Regards municipal incorporation

As Introduced

136th
General Assembly

Regular
Session
H. B. No. 592

2025-2026

Representatives Thomas, D., Mathews,
A.

To
amend
sections

707.02

and 707.29

and to repeal section 707.04 of the Revised Code
regarding
municipal incorporation.

BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section
1.
That

sections

707.02

and 707.29

of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:

Sec.
707.02.
The
petition required by section 707.01 of the Revised Code shall be
signed by fifty-one per cent of the electors within the territory
proposed to be incorporated, as determined by the total number of
votes cast within that territory for the office of governor at the
preceding general election for that office, and shall contain or have
attached thereto:

(A)
A full description and an accurate map of the territory within the
proposed municipal corporation;

(B)
A statement signed by the county auditor as to the total assessed
valuation of the area proposed for incorporation;

(C)
A statement that the area consists of not less than two square miles,
includes a population of not less than eight hundred persons per
square mile, and has an assessed valuation of real, personal, and
public utility property subject, except as otherwise provided in this
division, to general property taxation of at least three thousand
five hundred dollars per capita. In determining per capita assessed
valuation under this division, the assessed valuation of any tangible
personal property, buildings, structures, improvements, and fixtures
that are exempt from taxation under division (B) of section 5709.081
of the Revised Code shall be added to the assessed valuation of real,
personal, and public utility property subject to general property
taxation.

(D)
A statement by the secretary of state that the name proposed in the
petition is not being used by any other municipal corporation in the
state;

(E)
The name of a person to act as agent for the petitioners
;

(F)
A statement of whether or not the proposed municipal corporation
contains and includes territory within three miles of any portion of
the boundary of an existing municipal corporation
.

Sec.
707.29.
(A)
Cities may be incorporated in the manner provided in sections 707.29
and 707.30 of the Revised Code. Application for incorporation of a
city shall be made by petition addressed to the board of county
commissioners. The territory proposed for incorporation as a city
shall meet all of the following criteria:

(1)
It shall consist of not less than four square miles.

(2)
It shall have a population of not less than
twenty-five

five

thousand
and a population density of at least one thousand persons per square
mile.

(3)
It shall have an assessed valuation of real, personal, and public
utility property subject, except as otherwise provided in division
(A)(3) of this section, to general property taxation of at least
twenty-five hundred dollars per capita. In determining per capita
assessed valuation under division (A)(3) of this section, the
assessed valuation of any tangible personal property, buildings,
structures, improvements, and fixtures that are exempt from taxation
under division (B) of section 5709.081 of the Revised Code shall be
added to the assessed valuation of real, personal, and public utility
property subject to general property taxation.

(4)
It shall not completely surround an existing municipal corporation.

(5)
It shall be contiguous.

(B)
No territory within the boundaries of a military base, camp, or
similar installation under the jurisdiction of a military department
of the United States government, that is used for the housing of
members of the armed forces of the United States and is a center for
military operations of the department shall be incorporated without
the approval of the secretary of defense of the United States,
his
a

designee
of
the secretary of defense
,
or other person having authority under federal law to give such
approval.

Section
2.
That
existing
sections

707.02

and 707.29

of the Revised Code
are

hereby
repealed.

Section
3.
That
section 707.04 of the Revised Code is hereby repealed.