Laws, Acts, and Legislation

To amend sections 6101.10, 6101.29, 6101.30, 6101.48, 6101.53, 6101.70, and 6101.77 and to enact section 6101.101 of the Revised Code to revise the membership of the board of directors of a conservancy district that includes all or parts of more than sixteen counties, to require the board of directors of such a district rather than the conservancy court to perform certain functions under the Conservancy Districts Law, to prohibit the levying of a first-time assessment by the board of directors of a conservancy district on land that is owned by a church within the district unless the governing authority of the church requests that the church's land be subject to the assessment, and to authorize the board of directors of such a conservancy district to revise the boundaries of the district to include lands that are within the watershed in which the district is located.

Sec. 6101.10. (A) Except as provided in division (B) of this section, within thirty days after entering the decree incorporating a conservancy district, the court shall appoint three persons, at least two of whom are residents of counties, all or part of which are included within the territorial limits of the district, as a board of directors of the conservancy district, one for a term of three years, one for a term of five years, and one for a term of seven years. At the expiration of their terms of office, appointments shall be made for terms of five years. The court shall fill any vacancy ~~which~~ that may occur on the board for the unexpired term.

(B) Within thirty days after the entering of a decree under section 6101.09 of the Revised Code incorporating a conservancy district that includes all or parts of more than sixteen counties, the ~~court~~ presidents of the boards of county commissioners of the counties all or part of which are included within the territorial limits of the district shall appoint ~~five~~ nine persons, each of whom is a resident of a ~~different~~ county ~~and at least three of whom are residents of counties~~ all or part of which ~~are~~ is included within the territorial limits of the district, as a members of the board of directors of the conservancy district. In appointing members of the board, the presidents of boards of county commissioners shall divide the district into three distinct geographic regions based on the three largest subwatersheds within the district. The board shall include three members from each of the three geographic regions. The presidents of the boards of county commissioners shall establish procedures for accepting applications for positions on the board of directors.

A majority vote of the presidents of the boards of county commissioners is necessary for appointment of a member of the board of directors of the conservancy district. Of the initial appointments made to the board, ~~one~~ two shall be for a term of two years, two for a term of three years, ~~one~~ two for a term of four years, ~~one~~ and three for a term of five years~~, one for a term of six years, and one for a term of seven years~~. At the expiration of their terms of office, appointments shall be ~~made~~ for terms of five years. The ~~court~~ presidents of the boards of county commissioners of the counties all or part of which are included within the territorial limits of the district shall fill any vacancy ~~which~~ that may occur on the board for the unexpired term. A member of the board of directors of the conservancy district may be reappointed.

(C) Within thirty days after issuing an order under section 6101.30, 6101.70, or 6101.72 of the Revised Code annexing lands to a district or uniting districts and resulting in a district that includes all or parts of more than sixteen counties, ~~the court shall appoint to the~~ a board of directors two additional members, each of whom is a resident of a different county and does not reside in the same county as any member of the existing board, for terms of not more than five years, provided that the terms of those two members shall not expire in the same year or in the year in which any existing member's term expires. At the expiration of their terms of office, appointments shall be made for terms of five years. In appointing the two additional members, the court shall ensure that at least three of the five members of the board are residents of counties all or part of which are included within the territorial limits of the district. The court shall fill any vacancy which may occur on the board for the unexpired term and, in filling vacancies or making subsequent appointments, shall ensure that all members of the board reside in different counties for the resulting conservancy district shall be appointed in accordance with division (B) of this section. Upon the appointment of the new board of directors, the prior board of directors of the conservancy district shall terminate, and the new board of directors shall govern and operate the conservancy district.

