Ohio Revised Code
Chapter 5705 | Tax Levy Law
Section 5705.215 | County School Financing District Levy.

Effective: September 13, 2022
Latest Legislation: House Bill 140 - 134th General Assembly
(A) The governing board of an educational service center that is the taxing authority of a county school financing district, upon receipt of identical resolutions adopted within a sixty-day period by a majority of the members of the board of education of each school district that is within the territory of the county school financing district, may submit a tax levy to the electors of the territory in the same manner as a school board may submit a levy under division (C) of section 5705.21 of the Revised Code, except that:
(1) The levy may be for a period not to exceed ten years, or, if the levy is solely for the purpose or purposes described in division (A)(2)(a), (c), or (f) of this section, for a continuing period of time.
(2) The purpose of the levy shall be one or more of the following:
(a) For current expenses for the provision of special education and related services within the territory of the district;
(b) For permanent improvements within the territory of the district for special education and related services;
(c) For current expenses for specified educational programs within the territory of the district;
(d) For permanent improvements within the territory of the district for specified educational programs;
(e) For permanent improvements within the territory of the district;
(f) For current expenses for school safety and security and mental health services, including training and employment of or contracting for the services of safety personnel, mental health personnel, social workers, and counselors.
(B) If the levy provides for but is not limited to current expenses, the resolutions shall apportion the annual rate of the levy between current expenses and the other purposes. The apportionment need not be the same for each year of the levy, but the respective portions of the rate actually levied each year for current expenses and the other purposes shall be limited by that apportionment.
(C) Prior to the application of section 319.301 of the Revised Code, the rate of a levy that is limited to, or to the extent that it is apportioned to, purposes other than current expenses shall be reduced in the same proportion in which the district's total valuation increases during the life of the levy because of additions to such valuation that have resulted from improvements added to the tax list and duplicate.
(D) After the approval of a county school financing district levy under this section, the taxing authority may anticipate a fraction of the proceeds of such levy and may from time to time during the life of such levy, but in any given year prior to the time when the tax collection from such levy can be made for that year, issue anticipation notes in an amount not exceeding fifty per cent of the estimated proceeds of the levy to be collected in each year up to a period of five years after the date of the issuance of such notes, less an amount equal to the proceeds of such levy obligated for each year by the issuance of anticipation notes, provided that the total amount maturing in any one year shall not exceed fifty per cent of the anticipated proceeds of the levy for that year. Each issue of notes shall be sold as provided in Chapter 133. of the Revised Code, and shall, except for the limitation that the total amount of such notes maturing in any one year shall not exceed fifty per cent of the anticipated proceeds of such levy for that year, mature serially in substantially equal installments during each year over a period not to exceed five years after their issuance.
(E)(1) In a resolution to be submitted to the taxing authority of a county school financing district under division (A) of this section calling for a ballot issue on the question of the levying of a tax for a continuing period of time by the taxing authority, the board of education of a school district that is part of the territory of the county school financing district also may propose to reduce the rate of one or more of that school district's property taxes levied for a continuing period of time in excess of the ten-mill limitation. The reduction in the rate of a property tax may be any amount, not exceeding the rate at which the tax is authorized to be levied. The reduction in the rate of a tax shall first take effect in the same year that the county school financing district tax takes effect, and shall continue for each year that the county school financing district tax is in effect. A board of education's resolution proposing to reduce the rate of one or more of its school district property taxes shall, in addition to including information required for a resolution under division (B)(1) of section 5705.03 of the Revised Code, specifically identify each such tax and shall state for each tax the maximum rate at which it currently may be levied and the maximum rate at which it could be levied after the proposed reduction, expressed in mills for each one dollar of taxable value.
Before submitting the resolution to the taxing authority of the county school financing district, the board of education of the school district shall certify a copy of it to the tax commissioner and the county auditor. The county auditor shall certify to the board all information required under division (B)(2) of section 5705.03 of the Revised Code, in the manner required under that division, and both of the following:
(a) An estimate of the levy's annual collections beginning for the first year for which the reduction applies, rounded to the nearest one thousand dollars, which shall be calculated assuming that the amount of the tax list of the taxing authority remains throughout the life of the reduced levy the same as the amount of the tax list for the current year, and if this is not determined, the estimated amount submitted by the auditor to the county budget commission.
If a school district is located in more than one county, the county auditor shall obtain from the county auditor of each other county in which the district is located the current tax valuation for the portion of the district in that county.
(b) The estimated effective rate of the levy for the last year before the proposed reduction and the first year that the reduction applies, both expressed in dollars for each one hundred thousand dollars of the county auditor's appraised value. Estimated effective rates shall be calculated using the tax list for the current year, and if this is not determined, the estimated amount submitted by the auditor to the county budget commission.
The tax commissioner, within ten days of receiving the resolution, shall certify to the board the reduction in the school district's total effective tax rate for each class of property that would have resulted if the proposed reduction in the rate or rates had been in effect the previous year. As used in this paragraph, "effective tax rate" has the same meaning as in section 323.08 of the Revised Code.
After receiving these certifications from the commissioner and the auditor, the board may amend its resolution to change the proposed property tax rate reduction before submitting the resolution to the financing district taxing authority, provided the board certifies a copy of the amended resolution to the county auditor with a request to provide the information required under divisions (E)(1)(a) and (b) of this section and the auditor transmits that information to the taxing authority.
If the board of education of a school district that is part of the territory of a county school financing district adopts a resolution proposing to reduce the rate of one or more of its property taxes in conjunction with the levying of a tax by the financing district, the resolution submitted by the board to the taxing authority of the financing district under division (A) of this section does not have to be identical in this respect to the resolutions submitted by the boards of education of the other school districts that are part of the territory of the county school financing district.
(2) Each school district that is part of the territory of a county school financing district may tailor to its own situation a proposed reduction in one or more property tax rates in conjunction with the proposed levying of a tax by the county school financing district; if one such school district proposes a reduction in one or more tax rates, another school district may propose a reduction of a different size or may propose no reduction. Within each school district that is part of the territory of the county school financing district, the electors shall vote on one ballot issue combining the question of the levying of the tax by the taxing authority of the county school financing district with, if any such reduction is proposed, the question of the reduction in the rate of one or more taxes of the school district. If a majority of the electors of the county school financing district voting on the question of the proposed levying of a tax by the taxing authority of the financing district vote to approve the question, any tax reductions proposed by school districts that are part of the territory of the financing district also are approved.
(3) The form of the ballot for an issue proposing to levy a county school financing district tax in conjunction with the reduction of the rate of one or more school district taxes shall be as follows:
"Shall the _______ (name of the county school financing district) be authorized to levy an additional tax for _______ (purpose stated in the resolutions), that the county auditor estimates will collect $_____ annually, at a rate not exceeding _______ mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to $_______ for each $100,000 of the county auditor's appraised value, for a continuing period of time? If the county school financing district tax is approved, the rate of an existing tax currently levied by the _______ (name of the school district of which the elector is a resident) at the rate of _______ mills shall be reduced to _______ mills for each $1 of taxable value, which amounts to a reduction from $_______ (estimated effective rate) to $_______ (estimated effective rate) for each $100,000 of the county auditor's appraised value, that the county auditor estimates will collect $_____ annually, until any such time as the county school financing district tax is decreased or repealed.


