internet auction, the board or its representative may establish a minimum price that will be accepted for specific items and may establish any other terms and conditions for the particular sale, including requirements for pick-up or delivery, method of payment, and sales tax. This type of information shall be provided on the internet at the time of the auction and may be provided before that time upon request after the terms and conditions have been determined by the board or its representative.

(F) When a county officer or department head determines that county-owned personal property under the jurisdiction of the officer or department head, including motor vehicles, road machinery, equipment, tools, or supplies, is not of immediate need, the county officer or department head may notify the board of county commissioners, and the board may lease that personal property to any municipal corporation, township, or other political subdivision of the state. The lease shall require the county to be reimbursed under terms, conditions, and fees established by the board, or under contracts executed by the board.

(G) If the board of county commissioners finds, by resolution, that the county has vehicles, equipment, or machinery that is not needed, or is unfit for public use, and the board desires to sell the vehicles, equipment, or machinery to the person or firm from which it proposes to purchase other vehicles, equipment, or machinery, the board may offer to sell the vehicles, equipment, or machinery to that person or firm, and to have the selling price credited to the person or firm against the purchase price of other vehicles, equipment, or machinery.

(H) If the board of county commissioners advertises for bids for the sale of new vehicles, equipment, or machinery to the county, it may include in the same advertisement a notice of the willingness of the board to accept bids for the purchase of county-owned vehicles, equipment, or machinery that is obsolete or not needed for public use, and to have the amount of those bids subtracted from the selling price of the other vehicles, equipment, or machinery as a means of determining the lowest responsible bidder.

(I) If a board of county commissioners determines that county personal property is not needed for public use, or is obsolete or unfit for the use for which it was acquired, and that the property has no value, the board may discard or salvage that property.

(J) A county engineer, in the engineer’s discretion, may dispose of scrap construction materials on such terms as the engineer determines reasonable, including disposal without recovery of costs, if the total value of the materials does not exceed twenty-five thousand dollars. The engineer shall maintain records of all dispositions made under this division, including identification of the origin of the materials, the final disposition, and copies of all receipts resulting from the dispositions.

As used in division (I) of this section, “scrap construction materials” means construction materials that result from a road or bridge improvement, remain after the improvement is completed, and are not reusable. Construction material that is metal and that results from a road or bridge improvement and remains after the improvement is completed is scrap construction material only if it cannot be used in any other road or bridge improvement or other project in its current state.

Effective Date: 01-25-2002; 09-23-2004; 11-05-2004; 03-29-2005; 2008 HB48 09-12-2008

The board of county commissioners may contract for the services of an electrical safety inspector, as defined in section 3783.01 of the Revised Code, to conduct inspections of electrical installations within the county.

Effective Date: 11-22-1973

As used in sections 307.14 to 307.19, inclusive, of the Revised Code:

(A) “Legislative authority” means the board of county commissioners, board of township trustees, or the board, council, or commission of a contracting subdivision;

(B) “Contracting subdivision” means any governmental subdivision or taxing district of the state which, by its legislative authority, enters into an agreement with a board of county commissioners under the authority of such sections.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

(A)(1) Subject to division (C) of this section, the board of county commissioners may enter into an agreement with the legislative authority of any municipal corporation, township, port authority, water or sewer district, school district, library district, health district, park district, soil and water conservation district, water conservancy district, or other taxing district, or with the board of any other county, and such legislative authorities may enter into agreements with the board of county commissioners, whereby the board undertakes, and is authorized by the contracting subdivision, to exercise any power, perform any function, or render any service, on behalf of the contracting subdivision or its legislative authority, that such subdivision or legislative authority may exercise, perform, or render; or whereby the legislative authority of any municipal corporation undertakes, and is authorized by the board of county commissioners, to exercise any power, perform any function, or render any service, on behalf of the county or the board, that the county or the board may exercise, perform, or render. The board of county commissioners may enter into an agreement with the board of township trustees of any township within the county, whereby the board of county commissioners or any county official designated by the board, purchases at the request of the township any materials for the construction, maintenance, or repair of any township road or for the maintenance or repair of any township building, and sells the materials to the township at the cost to the county, which cost shall include the purchase price and any expenses incurred in such purchase, providing the amount involved does not exceed one thousand dollars.

