Section 5727.85. Payments from school district property tax replacement fund

No determinations, computations, certifications, or payments shall be made under this section after June 30, 2015.

(A) By the thirty-first day of July of each year, beginning in 2002 and ending in 2010, the department of education shall determine the following for each school district and each joint vocational school district:

(1) The state education aid offset, which, except as provided in division (A)(1)(c) of this section, is the difference obtained by subtracting the amount described in division (A)(1)(b) of this section from the amount described in division (A)(1)(a) of this section:

(a) The state education aid computed for the school district or joint vocational school district for the current fiscal year as of the thirty-first day of July;

(b) The state education aid that would be computed for the school district or joint vocational school district for the current fiscal year as of the thirty-first day of July if the recognized valuation included the tax value loss for the school district or joint vocational school district;

(c) The state education aid offset for fiscal year 2010 and fiscal year 2011 equals the greater of the state education aid offset calculated for that fiscal year under divisions (A)(1)(a) and (b) of this section or the state education aid offset calculated for fiscal year 2009.

(2) For fiscal years 2008 through 2011, the greater of zero or the difference obtained by subtracting the state education aid offset determined under division (A)(1) of this section from the fixed-rate levy loss certified under division (J) of section 5727.84 of the Revised Code for all taxing districts in each school district and joint vocational school district.

By the fifth day of August of each such year, the department of education shall certify the amount so determined under division (A)(1) of this section to the director of budget and management.

(B) Not later than the thirty-first day of October of the years 2006 through 2010, the department of education shall determine all of the following for each school district:

(1) The amount obtained by subtracting the district's state education aid computed for fiscal year 2002 from the district's state education aid computed for the current fiscal year as of the fifteenth day of July, by including in the definition of recognized valuation the machinery and equipment, inventory, furniture and fixtures, and telephone property tax value losses, as defined in section 5751.20 of the Revised Code, for the school district or joint vocational school district for the preceding tax year;

(2) The inflation-adjusted property tax loss. The inflation-adjusted property tax loss equals the fixed-rate levy loss, excluding the tax loss from levies within the ten-mill limitation to pay debt charges, determined under division (D) of section 5727.84 of the Revised Code for all taxing districts in each school district, plus the product obtained by multiplying that loss by the cumulative percentage increase in the consumer price index from January 1, 2002, to the thirtieth day of June of the current year.

(3) The difference obtained by subtracting the amount computed under division (B)(1) from the amount of the inflation-adjusted property tax loss. If this difference is zero or a negative number, no further payments shall be made under division (C) of this section to the school district from the school district property tax replacement fund.

(C) Beginning in 2002 for school districts and beginning in August 2011 for joint vocational school districts, the department of education shall pay from the school district property tax replacement fund to each school district all of the following:

(1) In February 2002, one-half of the fixed-rate levy loss certified under division (G) of section 5727.84 of the Revised Code between the twenty-first and twenty-eighth days of February.

(2) From August 2002 through February 2011, one-half of the amount calculated for that fiscal year under division (A)(2) of this section between the twenty-first and twenty-eighth days of August and of February, provided the difference computed under division (B)(3) of this section is not less than or equal to zero.

(3) For fiscal years 2012 and thereafter, the sum of the amounts in divisions (C)(3)(a) or (b) and (c) of this section shall be paid on or before the thirty-first day of August and the twenty-eighth day of February:

(a) If the ratio of 2011 current expense S.B. 3 allocation to total resources is equal to or less than the threshold per cent, zero;

(b) If the ratio of 2011 current expense S.B. 3 allocation to total resources is greater than the threshold per cent, fifty per cent of the difference of 2011 current expense S.B. 3 allocation minus the product of total resources multiplied by the threshold per cent;

(c) Fifty per cent of the product of 2011 non-current expense S.B. 3 allocation multiplied by seventy-five per cent for fiscal year 2012 and fifty per cent for fiscal years 2013 and thereafter.

The department of education shall report to each school district the apportionment of the payments among the school district's funds based on the certifications under division (J) of section 5727.84 of the Revised Code.

(D) For taxes levied within the ten-mill limitation for debt purposes in tax year 1998 in the case of electric company tax value losses, and in tax year 1999 in the case of natural gas company tax value losses, payments shall be made equal to one hundred per cent of the loss computed as if the tax were a fixed-rate levy, but those payments shall extend from fiscal year 2006 through fiscal year 2016.

(E) Not later than January 1, 2002, for all taxing districts in each joint vocational school district, the tax commissioner shall certify to the department of education the fixed-rate levy loss determined under division (G) of section 5727.84 of the Revised Code. From February 2002 through February 2011, the department shall pay from the school district property tax replacement fund to the joint vocational school district one-half of the amount calculated for that fiscal year under division (A)(2) of this section between the twenty-first and twenty-eighth days of August and of February.

(F)

(1) Not later than January 1, 2002, for each fixed-sum levy levied by each school district or joint vocational school district and for each year for which a determination is made under division (H) of section 5727.84 of the Revised Code that a fixed-sum levy loss is to be reimbursed, the tax commissioner shall certify to the department of education the fixed-sum levy loss determined under that division. The certification shall cover a time period sufficient to include all fixed-sum levies for which the tax commissioner made such a determination. The department shall pay from the school district property tax replacement fund to the school district or joint vocational school district one-half of the fixed-sum levy loss so certified for each year between the twenty-first and twenty-eighth days of August and of February.

