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As Introduced
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
H. B. No. 375
2025-2026
Representative Fowler Arthur
To
amend sections 5705.03, 5705.215, and 5705.31 and to enact sections
3314.31, 5705.316, and 5748.11 of the Revised Code
to
establish a small district magnet community school pilot program.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
sections 5705.03, 5705.215, and 5705.31 be amended and sections
3314.31, 5705.316, and 5748.11 of the Revised Code be enacted to read
as follows:
Sec.
3314.31.
(A)
The department of education and workforce shall establish a small
district magnet community school pilot program. A school district may
apply to participate in the pilot program in a form and manner
prescribed by the department. In the application, a school district
shall indicate the length of time it intends to participate in the
pilot program, which shall be not fewer than three school years and
not more than five school years. The department shall review and
approve applications under division (C) of this section.
(B)
Notwithstanding anything in the Revised Code to the contrary, under
the pilot program, any school of a participating school district
shall operate as a community school established under this chapter,
and the board of education shall act as the school's governing
authority. To the extent the department determines it necessary, the
department shall act as the sponsor of a district school. The
department shall issue guidelines clarifying and defining how the
department will act as a sponsor, the district board will act as a
governing authority, and a district school will operate as a
community school, as well as whether, or the extent to which, the
district board and a district school will comply with requirements
under the law for school districts and community schools. The
guidelines shall enhance the flexibility of a district school to
operate and provide instruction to students, including by doing all
of the following:
(1)
Permitting the use of multi-grade classrooms, instead of single-grade
classrooms;
(2)
Permitting the district school to assign the same classroom teachers
to the same cohort of students as that cohort is promoted from school
year to school year;
(3)
Permitting the district school to have flexibility regarding state
standards adopted under section 3301.079 of the Revised Code
regarding literacy and numeracy in grades pre-kindergarten through
three;
(4)
Permitting a district school, in grades four and above, to
incorporate other subject areas into instruction regarding reading,
writing, and mathematics in order to allow more depth in science,
social studies, and history;
(5)
Permitting district schools to operate for a minimum of nine hundred
twenty hours per school year, instead of the minimum hours prescribed
under section 3313.48 of the Revised Code.
(C)
The department shall review each application submitted by a school
district under this section. The department shall approve a school
district to participate in the pilot program if the district
satisfies all of the following conditions:
(1)
The school district has an enrolled ADM of fewer than one thousand
students.
(2)
The school district has adopted an open enrollment policy under
section 3313.98 of the Revised Code that permits the enrollment from
students from all other school districts.
(3)
The department determines the school district has adopted a
competency-based educational pilot program that provides
differentiated instruction, academic acceleration in reading,
writing, and mathematics, and emphasizes career preparation aligned
with the needs of the district's local industries.
(4)
The department determines the school district has entered into a
shared service agreement with an educational service center that
enhances cost-savings efficiencies and includes a memorandum of
understanding with the service center under which, if the district is
approved to participate in the pilot program, both of the following
apply:
(a)
The educational service center shall assume specified school district
duties and responsibilities while the school district is
participating in the pilot program, which may include transportation,
special education instruction, truancy intervention, or other similar
duties or responsibilities.
(b)
The school district may transfer control of buildings, school buses,
or other assets of the district, including assets the district is not
able to afford to maintain while participating in the pilot program,
to the educational service center until the district finishes its
participation in the pilot program. Such transfer of assets shall not
include any monetary compensation to either school district or the
educational service center, but the service center may retain control
of the assets it is holding for the district until, after completing
its participation in the pilot program, the district is able to
financially afford to maintain the assets.
(D)
Notwithstanding anything in the Revised Code to the contrary, the
department shall provide state funding to each school of a
participating school district in the same manner as the department
provides funding to community schools under Chapter 3317. of the
Revised Code, and the district schools shall be subject to the
community school requirements for state funding under Chapter 3314.
of the Revised Code.
(E)
The department shall develop guidelines and procedures for the
operation of the pilot program, including the guidelines described in
division (B) of this section.
Sec.
5705.03.
(A)
The taxing authority of each subdivision may levy taxes annually,
subject to the limitations of sections 5705.01 to 5705.47 of the
Revised Code, on the real and personal property within the
subdivision for the purpose of paying the current operating expenses
of the subdivision and acquiring or constructing permanent
improvements. The taxing authority of each subdivision and taxing
unit shall, subject to the limitations of such sections, levy such
taxes annually as are necessary to pay the interest and sinking fund
on and retire at maturity the bonds, notes, and certificates of
indebtedness of such subdivision and taxing unit, including levies in
anticipation of which the subdivision or taxing unit has incurred
indebtedness.