Sec. 6101.101. (A) On and after the effective date of this section and notwithstanding any other section of the Revised Code to the contrary, the board of directors of a conservancy district that includes all or parts of more than sixteen counties shall perform all of the functions of the conservancy court established under this chapter for the district except the functions of the court specified in sections 6101.01, 6101.03, 6101.05, 6101.06, 6101.061, 6101.07, 6101.08, 6101.09, 6101.10, 6101.11, 6101.13, 6101.181, 6101.26, 6101.29, 6101.30, 6101.31, 6101.32, 6101.33, 6101.34, 6101.35, 6101.36, 6101.37, 6101.38, 6101.39, 6101.40, 6101.43, 6101.44, 6101.45, 6101.48, 6101.53, 6101.54, 6101.59, 6101.60, 6101.66, 6101.67, 6101.68, 6101.69, 6101.70, 6101.71, 6101.72, 6101.73, 6101.74, 6101.76, 6101.77, 6101.78, and 6101.79 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 6101.29. (A) If the board of appraisers of a conservancy district finds that lands or other property not embraced within the boundaries of the district will be affected by the proposed improvement, or should be included in the district, it shall appraise the benefits and damages to such land, and shall file notice in the court of the appraisal ~~which~~ that it has made upon the lands beyond the boundaries of the district, and to the land ~~which~~ that in its opinion should be included in the district. The board shall also report to the court any lands ~~which~~ that in its opinion should be eliminated from the district.

(B) If the board of directors of a conservancy district that includes all or parts of more than sixteen counties determines that any lands within the watershed in which the district is located are not included within the boundaries of the district, the board may adopt a resolution, by a two-thirds vote of the board, revising the boundaries of the district to include those lands. The board shall file notice in the court of the resolution. Not later than thirty days after adopting a resolution under this division, the board shall provide written notice, by United States mail, to each property owner whose land is proposed to be incorporated into the district. The notice shall include both of the following:

Sec. 6101.30. (A) If the report of the board of appraisers of a conservancy district includes recommendations under division (A) of section 6101.29 of the Revised Code that other lands and public corporations be included in the district or that certain lands and public corporations be excluded from the district, the clerk of the court before which the proceeding is pending shall give to the owners of that property and to the public corporations by publication notice of a hearing on the petition for the creation of the district. The notice to those owners whose lands are or the public corporations to be added to the district may be substantially as shown in section 6101.84 of the Revised Code. The time and place of the hearing may be the same as those of a hearing on appraisals. To the owners of property and public corporations to be excluded from the district, it is sufficient to notify them of that fact.

(B) Within ninety days of the filing of notice of a resolution adopted under division (B) of section 6101.29 of the Revised Code, a property owner whose land is to be incorporated into the district in accordance with the resolution may file objections to the incorporation with the court. All objections shall be heard by the court not later than one hundred eighty days after the filing of notice of the resolution adopted under division (B) of that section. The court shall provide for a hearing on the objections in the county seat of each county in which property is located with respect to which objections have been filed. Hearings shall be conducted at a time and a place fixed by the court. Notice of the time and place of a hearing shall be given in the manner that the court determines appropriate.

The court, at a hearing, shall approve or deny the incorporation of land in the district as specified in the resolution adopted by the board of directors. If the court approves the incorporation, the land that is the subject of the hearing shall be incorporated into the district. If the court disapproves the incorporation, the land that is the subject of the hearing shall not be incorporated into the district.

Sec. 6101.48. ~~After~~ (A) Except as otherwise provided in division (B) of this section, after the conservancy appraisal record as approved by the court, or that part of it from which no appeal is pending, has been filed with the secretary of the conservancy district as provided in section 6101.37 of the Revised Code, from time to time, as the affairs of the district demand it, the board of directors of the conservancy district shall levy on all real property and on all public corporations, upon which benefits have been appraised, an assessment of the portion of the benefits that is found necessary by the board to pay the cost of the execution of the official plan, including superintendence of construction and administration, plus one-ninth of that total to be added for contingencies, but not to exceed in the total of principal the appraised benefits so adjudicated.

The assessment shall be apportioned to and levied on each tract of land or other property and each public corporation in the district in proportion to the benefits appraised, and not in excess of the benefits appraised. Interest at a rate not to exceed the rate provided in section 9.95 of the Revised Code, payable semiannually, shall be included in and added to the assessment, but the interest shall not be considered as a part of the cost in determining whether or not the expenses and costs of making the improvement are equal to or in excess of the benefits appraised.

After the assessment is levied, the board shall report it to the court for confirmation. Upon the entry of the order of the court confirming the assessment, the clerk of the court shall transmit a certified copy of the order to the governing or taxing body of each political subdivision assessed, and the governing or taxing body shall receive and file the order. Thereafter, the board may order the issuance of notes in an amount not exceeding ninety per cent of the assessment in anticipation of the collection of the assessment.