(2) Upon the execution of an agreement described in division (A)(1) of this section, and within the limitations prescribed by the agreement, the board of county commissioners may exercise the same powers as the contracting subdivision possesses with respect to the performance of any function or the rendering of any service, which, by such agreement, it undertakes to perform or render, and all powers necessary or incidental thereto, as amply as such powers are possessed and exercised by the contracting subdivisions directly; and the legislative authority of any municipal corporation may exercise the same powers as the county possesses with respect to the performance of any function or the rendering of any service, which, by such agreement, it undertakes to perform or render, and all powers necessary or incidental thereto, as amply as such powers are possessed and exercised by the county directly. In the absence in the agreement of provisions determining by what officer, office, department, agency, or authority, the powers and duties of the board shall be exercised or performed, the board shall determine and assign such powers and duties. In the absence in the agreement of provisions determining by what officer, office, department, agency, or authority, the powers and duties of the legislative authority of the municipal corporation shall be exercised or performed, such legislative authority shall determine and assign such powers and duties. Sections 307.14 to 307.19 of the Revised Code, or any agreement authorized by those sections, shall not suspend the possession by a contracting subdivision of any power or function exercised or performed by the board, or the possession by a county of any power or function exercised or performed by the contracting municipal corporation, in pursuance of the agreement. Nor shall the board, by virtue of any agreement entered into under this section, acquire any power to levy taxes within, and on behalf of, a contracting subdivision unless approved by a majority of the electors of the contracting subdivision.

(B) Subject to division (C) of this section, the boards of county commissioners of any two or more counties may contract with each other or by contract create any joint agency to exercise any power, perform any function, or render any service which any board of county commissioners may exercise, perform, or render.

(C) No board of county commissioners shall enter into any agreement pursuant to division (A) of this section or form a joint agency pursuant to division (B) of this section to exercise, with regard to public moneys, any investment powers, perform any investment function, or render any investment service on behalf of a contracting subdivision or its legislative authority, or, with respect to a joint agency, another board of county commissioners.

Effective Date: 09-27-1996

The board of county commissioners may enter into an agreement with the legislative authority of any municipal corporation, and such legislative authority may enter into agreements with the board, whereby the legislative authority undertakes, and is authorized by the board of county commissioners to provide for facilities, personnel, and equipment for the control of air and water pollution, and to render such other services for such board of county commissioners as provided in the agreement. The contracting parties shall be bound by the terms, conditions, and stipulations as contained in the agreement. The municipal corporation may exercise any power, perform any function, or render any service on behalf of the board of county commissioners in carrying out the provisions of this section that the board of county commissioners may exercise, perform, or render.

Effective Date: 09-27-1963

A board of county commissioners may enter into an agreement with a county, municipal, or regional planning commission, or county engineer for the preparation in whole or in part of comprehensive transportation and land use studies and major thoroughfare reports, upon such terms as are mutually agreed upon.

Any agreement with a county, municipal, or regional planning commission may provide that contributions of county funds shall be credited to a separate fund of the planning commission from which expenditures for fulfilling the agreement are made. Any moneys contributed to a county, municipal, or regional planning commission for preparation of such plans may be credited to the county’s portion of the cost of the preparation of such plans. The agreement may provide that county funds appropriated for the county’s portion of such plans or in excess of the county’s portion of the cost of such plans shall be refunded to the county fund out of which the contribution was originally appropriated, when the county, municipal, or regional planning commission receives federal or other funds in payment for such projects. The agreement may provide that only allowable reimbursable expenses shall be included in calculating the county’s portion of the costs. The terms of the agreement may include other provisions mutually agreed upon.

The board of county commissioners may pay the costs of the agreement for the planning necessary to satisfy the continuing comprehensive transportation planning process from revenues derived from the motor vehicle license tax, the motor fuel tax levied in section 5735.05 of the Revised Code, the motor fuel tax levied in section 5735.25 of the Revised Code, the county general fund, or any other county fund which may be expended for planning purposes and may also pay costs for other planning from the county general fund or any other county fund which may be expended for planning purposes.

