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sb281_02_PS
As Passed by the Senate
136th
General Assembly
Regular
Session
Sub. S. B. No. 281
2025-2026
Senator Roegner
Cosponsors: Senators Cirino, Patton
To
amend
sections
306.04
and 306.14
of the Revised Code
to
authorize a board of county commissioners, on its own behalf, to
award a franchise for the operation of a public transit system.
BE
IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
Section
1.
That
sections
306.04
and 306.14
of the Revised Code be amended to read as follows:
Sec.
306.04.
(A)
Except as otherwise provided in division (B) of this section,
employees of a county transit board or a board of county
commissioners operating a transit system are employees of the county.
If the system is operated by the board of county commissioners, the
board shall appoint an executive director, who shall be in the
unclassified service.
(B)
Any county transit board that established its own civil service
organization and procedure prior to October 25, 1995, shall continue
to operate under that organization. Appointments and promotions in
that system shall be made, as far as practicable, by competitive
examination.
A
board that established its own civil service organization prior to
October 25, 1995, shall establish by rule the seniority provisions
relating to street railway and motor bus employees in effect at the
time of the acquisition of the transit system by the county. The
vacation, holiday, and sick leave privileges shall not be regulated
by other provisions of law relating to public employees of the state
or county, except that the transit board, its officers and employees,
shall be subject to the public employees retirement system of the
state and the transit board shall assume any pension obligations
which have been assumed by any publicly owned transit system which
the county may acquire.
(C)
A county transit board or board of county commissioners operating a
transit system may:
(1)
Acquire in its name by gift, grant, purchase, or condemnation and
hold and operate real estate and interests therein and personal
property suitable for its purposes;
(2)
In its name purchase, acquire, construct, enlarge, improve, equip,
repair, maintain, sell, exchange, lease as lessee or lessor, receive
a right of use of, and manage, control, and operate, in or out of the
county, a county transit system consisting of all real estate and
interests therein, personal property, and a combination thereof, for
or related to the movement of persons including but not limited to
street railway, tramline, subways, rapid transits, monorails, and
passenger bus systems but excluding therefrom trucks, the movement of
property by truck, and facilities designed for use in the movement of
property by truck for hire;
(3)
Issue, with the approval of the county commissioners when the
issuance is made by the transit board, revenue bonds of the county as
provided in division (B) of section 306.09 of the Revised Code, to
secure funds to accomplish its purposes. The principal of and
interest on such bonds, together with all other payments required to
be made by the trust agreement or indenture securing such bonds,
shall be paid solely from revenues or other income accruing to the
board from facilities of the county transit system designated in said
agreement or indenture.
(4)
Enter into contracts in the exercise of the rights, powers, and
duties conferred upon it, and execute all instruments necessary in
the conduct of its business;
(5)
Fix, alter, and charge rates and other charges for the use of its
real estate and interests therein, personal property, and
combinations thereof;
(6)
Employ such financial consultants, accountants, appraisers,
consulting engineers, architects, construction experts,
attorneys-at-law, managers and other supervisory personnel, and other
officers, employees, and agents as it determines necessary to conduct
its business, and fix their compensation and duties;
(7)
Pledge, hypothecate, or otherwise encumber its revenues and other
income as security for its obligations and enter into trust
agreements or indentures for the benefit of revenue bondholders;
(8)
Borrow money or accept or contract to accept advances, loans, gifts,
grants, devises, or bequests from and enter into contracts or
agreements with any federal, state, or other governmental or private
source and hold and apply advances, loans, gifts, grants, devises, or
bequests according to the terms thereof including provisions which
are required by such federal, state, or other governmental or private
source to protect the interest of employees affected by such
advances, loans, gifts, grants, devises, or bequests. Such advances,
loans, gifts, grants, or devises may be subject to any reasonable
reservation and any gift, grant, or devise or real estate may be in
fee simple or any lesser estate. Any advances or loans received from
any federal, state, or other governmental or private source may be
repaid in accordance with the terms of such advance or loan. A loan
accepted by a county transit board shall not, in any way, obligate
the general fund of a county or a board of county commissioners.