After the court has confirmed the assessment, the secretary of the conservancy district, at the expense of the district, shall prepare an assessment record named "Conservancy Assessment Record of ....... District." It shall contain a notation of the items of property appraised and the public corporations to which benefits have been appraised, the total amount of benefits appraised against each item or public corporation, and the total assessment levied against each item or public corporation. If successive levies of assessment are made for the execution of the official plan and the acquisition or construction of improvements, the conservancy assessment record shall contain suitable notations to show the number of levies and the amount of each, to the end that the conservancy assessment record may disclose the aggregate of all such levies made up to that time.

Upon the completion of the conservancy assessment record, it shall be signed and certified by the president of the board and by the secretary of the conservancy district and placed on file and shall become a permanent record in the office of the district. After the expiration of the thirty-day period for the payment of assessments as provided by section 6101.49 of the Revised Code, a copy of that part of the conservancy assessment record affecting lands or public corporations in any county shall be filed with the county auditor of the county.

If it is found at any time that the total amount of assessments levied is insufficient to pay the cost of works set out in the official plan or of additional work done, the board may make an additional levy to provide funds to complete the work, provided the total of all levies of the assessment exclusive of interest does not exceed the total of benefits appraised.

(B)(1) The board of directors of a conservancy district that has not collected an assessment under this section prior to the effective date of this amendment and that subsequently proposes to collect such an assessment shall not levy the assessment on real property that is owned by a church or on which a church operates a camp and that is located within the district unless the governing authority of the church has specifically requested in writing that the assessment be imposed on the church's real property or on the property on which the church operates a camp. If a board of directors receives such a written request from the governing authority of a church, the board shall levy and collect the assessment in accordance with the procedures and requirements established in this chapter.

(2) Prior to the levying of an assessment as described in division (B)(1) of this section, the board of directors of a conservancy district may send a written notice to the governing authority of a church that is located within the district or that operates a camp in the district that explains the benefits of the proposed assessment and that requests the governing authority of the church to choose to voluntarily allow the proposed assessment to be imposed on the church's real property or on the property on which the church operates a camp.

(3) The governing authority of a church that has requested in writing that an assessment be imposed on the church's real property or on the property on which the church operates a camp in accordance with division (B)(1) of this section may cease paying the assessment if the governing authority of the church specifically requests in writing to the board of directors of the conservancy district that the assessment cease to be imposed on the church's real property or the property on which the church operates a camp. If the board of directors of a conservancy district receives such a written request from the governing authority of a church, the board shall cease levying and collecting the assessment.

(4) A written request from the governing authority of a church to impose an assessment on the church's real property or on the property on which the church operates a camp in accordance with division (B)(1) of this section and a church's payment of such an assessment shall not be construed to abdicate, abridge, or limit the rights and privileges pertaining to a church that are established under any other section of the Revised Code.

Sec. 6101.53. To (A) Except as otherwise provided in division (B) of this section, to maintain, operate, and preserve the reservoirs, ditches, drains, dams, levies, canals, sewers, pumping stations, treatment and disposal works, or other properties or improvements acquired or made pursuant to this chapter, to strengthen, repair, and restore the same, when needed, and to defray the current expenses of the conservancy district, the board of directors of the district may, upon the substantial completion of the improvements and on or before the first day of September in each year thereafter, levy an assessment upon each tract or parcel of land and upon each public corporation within the district, subject to assessments under this chapter, to be known as a conservancy maintenance assessment. No assessment shall be made with respect to works and improvements acquired or constructed for the purpose of providing a water supply for domestic, industrial, and public use within the district, when the water supply can be metered or measured when furnished to persons or public corporations. If the district, for the benefit of one or more persons or political subdivisions, provides a water supply that recharges underground aquifers and thereby replenishes wells or provides a source of water for new wells, or increases the natural low flow of a stream used for water supply, or creates an impoundment, in such a way that the augmented use of water cannot be metered or measured for individual or public consumption, the board may make a maintenance assessment against benefited property and public corporations in the same manner provided in this section for maintenance of other properties or improvements.