Effective Date: 10-01-1996

A board of health of a city or general health district may enter into an agreement with the board of county commissioners of the county in which the health district is totally or partially located, and the board of county commissioners may enter into an agreement with the board of health, whereby the board of health undertakes, and is authorized by the board of county commissioners, to exercise any power, perform any function, or render any service, in behalf of the county commissioners, which the board of county commissioners may exercise, perform, or render.

Upon the execution of the agreement and within the limitations prescribed by it, the board of health may exercise the same powers as the board of county commissioners possesses with respect to the performance of any function or the rendering of any service, which, by such agreement, it undertakes to perform or render, and all powers necessary or incidental thereto, as amply as the powers are possessed and exercised by the board of county commissioners directly. Any agreement authorized by this section does not suspend the possession by the board of county commissioners of any power or function exercised or performed by the board of health in pursuance of the agreement. Nor shall the board of health, by virtue of any agreement entered into under this section, acquire any power to levy taxes in behalf of the board of county commissioners unless approved by a majority of the electors of the county.

Every agreement entered into under this section shall provide, either in specific terms or by prescribing a method for determining the amounts, for any payments to be made by the county commissioners into the health fund of the health district, in consideration of the performance of the agreement.

Effective Date: 10-31-1967

Every agreement entered into under sections 307.14 to 307.19, inclusive, of the Revised Code, shall provide, either in specific terms or by prescribing a method for determining the amounts, for any payments to be made by the contracting subdivision into the county treasury, or by the county to the municipal corporation, in consideration of the performance of the agreement. In cases where it is deemed practicable, the agreement may provide that payment shall be made by the retention in the treasury of the amounts due from taxes collected for the contracting subdivision and the county auditor and county treasurer shall be governed by any such provision in settling the accounts for such taxes.

Any agreement entered into by and between two or more boards of county commissioners shall specify the method of payment for the joint exercise of any power, the joint performing of any function, or the joint rendering of any service which method of payment shall be authorized and binding on the counties so long as the agreement is in effect.

Effective Date: 12-11-1967

In the absence from an agreement entered into under sections 307.14 to 307.19, inclusive, of the Revised Code, of a specification of its own duration, such agreement shall continue in effect until it is rescinded. Every such agreement, whether for a definite term or of indefinite duration, may provide for its own rescission and the method of rescission. In the absence of any such provision, such agreement may, at any time, be rescinded by the agreement of both parties, and an agreement of indefinite duration may at any time be rescinded by resolution of either party to the agreement, effective at the end of the fiscal year, not sooner than six months after such rescinding resolution has been certified and delivered to the clerk or secretary of the other party.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

Any agreement entered into under sections 307.14 to 307.19, inclusive, of the Revised Code, may provide for the transfer to the board of county commissioners of any property, real or personal, used or useful, in the performance of functions or the rendering of services under such agreement. Such transfer may include the proceeds of bonds issued or to be issued by the contracting subdivision, appropriate to the powers, functions, or services under the agreement, such proceeds to be expended by the board subject to the same conditions as would govern the contracting subdivision. Such transfer may convey the absolute title to such property, subject, in the case of the disposal or encumbrance of such real property by the board, to the consent of the legislative authority of the contracting subdivision; or may convey its use only, or any estate or title less than absolute; may limit the power of the board to dispose of such property; and may provide for its return, disposition, division, or distribution, in the event of the rescission or expiration of the agreement.

Any such agreement may provide for transfer to the legislative authority of the municipal corporation of any property, real or personal, used or useful, in the performance of functions or the rendering of services under such agreement. Such transfer may include the proceeds of bonds issued or to be issued by the county, appropriate to the powers, functions, or services under the agreement, such proceeds to be expended by the legislative authority of the municipal corporation subject to the same conditions as would govern the county. Such transfer may convey the absolute title to such property, subject, in the case of the disposal or encumbrance of such real property by the legislative authority, to the consent of the board; or may convey its use only, or any estate or title less than absolute; may limit the power of the legislative authority of the municipal corporation to dispose of such property; and may provide for its return, disposition, division, or distribution, in the event of the rescission or expiration of the agreement.