(B)(1)
When a taxing authority determines that it is necessary to levy a tax
outside the ten-mill limitation for any purpose authorized by the
Revised Code, the taxing authority shall certify to the county
auditor a resolution or ordinance requesting that the county auditor
certify to the taxing authority the amounts described in division
(B)(2) of this section. The resolution or ordinance shall state all
of the following:
(a)
The proposed rate of the tax, expressed in mills for each one dollar
of taxable value, or the dollar amount of revenue to be generated by
the proposed tax;
(b)
The purpose of the tax;
(c)
Whether the tax is an additional levy, a renewal or a replacement of
an existing tax, a renewal or replacement of an existing tax with an
increase or a decrease, a reduction or decrease of an existing tax,
or an extension of an existing tax to additional territory;
(d)
The section of the Revised Code authorizing submission of the
question of the tax;
(e)
The term of years of the tax or if the tax is for a continuing period
of time;
(f)
That the tax is to be levied upon the entire territory of the
subdivision or, if authorized by the Revised Code, a description of
the portion of the territory of the subdivision in which the tax is
to be levied;
(g)
The date of the election at which the question of the tax shall
appear on the ballot;
(h)
That the ballot measure shall be submitted to the entire territory of
the subdivision or, if authorized by the Revised Code, a description
of the portion of the territory of the subdivision to which the
ballot measure shall be submitted;
(i)
The tax year in which the tax will first be levied and the calendar
year in which the tax will first be collected;
(j)
Each such county in which the subdivision has territory.
(2)
Upon receipt of a resolution or ordinance certified under division
(B)(1) of this section, the county auditor shall certify to the
taxing authority each of the following, as applicable to that levy:
(a)
The total current tax valuation of the subdivision.
(b)
The number of mills for each one dollar of taxable value that is
required to generate a specified amount of revenue.
(c)
Either of the following:
(i)
If the levy is to renew, renew and increase, renew and decrease,
reduce or decrease, or extend to additional territory an existing
levy that is subject to reduction under section 319.301 of the
Revised Code, the levy's effective rate, expressed in dollars,
rounded to the nearest dollar, for each one hundred thousand dollars
of the county auditor's appraised value;
(ii)
For all other levies, the levy's rate, described in division
(B)(2)(b) or (d) of this section, expressed in dollars, rounded to
the nearest dollar, for each one hundred thousand dollars of the
county auditor's appraised value.
(d)
The dollar amount of revenue, rounded to the nearest dollar, that
would be generated by a specified number of mills for each one dollar
of taxable value.
(e)
For any levy or portion of a levy except a levy or portion of a levy
to pay debt charges, an estimate of the levy's annual collections,
rounded to the nearest dollar, which shall be calculated assuming
that the amount of the tax list of the taxing authority remains
throughout the life of the levy the same as the amount of the tax
list most recently certified by the auditor under division (A) of
section 319.28 of the Revised Code.
If
a subdivision is located in more than one county, the county auditor
shall obtain from the county auditor of each other county in which
the subdivision is located the current tax valuation for the portion
of the subdivision in that county. The county auditor shall issue the
certification to the taxing authority within ten days after receiving
the taxing authority's resolution or ordinance requesting it.
(3)
Upon receiving the certification from the county auditor under
division (B)(2) of this section, the taxing authority may adopt a
resolution or ordinance stating the rate of the tax levy, expressed
in mills for each one dollar of taxable value and the rate or
effective rate, as applicable, in dollars for each one hundred
thousand dollars of the county auditor's appraised value, as
estimated by the county auditor, and that the taxing authority will
proceed with the submission of the question of the tax to electors.
The taxing authority shall certify this resolution or ordinance, a
copy of the county auditor's certifications, and the resolution or
ordinance the taxing authority adopted under division (B)(1) of this
section to the proper county board of elections in the manner and
within the time prescribed by the section of the Revised Code
governing submission of the question. The county board of elections
shall not submit the question of the tax to electors unless a copy of
the county auditor's certification accompanies the resolutions or
ordinances the taxing authority certifies to the board. Before
requesting a taxing authority to submit a tax levy, any agency or
authority authorized to make that request shall first request the
certification from the county auditor provided under this section.
(4)
This division is supplemental to, and not in derogation of, any
similar requirement governing the certification by the county auditor
of the tax valuation of a subdivision or necessary tax rates for the
purposes of the submission of the question of a tax in excess of the
ten-mill limitation, including sections 133.18 and 5705.195 of the
Revised Code.
(C)
All taxes levied on property shall be extended on the tax list and
duplicate by the county auditor of the county in which the property
is located, and shall be collected by the county treasurer of such
county in the same manner and under the same laws and rules as are
prescribed for the assessment and collection of county taxes. The
proceeds of any tax levied by or for any subdivision when received by
its fiscal officer shall be deposited in its treasury to the credit
of the appropriate fund.
(D)
The board of education of a school district participating in the
small district magnet community school pilot program under section
3314.31 of the Revised Code shall not adopt a resolution under this
section.
Sec.
5705.215.
