Section 4503.07 | Church bus registration fee.
(A) In lieu of the schedule of rates for commercial cars fixed in section 4503.04 of the Revised Code, the fee shall be ten dollars for each church bus used exclusively to transport members of a church congregation to and from church services or church functions or to transport children and their authorized supervisors to and from any camping function sponsored by a nonprofit, tax-exempt, charitable or philanthropic organization. A church within the meaning of this section is an organized religious group, duly constituted with officers and a board of trustees, regularly holding religious services, and presided over or administered to by a properly accredited ecclesiastical officer, whose name and standing is published in the official publication of the officer's religious group.
(B) Commencing on October 1, 2009, if an application for registration renewal is not applied for prior to the expiration date of the registration or within thirty days after that date, the registrar or deputy registrar shall collect a fee of ten dollars for the issuance of the vehicle registration, but may waive the fee for good cause shown if the application is accompanied by supporting evidence as the registrar may require. The fee shall be in addition to all other fees established by this section. A deputy registrar shall retain fifty cents of the fee and shall transmit the remaining amount to the registrar at the time and in the manner provided by section 4503.10 of the Revised Code. The registrar shall deposit all moneys received under this division into the state highway safety fund established in section 4501.06 of the Revised Code.
(C) The application for registration of such bus shall be accompanied by the following, as applicable:
(1) An affidavit, prescribed by the registrar of motor vehicles and signed by either the senior pastor, minister, priest, or rabbi of the church making application or by the head of the governing body of the church making application, stating that the bus is to be used exclusively to transport members of a church congregation to and from church services or church functions or to transport children and their authorized supervisors to and from any camping function sponsored by a nonprofit, tax-exempt, charitable, or philanthropic organization;
(2) A certificate from the state highway patrol stating that the bus involved is safe for operation in accordance with such standards as are prescribed by the state highway patrol if the bus meets either of the following:
(a) It originally was designed by the manufacturer to transport sixteen or more passengers, including the driver;
(b) It has a gross vehicle weight rating of ten thousand one pounds or more.
(D) The form of the license plate and the manner of its attachment to the vehicle shall be prescribed by the registrar.
Available Versions of this Section
- July 1, 2013 – House Bill 51 - 130th General Assembly [ View July 1, 2013 Version ]
- July 1, 2017 – Amended by House Bill 26 - 132nd General Assembly [ View July 1, 2017 Version ]