Section 5705.217 | Holding special elections on additional tax for school district purposes.
(A) The board of education of a city, local, or exempted village school district, at any time by a vote of two-thirds of all its members, may declare by resolution that the amount of taxes that can be raised within the ten-mill limitation will be insufficient to provide an adequate amount for the present and future requirements of the school district; that it is necessary to levy an additional tax in excess of that limitation for the purposes of providing funds for current operating expenses and for general permanent improvements as defined in section 5705.21 of the Revised Code; and that the question of the tax shall be submitted to the electors of the district at a special election. The tax may be levied for a specified number of years not exceeding five or for a continuing period of time. The resolution shall specify the proposed tax rate, the first year the tax will be levied, and the number of years it will be levied, or that it will be levied for a continuing period of time. The resolution shall apportion the annual rate of the tax between current operating expenses and permanent improvements. The apportionment may but need not be the same for each year of the tax, but the respective portions of the rate actually levied each year for current operating expenses and permanent improvements shall be limited by the apportionment.
The resolution shall specify the date of holding the special election, which shall not be earlier than ninety days after certification of the resolution to the board of elections and shall be consistent with the requirements of section 3501.01 of the Revised Code. The resolution shall go into immediate effect upon its passage, and no publication of it is necessary other than that provided in the notice of election. The board of education shall certify a copy of the resolution to the board of elections immediately after its adoption. Section 5705.25 of the Revised Code governs the arrangements and form of the ballot for the submission of the question to the electors.
If a majority of the electors voting on the question vote in favor of the tax, the board of education may make the levy at the additional rate, or at any lesser rate in excess of the ten-mill limitation. If the tax is for a continuing period of time, it may be decreased in accordance with section 5705.261 of the Revised Code.
A board of education may adopt a resolution to renew one or more existing levies imposed under this section, or to increase or decrease the rate of a tax levied under this section, for the purpose of providing funds for either current expenses and general permanent improvements or solely for general permanent improvements.
(B)(1) After the approval of a tax for current operating expenses under this section and prior to the time the first collection and distribution from the levy can be made, the board of education may anticipate a fraction of the proceeds of such levy and issue anticipation notes in a principal amount not exceeding fifty per cent of the total estimated proceeds of the tax to be collected during the first year of the levy.
(2) After the approval of a tax for general permanent improvements levied under this section for a specified number of years, the board of education may anticipate a fraction of the proceeds of such tax and issue anticipation notes in a principal amount not exceeding fifty per cent of the total estimated proceeds of the tax remaining to be collected in each year over a specified period of years, not exceeding the number of years for which the tax was levied, after issuance of the notes.
(3) After the approval of a tax for general permanent improvements levied under this section for a continuing period of time, the board of education may anticipate a fraction of the proceeds of such tax and issue anticipation notes in a principal amount not exceeding fifty per cent of the total estimated proceeds of the tax to be collected in each year over a specified period of years, not exceeding ten, after issuance of the notes.
Anticipation notes under this section shall be issued as provided in section 133.24 of the Revised Code. Notes issued under division (B)(1) or (2) of this section shall have principal payments during each year after the year of their issuance over a period not to exceed five years, and may have a principal payment in the year of their issuance. Notes issued under division (B)(3) of this section shall have principal payments during each year after the year of their issuance over a period not to exceed ten years, and may have a principal payment in the year of their issuance.
(C) The submission of a question to the electors under this section is subject to the limitation on the number of elections that can be held in a year under section 5705.214 of the Revised Code.
Available Versions of this Section
- September 29, 2013 – House Bill 59 - 130th General Assembly [ View September 29, 2013 Version ]