The maintenance assessment shall be apportioned upon the basis of the total appraisal of benefits accruing for original and subsequent construction, shall not exceed one per cent of the total appraisal of benefits in any one year unless the court by its order authorizes an assessment of a larger percentage, shall not be less than two dollars, and shall be certified to the county auditor of each county in which lands of the district are located in the conservancy assessment record but in a separate column in like manner and at the same time as the annual installment of the assessment levied under section 6101.48 of the Revised Code is certified, under the heading maintenance assessment. The auditor shall certify the same to the county treasurer of the county at the same time that the auditor certifies the annual installment of the assessments levied under that section, and the sum of the levies for any tract or public corporation may be certified as a single item. The treasurer shall demand and collect the maintenance assessment and make return of it, and shall be liable for the same penalties for failure to do so as are provided for the annual installment of the assessment levied under section 6101.48 of the Revised Code.

To maintain, operate, and preserve the works and improvements of the district acquired or constructed for the purpose of providing a water supply, to strengthen, repair, and restore the same, and to defray the current expenses of the district for this purpose, the board may impose rates for the sale of water to public corporations and persons within the district. The rates to be charged for the water shall be fixed and adjusted by the board at intervals of not less than one year, so that the income thus produced will be adequate to provide a maintenance fund for the purpose of water supply. Contracts for supplying water to public corporations and persons shall be entered into before the service is rendered by the district. Contracts shall specify the maximum quantity of water to be furnished to the public corporation or person, and the quantity shall be fixed so as equitably to distribute the supply. Preference shall be given to water supply furnished to public corporations for domestic and public uses. Bills for water supplied to public corporations shall be rendered at regular intervals and shall be payable from the waterworks fund of the public corporation or, if it is not sufficient, from the general fund.

(B)(1) The board of directors of a conservancy district that has not collected a maintenance assessment under this section prior to the effective date of this amendment and that subsequently proposes to collect such a maintenance assessment shall not levy the maintenance assessment on land that is owned by a church or on which a church operates a camp and that is located within the district unless the governing authority of the church has specifically requested in writing that the maintenance assessment be imposed on the church's land or on the land on which the church operates a camp. If a board of directors receives such a written request from the governing authority of a church, the board shall levy and collect the maintenance assessment in accordance with the procedures and requirements established in this chapter.

(2) Prior to the levying of a maintenance assessment as described in division (B)(1) of this section, the board of directors of a conservancy district may send a written notice to the governing authority of a church that is located within the district or that operates a camp in the district that explains the need for the proposed maintenance assessment and that requests the governing authority of the church to choose to voluntarily allow the proposed maintenance assessment to be imposed on the church's land or on the land on which the church operates a camp.

(3) The governing authority of a church that has requested in writing that a maintenance assessment be imposed on the church's land or on the land on which the church operates a camp in accordance with division (B)(1) of this section may cease paying the maintenance assessment if the governing authority of the church specifically requests in writing to the board of directors of the conservancy district that the maintenance assessment cease to be imposed on the church's land or the land on which the church operates a camp. If the board of directors of a conservancy district receives such a written request from the governing authority of a church, the board shall cease levying and collecting the maintenance assessment.

(4) A written request from the governing authority of a church to impose a maintenance assessment on the church's land or on the land on which the church operates a camp in accordance with division (B)(1) of this section and a church's payment of such a maintenance assessment shall not be construed to abdicate, abridge, or limit the rights and privileges pertaining to a church that are established under any other section of the Revised Code.

Sec. 6101.70. (A) If two or more conservancy districts have been organized in a territory ~~which~~ that, in the opinion of the board of directors of the conservancy district of any one of the districts, should constitute only one district, the board of any one of the districts may petition the court for an order uniting those districts into a single district. The petition shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the court of common pleas of that county that has the greatest valuation of real property within the districts sought to be included, as shown by the tax duplicates of the respective counties. The petition shall set forth the necessity for the union of the two or more districts and that the union of the districts would be conducive to the public health, convenience, safety, or welfare and to the economical execution of the purposes for which the districts were organized. Upon receipt of the petition, the clerk shall give notice by publication or by personal service to the boards of the districts that it is desired to unite with the district of the petitioners. The notice shall contain the time and place where the hearing on the petition will be had and the purpose of the hearing. The hearing shall be had in accordance with this chapter as for an original hearing. If, after the hearing, the court finds that the averments of the petition are true and that the districts, or any of them, should be united, it shall so order, and thereafter those districts shall be united into one and proceed as one. The court shall designate the corporate name of the united district, and further proceedings shall be taken as provided for in this chapter. ~~In accordance with division (A) or (B) of section 6101.10 of the Revised Code, as applicable~~