(2) Beginning in 2003, by the thirty-first day of January of each year, the tax commissioner shall review the certification originally made under division (F)(1) of this section. If the commissioner determines that a debt levy that had been scheduled to be reimbursed in the current year has expired, a revised certification for that and all subsequent years shall be made to the department of education.

(G) If the balance of the half-mill equalization fund created under section 3318.18 of the Revised Code is insufficient to make the full amount of payments required under division (D) of that section, the department of education, at the end of the third quarter of the fiscal year, shall certify to the director of budget and management the amount of the deficiency, and the director shall transfer an amount equal to the deficiency from the school district property tax replacement fund to the half-mill equalization fund.

(H) Beginning in August 2002, and ending in May 2011, the director of budget and management shall transfer from the school district property tax replacement fund to the general revenue fund each of the following:

(1) Between the twenty-eighth day of August and the fifth day of September, the lesser of one-half of the amount certified for that fiscal year under division (A)(2) of this section or the balance in the school district property tax replacement fund;

(2) Between the first and fifth days of May, the lesser of one-half of the amount certified for that fiscal year under division (A)(2) of this section or the balance in the school district property tax replacement fund.

(I) On the first day of June each year, the director of budget and management shall transfer any balance remaining in the school district property tax replacement fund after the payments have been made under divisions (C), (D), (E), (F), (G), and (H) of this section to the half-mill equalization fund created under section 3318.18 of the Revised Code to the extent required to make any payments in the current fiscal year under that section, and shall transfer the remaining balance to the general revenue fund.

(J) After fiscal year 2002, if the total amount in the school district property tax replacement fund is insufficient to make all payments under divisions (C), (D), (E), (F), and (G) of this section at the time the payments are to be made, the director of budget and management shall transfer from the general revenue fund to the school district property tax replacement fund the difference between the total amount to be paid and the total amount in the school district property tax replacement fund, except that no transfer shall be made by reason of a deficiency to the extent that it results from the amendment of section 5727.84 of the Revised Code by Amended Substitute House Bill No. 95 of the 125th general assembly.

(K) If all of the territory of a school district or joint vocational school district is merged with an existing district, or if a part of the territory of a school district or joint vocational school district is transferred to an existing or new district, the department of education, in consultation with the tax commissioner, shall adjust the payments made under this section as follows:

(1) For the merger of all of the territory of two or more districts, the total resources, 2011 current expense S.B. 3 allocation, total 2011 S.B. 3 allocation, 2011 non-current expense S.B. 3 allocation, and fixed-sum levy loss of the successor district shall be equal to the sum of the total resources, 2011 current expense S.B. 3 allocation, total 2011 S.B. 3 allocation, 2011 non-current expense S.B. 3 allocation, and fixed-sum levy loss for each of the districts involved in the merger.

(2) For the transfer of a part of one district's territory to an existing district, the amount of the total resources, 2011 current expense S.B. 3 allocation, total 2011 S.B. 3 allocation, and 2011 non-current expense S.B. 3 allocation that is transferred to the recipient district shall be an amount equal to the transferring district's total resources, 2011 current expense S.B. 3 allocation, total 2011 S.B. 3 allocation, and 2011 non-current expense S.B. 3 allocation times a fraction, the numerator of which is the number of pupils being transferred to the recipient district, measured, in the case of a school district, by formula ADM as that term is defined in section 3317.02 of the Revised Code or, in the case of a joint vocational school district, by formula ADM as defined for a joint vocational school district in that section, and the denominator of which is the average daily membership or formula ADM of the transferor district. Fixed-sum levy losses for both districts shall be determined under division (K)(4) of this section.

(3) For the transfer of a part of the territory of one or more districts to create a new district:

(a) If the new district is created on or after January 1, 2000, but before January 1, 2005, the new district shall be paid its current fixed-rate levy loss through August 2009. In February 2010, August 2010, and February 2011, the new district shall be paid fifty per cent of the lesser of:

(i) the amount calculated under division (C)(2) of this section or

(ii) an amount equal to seventy per cent of the new district's fixed-rate levy loss.

Beginning in fiscal year 2012, the new district shall be paid as provided in division (C) of this section.

Fixed-sum levy losses for the districts shall be determined under division (K)(4) of this section.

(b) If the new district is created on or after January 1, 2005, the new district shall be deemed not to have any fixed-rate levy loss or, except as provided in division (K)(4) of this section, fixed-sum levy loss. The district or districts from which the territory was transferred shall have no reduction in their fixed-rate levy loss, or, except as provided in division (K)(4) of this section, their fixed-sum levy loss.

(4) If a recipient district under division (K)(2) of this section or a new district under division (K)(3)(a) or (b) of this section takes on debt from one or more of the districts from which territory was transferred, and any of the districts transferring the territory had fixed-sum levy losses, the department of education, in consultation with the tax commissioner, shall make an equitable division of the fixed-sum levy losses.

Amended by 131st General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 64, §101.01, eff. 7/1/2015.

Amended by 130th General Assembly File No. 25, HB 59, §120.10, eff. 7/1/2014.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.28, HB 153, §101.01, eff. 6/30/2011.

Effective Date: 09-26-2003; 06-30-2005; 03-30-2006; 2007 HB119 09-29-2007; 2008 HB562 06-24-2008