(9)
Conduct investigations and surveys into the needs of the public
within or without the county for transportation services to provide
for the movement of persons within, into, or from the area serviced
or to be serviced by the county transit system;
(10)
Enter into lawful arrangements with the appropriate federal or state
department or agency, county, township, municipal corporation, or
other political subdivision or public agency for the planning and
installation of any public facilities which are determined necessary
in the conduct of its business;
(11)
Purchase fire, extended coverage, and liability insurance for the
real estate and interests therein, personal property and any
combination thereof, used by or in connection with the county transit
system and insurance covering the board and the county transit system
and its officers and employees for liability for damage or injury to
persons or property;
(12)
Procure and pay all or any part of the cost of group hospitalization,
surgical, major medical, or sickness and accident insurance, or a
combination thereof, for the officers and employees of the county
transit system and their immediate dependents, issued by an insurance
company, duly authorized to do business in this state;
(13)
Sell, lease, release, or otherwise dispose of real estate or
interests therein or personal property owned by it and grant such
easements across its real estate and interests therein as will not
interfere with its use by the county transit system;
(14)
Establish rules for the use and operation of the county transit
system including the real estate or interests therein, personal
property or a combination of the foregoing used by or in connection
with such system;
(15)
Exercise the power of eminent domain to appropriate any real estate
or interests therein, personal property, franchises, or any
combination thereof, within or without the county, necessary or
proper in the exercise of its powers provided in sections 306.01 to
306.13 of the Revised Code, as provided in sections 163.01 to 163.22
of the Revised Code, and subject to divisions (15)(a), (b), and (c)
of this section, provided that a county transit board or a board of
county commissioners operating a transit system shall not proceed to
so appropriate real property outside its territorial boundaries,
until it has served at the office of the county commissioners of the
county in which it is proposed to appropriate real property, a notice
describing the real property to be taken and the purpose for which it
is proposed to be taken, and such county commissioners have entered
on their journal within thirty days after such service a resolution
approving such appropriation.
(a)
Nothing contained in this division authorizes a county transit board
or a board of county commissioners to appropriate any land, rights,
rights-of-way, franchises, or easements belonging to the state or to
a municipal corporation without the consent of the state or of the
municipal corporation, and no county transit board or board of county
commissioners shall exercise the right of eminent domain to acquire
any certificate of public convenience and necessity, or any part
thereof, issued to a for-hire motor carrier by the public utilities
commission of Ohio or by the federal motor carrier safety
administration of the United States, or to take or disturb other real
estate or interests therein, personal property, or any combination
thereof belonging to any municipal corporation without the consent of
the legislative authority of such municipal corporation, or take or
disturb real estate or interests therein, personal property, or any
combination thereof belonging to any other political subdivision,
public corporation, public utility, or common carrier, which is
necessary and convenient in the operation of such political
subdivision, public corporation, public utility, or common carrier
unless provision is made for the restoration, relocation, or
duplication of that taken or upon the election of such political
subdivision, public corporation, public utility, or common carrier
for the payment of compensation, if any, at the sole cost of the
county transit system.
(b)
If any restoration or duplication proposed to be made under this
division involves a relocation, the new location shall have at least
comparable utilitarian value and effectiveness, and such relocation
shall not impair the ability of the public utility or common carrier
to compete in its original area of operation.
(c)
If such restoration or duplication proposed to be made under this
division involves a relocation, the county transit board or board of
county commissioners shall acquire no interest or right in or to the
appropriated property or facility until the relocated property or
facility is available for use and until marketable title thereto has
been transferred to the political subdivision, public corporation,
public utility, or common carrier. Nothing in this division shall
require any board of county commissioners or county transit board
operating a county transit system to so restore, relocate, or
duplicate, if all of the real estate and interests therein, personal
property, and any combination of the foregoing which is owned by a
public utility or common carrier and used by it or in connection with
the movement of persons, is acquired by exercise of the power of
eminent domain.