If the united district includes all or parts of sixteen counties or less, the court shall direct in the order in accordance with division (A) of section 6101.10 of the Revised Code who shall be the members of the board of the united district, who shall thereafter have the powers and be subject to the regulations as are provided for the board in districts created in the first instance. However, if the united district includes all or parts of more than sixteen counties, the presidents of the boards of county commissioners of the counties all or part of which are included within the territorial limits of the united district shall appoint the members of the board of the united district in accordance with divisions (B) and (C) of section 6101.10 of the Revised Code, who shall thereafter have the powers and be subject to the regulations as are provided for the board in districts created in the first instance.

(B) All legal proceedings already instituted by or against any of the constituent districts united into a single district under division (A) of this section may be revived and continued against the united district by an order of court substituting the name of the united district for the constituent district, and those proceedings shall then proceed as provided in this chapter.

(1) Direct that one or more of the districts described in the petition be included into another of the districts, which other district shall continue under its original corporate name and organization, unless the resulting district includes all or parts of more than sixteen counties, in which case ~~the court shall appoint two additional members whose appointments and terms of office shall comply with the requirements established in division~~ a new board of directors shall be appointed in accordance with divisions (B) and (C) of section 6101.10 of the Revised Code;

(2) Direct that the districts absorbed as described in division (C)(1) of this section shall be represented on the board of the original district, designating what members of the board of the original district shall be retired from the new board and what members representing the included districts shall take their places, except that, if the resulting district includes all or parts of more than sixteen counties, ~~the court also shall appoint two additional members whose appointments and terms of office shall comply with the requirements established in division~~ a new board of directors shall be appointed in accordance with divisions (B) and (C) of section 6101.10 of the Revised Code;

(D) If the districts sought to be united were organized in different counties, the court to determine the question involved shall consist of one judge from each of the counties in the court of which one of the districts was organized, and a majority shall be necessary to render a decision. From the decision or from a failure to decide, any interested property owner may appeal. No action under this section shall interrupt or delay any proceeding under this chapter, until the questions involved are finally determined.

Sec. 6101.77. The performance of all duties prescribed in this chapter concerning the organization and administration or operation of the conservancy district may be enforced ~~against any officer of the district~~ by mandamus at the instance of the board of directors of the district or of any person or public corporation interested in any way in the district. The board of directors may institute court proceedings to enforce compliance by any person or public corporation with any order of the board. The board may institute those proceedings in the court of appeals in the first instance.

Section 3. (A) This section addresses the appointment of members to the board of directors of a conservancy district in existence on the effective date of this section that includes all or parts of more than sixteen counties in order to comply with the amendments made by this act to section 6101.10 of the Revised Code. The five existing members of the board of directors of such a conservancy district shall be appointed to the new nine-member board in accordance with division (B) of this section. In addition, four new members shall be appointed to the board as provided in division (B) of this section so that the total membership of the board is nine members.

(B) Not later than thirty days after the effective date of this section, the presidents of the boards of county commissioners of the counties all or part of which are included within the territorial limits of a conservancy district in existence on the effective date of this section that includes all or parts of more than sixteen counties shall appoint four additional persons as members of the existing board of directors of the conservancy district. The terms of office of the resulting nine-member board shall be as follows: two years for one of the new additional persons, three years for one of the new additional persons and one existing member, four years for one of the new additional persons and two existing members, and five years for one of the new additional persons and two existing members. Each member of the board shall be a resident of a county all or part of which is included within the territorial limits of the district. In addition, the presidents of the boards of county commissioners in appointing the new members to the board shall ensure, to the extent possible, that the membership of the board includes three members from each of the three geographic regions of the district that are required to be established under division (B) of section 6101.10 of the Revised Code, as amended by this act. The procedures and requirements established in division (B) of section 6101.10 of the Revised Code, as amended by this act, shall govern the filling of vacancies, terms of office of future appointments, reappointments, and other appointment matters.