(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
;
(g)
For increased expenses of the educational service center due to a
school district's participation in the small district magnet
community school pilot program under section 3314.31 of the Revised
Code
.
(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 dollar,
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 most recently certified by the
county auditor under division (A) of section 319.28 of the Revised
Code.
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 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.
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 $_______ (effective rate) to
$_______ (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.
FOR
THE TAX LEVY
AGAINST
THE TAX LEVY
"
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 effective rates at which those taxes
currently are levied and the rates and 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.
Sec.
5705.31.
The
county auditor shall present to the county budget commission the
annual tax budgets submitted under sections 5705.01 to 5705.47 of the
Revised Code, together with an estimate prepared by the auditor of
the amount of any state levy, the rate of any school tax levy as
previously determined, the tax commissioner's estimate of the amount
to be received in the county public library fund, the tax rates
provided under section 5705.281 of the Revised Code if adoption of
the tax budget was waived under that section, and such other
information as the commission requests or the tax commissioner
prescribes. The budget commission shall examine such budget and
ascertain the total amount proposed to be raised in the county for
the purposes of each subdivision and other taxing units in the
county.
The
commission shall ascertain that the following levies have been
properly authorized and, if so authorized, shall approve them without
modification:
(A)
All levies in excess of the ten-mill limitation;
(B)
All levies for debt charges not provided for by levies in excess of
the ten-mill limitation, including levies necessary to pay notes
issued for emergency purposes;
(C)
The levies prescribed by division (B) of sections 742.33 and 742.34
of the Revised Code;
(D)
Except as otherwise provided in this division, a minimum levy within
the ten-mill limitation for the current expense and debt service of
each subdivision or taxing unit, which shall equal two-thirds of the
average levy for current expenses and debt service allotted within
the fifteen-mill limitation to such subdivision or taxing unit during
the last five years the fifteen-mill limitation was in effect unless
such subdivision or taxing unit requests an amount requiring a lower
rate. Except as provided in section 5705.312 of the Revised Code, if
the levies required in divisions (B) and (C) of this section for the
subdivision or taxing unit equal or exceed the entire minimum levy of
the subdivision as fixed, the minimum levies of the other
subdivisions or taxing units shall be reduced by the commission to
provide for the levies and an operating levy for the subdivision.
Such additional levy shall be deducted from the minimum levies of
each of the other subdivisions or taxing units, but the operating
levy for a school district shall not be reduced below a figure
equivalent to forty-five per cent of the millage available within the
ten-mill limitation after all the levies in divisions (B) and (C) of
this section have been provided for.
If
a municipal corporation and a township have entered into an
annexation agreement under section 709.192 of the Revised Code in
which they agree to reallocate their shares of the minimum levies
established under this division and if that annexation agreement is
submitted along with the annual tax budget of both the township and
the municipal corporation, then, when determining the minimum levy
under this division, the auditor shall allocate, to the extent
possible, the minimum levy for that municipal corporation and
township in accordance with their annexation agreement.
(E)
The levies prescribed by section 3709.29 of the Revised Code.
Divisions
(A) to (E) of this section are mandatory, and commissions shall be
without discretion to reduce such minimum levies except as provided
in such divisions
or section 5705.316 of the Revised Code
.
If
any debt charge is omitted from the budget, the commission shall
include it therein.
Sec.
5705.316.
(A)(1)
The board of education of a school district that levies a current
expense school district income tax shall notify the tax commissioner
of the date that the district begins to participate in the small
district magnet community school pilot program under section 3314.31
of the Revised Code.
(2)
The board of education of a school district shall notify the tax
commissioner of the date that the district ceases to participate in
the small district magnet community school pilot program.
(B)
A county budget commission shall reduce the rate of, or the annual
amount of money to be raised by, each current expense school district
income tax levied by a school district participating in the small
district magnet community school pilot program for each tax year
ending on or after the date described in division (A)(1) of this
section and before the date described in division (A)(2) of this
section. The rate of any such tax shall be reduced to zero mills, or
the amount to be collected by such tax shall be reduced to zero
dollars for each of those tax years.
Sec.
5748.11.
(A)(1)
The board of education of a school district that levies a current
expense school district income tax shall notify the tax commissioner
of the date that the district begins to participate in the small
district magnet community school pilot program under section 3314.31
of the Revised Code.
(2)
The board of education of a school district shall notify the tax
commissioner of the date that the school ceases to participate in the
small district magnet community school pilot program.
(B)
The board of education of a school district participating in the
small district magnet community school pilot program shall not levy a
current expense school district income tax under this chapter for any
taxable year ending on or after the date described in division (A)(1)
of this section and before the date described in division (A)(2) of
this section. The board shall not adopt a resolution levying a school
district income tax under this chapter.
Section
2.
That
existing sections 5705.03, 5705.215, and 5705.31 of the Revised Code
are hereby repealed.