(16)
When real property is acquired that is located outside the county and
is removed from the tax duplicate, the county transit board or board
of county commissioners operating a transit system shall pay annually
to the county treasurer of the county in which that property is
located, commencing with the first tax year in which that property is
removed from the tax duplicate, an amount of money in lieu of taxes
equal to the smaller of the following:
(a)
The last annual installment of taxes due from the acquired property
before removal from the tax duplicate;
(b)
An amount equal to the difference between the combined revenue from
real estate taxes of all the taxing districts in which the property
is located in the tax year immediately prior to the removal of the
acquired property from the tax duplicate, and either:
(i)
The total revenue which would be produced by the tax rate of each
such taxing district in the tax year immediately prior to the removal
of the acquired property from the tax duplicate, applied to the real
estate tax duplicate of each of such taxing districts in each tax
year subsequent to the year of removal; or
(ii)
The combined revenue from real estate taxes of all such taxing
districts in each tax year subsequent to the year of removal,
whichever is the greater.
The
county transit board or board of county commissioners may be exempted
from such payment by agreement of the affected taxing district or
districts in the county in which the property is located.
The
county auditor of the county in which that property is located shall
apportion each such annual payment to each taxing district as if the
annual payment had been levied and collected as a tax.
Those
annual payments shall never again be made after they have ceased.
(17)
Sue or be sued, plead or be impleaded, and be held liable in any
court of proper jurisdiction for damages received by reason of
negligence, in the same manner and to the same extent as if the
county transit system were privately operated, provided, that no
funds of a county other than those of the county transit board or, if
the transit system is operated by the board of county commissioners,
other than those in the account for the county transit system created
under division (C) of section 306.01 of the Revised Code, shall be
available for the satisfaction of judgments rendered against that
system;
(18)
Annually prepare and make available for public inspection a report in
condensed form showing the financial results of the operation of the
county transit system. For systems operated by a county transit
board, copies of this report shall be furnished to the county
commissioners as well as a monthly summary statement of revenues and
expenses for the preceding month sufficient to show the exact
financial condition of the county transit system as of the last day
of the preceding month.
(19)
With the approval of the county commissioners when the action is
taken by the transit board, and without competitive bidding, sell,
lease, or grant the right of use of all or a portion of the county
transit system to any other political subdivision, taxing district,
or other public body or agency having the power to operate a transit
system.
(D)(1)
As used in this division:
(a)
"Applicant" means any person who responds to a request for
proposals and submits an application for a franchise to operate a
public transit system or portion of a public transit system;
(b)
"Application for certification" means the documents that
are required to be filed by a franchisee to initiate the proceedings
required for certification;
(c)
"Application for a franchise" means the documents that are
required to be filed in response to a request for proposals and that
initiate the proceedings required for the award of a franchise;
(d)
"Certification" means the order issued by a board of county
commissioners, after submission of an application for certification,
that approves the operation of a public transit system, or a portion
of a public transit system, by a franchisee, subject to terms and
conditions imposed by the board.
(e)
"Franchise" means the document and all accompanying rights
approved by the board of county commissioners that provides the
franchisee with the exclusive right to establish a public transit
system and, subject to certification, the right to operate a public
transit system. A franchise may include the right of a franchisee to
provide transportation services for a county department of job and
family services.
(f)
"Franchisee" means the individual, corporation, or other
entity awarded a franchise.
(2)
A board of county commissioners,
on
its own behalf, or
on
behalf of a county transit board, may award a franchise to an
applicant subject to such terms and conditions as the board of county
commissioners considers appropriate and consistent with applicable
laws.