If the board of education of the school district proposes to reduce the rate of more than one of its existing taxes, the second sentence of the ballot language shall be modified for residents of that district to express the rates and estimated effective rates at which those taxes currently are levied and the rates and estimated effective rates to which they would be reduced as well as each levy's estimated annual collections, as provided by the county auditor under division (E)(1)(a) of this section. If the board of education of the school district does not propose to reduce the rate of any of its taxes, the second sentence of the ballot language shall not be used for residents of that district. In any case, the first sentence of the ballot language shall be the same for all the electors in the county school financing district, but the second sentence shall be different in each school district depending on whether and in what amount the board of education of the school district proposes to reduce the rate of one or more of its property taxes.
(4) If the rate of a school district property tax is reduced pursuant to this division, the tax commissioner shall compute the percentage required to be computed for that tax under division (D) of section 319.301 of the Revised Code each year the rate is reduced as if the tax had been levied in the preceding year at the rate to which it has been reduced. If the reduced rate of a tax is increased under division (E)(5) of this section, the commissioner shall compute the percentage required to be computed for that tax under division (D) of section 319.301 of the Revised Code each year the rate is increased as if the tax had been levied in the preceding year at the rate to which it has been increased.
(5) After the levying of a county school financing district tax in conjunction with the reduction of the rate of one or more school district taxes is approved by the electors under this division, if the rate of the county school financing district tax is decreased pursuant to an election under section 5705.261 of the Revised Code, the rate of each school district tax that had been reduced shall be increased by the number of mills obtained by multiplying the number of mills of the original reduction by the same percentage that the financing district tax rate is decreased. If the county school financing district tax is repealed pursuant to an election under section 5705.261 of the Revised Code, each school district may resume levying the property taxes that had been reduced at the full rate originally approved by the electors. A reduction in the rate of a school district property tax under this division is a reduction in the rate at which the board of education may levy that tax only for the period during which the county school financing district tax is levied prior to any decrease or repeal under section 5705.261 of the Revised Code. The resumption of the authority of the board of education to levy an increased or the full rate of tax does not constitute the levying of a new tax in excess of the ten-mill limitation.
(F) If a county school financing district has a tax in effect under this section, the territory of a city, local, or exempted village school district that is not a part of the county school financing district shall not become a part of the county school financing district unless approved by the electors of the city, local, or exempted village school district in accordance with division (C) of section 3311.50 of the Revised Code.
Last updated July 15, 2022 at 9:24 AM

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