Effective Date: 12-11-1967

Sections 307.14 to 307.19, inclusive, of the Revised Code, do not repeal or abrogate other sections of the Revised Code authorizing contracts or agreements among particular classes of subdivisions, or modify or impair the force of such sections in respect of contracts or agreements entered into under such sections. Nor shall such other sections control or limit the making of agreements under sections 307.14 to 307.19, inclusive, of the Revised Code; it being intended that such sections shall be applied as fully as though such other sections did not exist.

Effective Date: 10-01-1953

The board of county commissioners, in addition to its other powers, shall have the same authority, subject to the same limitations, with respect to airports, landing fields, and other air navigation facilities as is conferred upon municipal corporations by sections 717.01 and 719.01 of the Revised Code and may operate thereon public recreation facilities and public parks. The board of county commissioners may contract with any person, firm, or corporation to operate restaurants, parking lots, motels, gasoline service stations, public parks, office buildings, retail stores for merchandising or services, and industrial uses on airports, landing fields, and other air navigation facilities.

“Airport,” “landing field,” and “air navigation facility,” as defined in section 4561.01 of the Revised Code, apply to this section.

Effective Date: 10-13-1965

The board of county commissioners, in addition to its other powers, shall have the authority to acquire, construct, own, lease, and operate subways for transportation systems not owned by the county, and may issue revenue bonds therefor under section 133.08 of the Revised Code or general obligation bonds to be paid in part or in whole by general tax revenues, if fifty-five per cent of those voting upon the proposition vote in favor thereof. The taxing authority of subdivisions shall have authority to proceed with the issue of such bonds and the levy of a tax outside the ten-mill limitation sufficient in amount to pay the interest on and retire such bonds at maturity. The purposes for which such bonds are issued shall include any costs resulting from restoration, relocation, or duplication elsewhere of existing publicly or privately owned public utility facilities occupying streets and highways.

The board of county commissioners may, by agreement with the city council or the proper municipal officer or board charged with operation of a municipally owned transportation system, acquire, construct, own, lease, or operate a transportation system or part thereof, and may, both within or without municipal corporations, acquire, construct, own, lease, maintain, and operate subways for transportation systems not owned by the county.

All rentals, payments, and fees of every description and all other income, earnings, or revenues, received from all persons, firms, corporations, and municipal corporations for the use of subways constructed by a county for transportation systems not owned by the county with moneys acquired by the issuance of general obligation bonds shall be paid into a sinking fund of the county for the payment of interest on and the redemption of these bonds at maturity. To the extent that these funds are not sufficient for the payment of interest on the bonds and for the accumulation of a sinking fund sufficient for payment thereof at maturity issued for the construction of subways within and without municipal corporations, the county shall annually levy a tax sufficient for such purposes. The taxes for bonds authorized by a vote of the electors in the county shall not be considered in computing the debt limitation set forth in section 133.07 of the Revised Code, but the aggregate of such bonds outstanding shall in no event at any time exceed one per cent of the total value of all property in such county as listed and assessed for taxation.

Effective Date: 10-30-1989

As used in this section, “rail property” and “rail service” have the same meanings as in section 4981.01 of the Revised Code.

The board of county commissioners may acquire, rehabilitate, and develop rail property and rail service, and may enter into agreements with the Ohio rail development commission, boards of township trustees, legislative authorities of municipal corporations, other boards of county commissioners, with other governmental agencies or organizations, and with private agencies or organizations in order to achieve those purposes.

Effective Date: 10-20-1994

A board of county commissioners may appropriate moneys from the general fund for any purposes for which moneys in the railroad grade crossing improvement fund of the county created pursuant to section 5589.24 of the Revised Code may be used. After appropriation, such moneys may be transferred to that fund.

