Section 523.06. Nonstatutory and partial merger agreements

If a merger agreement is entered into as required by section 523.04 of the Revised Code, this section does not apply. If a merger agreement is not entered into under section 523.04 of the Revised Code, the merger agreement shall contain all of the terms and conditions specified in this section. If a partial merger agreement is entered into under section 523.04 of the Revised Code, this section applies only to the extent any term or condition that is required by section 523.04 of the Revised Code to be addressed in the merger agreement is not addressed therein.

The terms and conditions of a merger agreement to which this section applies shall be as follows:

(A) All members of each board of township trustees shall serve as board members of the new township. At the first general election for township officers occurring not less than ninety days after a merger is approved, the electors of the new township shall elect three township trustees with staggered terms of office. The first terms of office following the election shall be modified to an even number of years not to exceed four to allow subsequent elections for the office to be held in the same year as other township officers.

(B) The township fiscal officer of the largest township, by population, shall be the township fiscal officer for the new township. At the first general election for township officers occurring not less than ninety days after the merger, the electors shall elect a township fiscal officer, whose first term of office shall be modified to an even number of years not to exceed four to allow subsequent elections for that office to be held in the same year as other township fiscal officers.

(C) Voted property tax levies shall remain in effect for the parcels of real property to which they applied prior to the merger, and the merger shall not affect the proceeds of a tax levy pledged for the retirement of any debt obligation. Upon expiration of a property tax levy, the levy may only be replaced or renewed by vote of the electors in the manner provided by law, to apply to real property within the boundaries of the new township. If the millage levied inside the ten-mill limitation of each township merged is different, the board of township trustees of the new township shall immediately equalize the millage for the entire new township.

(D) For purposes of the retirement of all debt obligations of each township merged, the township fiscal officer shall continue to track parcels of real property and the tax revenue generated on those parcels by the tax districts that were in place prior to the merger, and shall provide that information on an annual basis to the board of township trustees of the new township. Debt obligations that existed at the time of the merger shall be retired from the revenue generated from the parcels of real property that made up the township that incurred the debt before the merger.

(E)

(1) With respect to any agreement entered into under Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code that covers any of the employees of the townships merged under this chapter, the state employment relations board, within one hundred twenty days after the date the merger is approved, shall designate the appropriate bargaining units for the employees of the new township in accordance with section 4117.06 of the Revised Code. Notwithstanding the recognition procedures prescribed in section 4117.05 and division (A) of section 4117.07 of the Revised Code, the board shall conduct a representation election with respect to each bargaining unit designated under this division in accordance with divisions (B) and (C) of section 4117.07 of the Revised Code. If an exclusive representative is selected through this election, the exclusive representative shall negotiate and enter into an agreement with the new township in accordance with Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code. Until the parties reach an agreement, any agreement in effect on the date of the merger shall apply to the employees that were in the bargaining unit that is covered by the agreement. An agreement in existence on the date of the merger is terminated on the effective date of an agreement negotiated under this division.

(2) If an exclusive representative is not selected, any agreement in effect on the date of the merger shall apply to the employees that were in the bargaining unit that is covered by the agreement and shall expire on its terms.

(3) Each agreement entered into under Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code on or after the effective date of this section involving a new township shall contain a provision regarding the designation of an exclusive representative and bargaining units for the new township as described in division (E) of this section.

(4) In addition to the laws listed in division (A) of section 4117.10 of the Revised Code that prevail over conflicting agreements between employee organizations and public employers, division (E) of this section prevails over any conflicting provisions of agreements between employee organizations and public employers that are entered into on or after the effective date of this section pursuant to Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code.

(5) As used in division (E) of this section, "employee organization" and "exclusive representative" have the same meanings as in section 4117.01 of the Revised Code.

(F)

(1) If the boundaries of the new township are not coextensive with a special purpose district, the new township shall remain in the existing special purpose district as a successor to the original township, unless the special purpose district is dissolved. The board of township trustees of the new township may place a question on the ballot at the next general election held after the merger to conform the boundaries, dissolve the special purpose district, or absorb the special purpose district into the new township on the terms specified in the resolution that places the question on the ballot for approval of the electors of the new township.

(2) As used in division (F) of this section, "special purpose district" means any geographic or political jurisdiction that is created under law by a township merged.

(G) Zoning codes that existed at the time of the merger shall remain in effect after the merger, and the townships that existed before the merger shall be treated as administrative districts within the new township for the purposes of zoning.

Added by 129th General AssemblyFile No.28, HB 153, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2011.