If
a county transit board exists in the county, a board of county
commissioners shall notify the county transit board at least thirty
days before the board of county commissioners holds a vote to award a
franchise to an applicant on its own behalf.
Subsequent
to awarding the franchise, the board of county commissioners may
issue a certification and, until such issuance, the franchisee has no
right to operate a public transit system or part of such a system.
The board of county commissioners shall not delete, alter, or amend
the terms and conditions of the certification after its issuance. The
board shall include in the certification performance targets related
to the operation of a public transit system by the franchisee,
including cost savings to the county, gains in efficiency, the safety
and security of the traveling public and franchise employees, service
to the traveling public, return on any investments made by the
county, and any other performance targets as determined by the board.
All terms and conditions of the order of certification are terms and
conditions of the franchise. Unless expressly exempted or granted a
waiver in the certification, the franchisee shall comply with all
applicable rules, regulations, orders, and ordinances.
(3)
The award of a franchise by a board of county commissioners to an
applicant is the sole license and authority for the franchisee to
establish a public transit system and, subject to certification,
operate a public transit system.
(4)
A board of county commissioners shall award a franchise for a period
of not less than ten years, as provided in the franchise.
(5)
A franchise shall not prohibit the franchisee from implementing new
or improved services during the term of the franchise.
(6)
A franchisee shall coordinate its services, as specified in the
franchise, with public transit providers to make effective
transportation services available to the public and provide access to
and from the public transit system.
(7)
A board of county commissioners shall provide terms and conditions in
a franchise to ensure that the franchisee will continue operation of
the public transit system for the duration of the term of the
franchise or, if the franchise is revoked, suspended, or abandoned,
that financial and other necessary resources are available to
continue the operation of the system until another franchisee is
selected or until the board of county commissioners determines to
cease the transit operations governed by the franchise. The franchise
shall specifically provide that the board shall have the right to
terminate the franchise if the board determines that the franchisee
has materially breached the franchise in any manner. The franchisee
may appeal such a termination to the board, and, if the board upholds
the termination, to the proper court of common pleas.
Sec.
306.14.
(A)
If a board of county commissioners awards a franchise to a franchisee
on behalf of a county transit board, the county transit board shall
submit an annual written report to the board of county commissioners
not later than a date designated by the board of county commissioners
and in a form prescribed by that board. The board of county
commissioners shall make the report available on the general web site
of the county. The county transit board shall include in the report a
description in detail of the effects the franchise agreement had
during the prior year on all of the following as they relate to the
operation of a public transit system by the franchisee in that
county:
(1)
Cost savings to the county;
(2)
Efficiency;
(3)
Safety and security of the traveling public and franchise employees;
(4)
Service to the traveling public;
(5)
Return on investment by the county;
(6)
Any other aspects the board of county commissioners determines should
be included in the report.
(B)
A franchisee that is awarded a franchise by a board of county
commissioners
on behalf of a county transit board
shall submit an annual written report to the board of county
commissioners
or
and
the
county
transit board
,
if one exists,
not later than a date designated by the board of county commissioners
and in a form prescribed by that board.
The
board of county commissioners also shall direct the franchisee to
submit the report to the board of county commissioners, the county
transit board, or both.
The
board of county commissioners shall establish the issues to be
addressed in the report with respect to the public transit system
that the franchisee operated during the prior year. The board of
county commissioners shall make the report available on the general
web site of the county.
(C)
A board of county commissioners that awards a franchise to a
franchisee
on
behalf of a county transit board
shall
conduct an annual review of the performance of the franchisee. The
board of county commissioners shall include in the review a
determination of the number of performance targets the franchisee met
during the prior year and an evaluation of the franchisee's
compliance with the other terms and conditions of the franchise,
including any breaches of the franchise by the franchisee. The board
shall issue a written report, and shall make the report available on
the general web site of the county.
Section
2.
That
existing
sections
306.04
and 306.14
of the Revised Code
are
hereby
repealed.