Effective Date: 10-27-2000

(A) As used in this section:

(1) “Concentrated animal feeding facility” and “major concentrated animal feeding facility” have the same meanings as in section 903.01 of the Revised Code.

(2) “Facility” means a proposed new or expanded major concentrated animal feeding facility.

(3) “Improvement” means the construction, modification, or both of county infrastructure.

(B) A person who proposes to do any of the following shall provide written notification as required under division (C) of this section to the board of county commissioners of the county in which a facility is or is to be located:

(1) Establish a new major concentrated animal feeding facility;

(2) Increase the design capacity of an existing major concentrated animal feeding facility by ten per cent or more in excess of the design capacity set forth in the current permit for construction or modification of the facility or for installation or modification of the disposal system for manure at the facility issued under section 903.02 or division (J) of section 6111.03 of the Revised Code, as applicable;

(3) Increase the design capacity of an existing concentrated animal feeding facility by ten per cent or more in excess of the design capacity set forth in the current permit for construction or modification of the facility or for installation or modification of the disposal system for manure at the facility issued under section 903.02 or division (J) of section 6111.03 of the Revised Code, as applicable, and to a design capacity of more than ten times the number of animals specified in any of the categories in division (H) of section 903.01 of the Revised Code.

(C) The person shall notify the board in writing by certified mail of the proposed construction or expansion of the facility and include the following information:

(1) The anticipated travel routes of motor vehicles to and from the facility;

(2) The anticipated number and weights of motor vehicles traveling to and from the facility.

(D) At the request of the board, the county engineer may review the written notification and advise the board on both of the following:

(1) Improvements and maintenance of improvements that are reasonably needed in order to accommodate the impact on county infrastructure that is anticipated as a result of the facility, including increased travel or the types of vehicles on county roads;

(2) The projected costs of the improvements and maintenance.

Not later than ten days after receiving the written notification, the board may request the person to provide additional reasonable and relevant information regarding the impact of the facility on county infrastructure. The person shall provide the information not later than ten days after the request is made.

(E)(1) Not later than thirty days after the initial written notification is received by the board, the board shall submit to the person its recommendations, if any, concerning the improvements that will be needed as a result of the facility and the cost of those improvements.

(2) Not later than fifteen days after receipt of the board’s recommendations, the person shall notify the board either that the person agrees with the recommendations and will implement them or that the person is submitting reasonable alternative recommendations or modifications to the board. If the person agrees with the recommendations, they shall be considered to be the board’s final recommendations.

(3) If the board receives alternative recommendations or modifications under division (E)(2) of this section, the board shall select final recommendations and submit them to the person not later than thirty days after the receipt of the alternative recommendations or modifications.

(F) The board shall prepare a written, dated statement certifying that the written notification required under this section was submitted and that final recommendations were selected regarding needed improvements and the costs of those improvements. The board shall provide the person with the original of the statement so that the person can include it with the application for a permit to install for the facility as required under division (C)(4) of section 903.02 of the Revised Code. The board shall retain a copy of the statement for its records.

(G) The person shall construct, modify, and maintain or finance the construction, modification, and maintenance of improvements as provided in the board’s final recommendations and with the approval and oversight of the county engineer. If the person fails to do so, the board shall notify the person by certified mail that the board intends to initiate mediation with the person if the person remains out of compliance with the final recommendations.

The board shall allow sufficient time for the person to apply for and proceed to obtain, for the purpose of financing the construction, modification, or maintenance of the improvements, exemptions from taxation under sections 5709.63, 5709.632, 5709.73, and 5709.78 of the Revised Code or state or federal grants that may be available.

If the person remains out of compliance with the final recommendations, the board may initiate mediation with the person in order to resolve the differences between them. If mediation fails to resolve the differences, the board and the person first shall attempt to resolve the differences through any legal remedies before seeking redress through a court of common pleas.

(H) If the person subsequently submits an application under section 903.02 of the Revised Code for a permit to modify the facility, or if the routes of travel to or from the facility change for any reason other than road construction conducted by the county, the board or the person may request that additional information be provided in writing a