CCAO Statehouse Report - February 11, 2022

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THE STATEHOUSE REPORT
February 11, 2022

A publication of the County Commissioners Association of Ohio Printer Friendly Version

Temporary virtual meeting authority legislation headed to Governor DeWine’s desk

This week the Ohio General Assembly passed legislation which would temporarily resume the ability for public bodies to conduct virtual public meetings and hearings.

Two weeks ago, the Senate Ways and Means Committee added an amendment to House Bill 51 to allow public bodies to once again conduct virtual meetings until June 30, 2022. The legislation passed out of the Senate with unanimous support shortly thereafter.

This week, the Ohio House concurred with the Senate’s amendments to HB 51, sending the legislation to Governor Mike DeWine’s desk. Included in HB 51 is an emergency clause, which would make the virtual meeting provision effective immediately upon the governor’s signature. The legislation provides the same authority that public bodies had earlier during the COVID-19 pandemic, but which had expired on July 1, 2021. Members may review the requirements of this authority in CCAO’s previously-published virtual meeting advisory bulletin.

CCAO deeply appreciates the Ohio House and Senate, especially Speaker Cupp and Senate President Huffman, for passing this important legislation. Utilizing virtual meeting technology has proven to be not only an effective tool for protecting public health throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but it also has shown to increase county government efficiency while promoting civic engagement.

CCAO will make members aware as soon as Governor DeWine takes action on the bill. Until the bill is signed by the governor, public meetings are still required to be conducted in-person.

Talk continues on potential for two primaries, raising concerns from county elections officials

Senate President Matt Huffman this week reiterated the potential likelihood for two primary elections as deliberations continue on new state legislative and congressional maps. With both sets of maps still not finalized, time is dwindling for county boards of elections to make the necessary preparations for state legislative and congressional primary contests on May 3^rd.

Huffman remained firm in his support of retaining the May 3^rd primary for other elected officials, including statewide officers and local officials. “There is going to be an election May 3. All the statewide officers, U.S. Senate, the locals. I don't want anybody to think we're not having an election on May 3," Huffman told media this week. "The question is, will the races for the General Assembly and congressional be conducted on May 3."

Meanwhile, Ohio elections officials voiced their concerns about the prospects of two primary elections. In a letter to Senate President Huffman, the Ohio Association of Elections Officials highlighted the following concerns about two separate primary dates:

“The cost to taxpayers would be enormous. In 2011 the legislature contemplated and ultimately rejected conducting two primaries. At that time it was estimated that this action would cost taxpayers $15 million. Given the complexities of elections in 2022, this number is certainly higher.

“The logistics of conducting back-to-back elections are significant and troublesome. Just a few items that would be difficult and potentially impossible for election officials to manage include poll worker recruitment, securing polling locations, testing and preparing voting machines, and obtaining ballots/supply chain issues (we are already being warned about nationwide paper and toner shortages).

“Two primaries will almost certainly cause voter confusion and low turnout, making the expense and difficulty of conducting two elections even more worrisome. Historically speaking, even year primaries are low turnout and special congressional elections frequently draw participation from less than 10% of registered voters.”

The elections officials encouraged the redistricting commission to act quickly to put maps in place prior to May 3^rd. Should that not be possible, the legislature should consider moving all the primary contests to a later date.

CCAO will continue to monitor developments on this issue. Of particular importance to counties is that should a separate primary election be establish for statehouse and congressional candidates, full funding from the state should be provided for these unbudgeted costs.

Any questions on this issue can be directed to CCAO Policy Analyst Adam Schwiebert.

Local government utility lien legislation discussed in House committee

The House State and Local Government Committee this week continued discussions on legislation which would make significant changes to how local governments are able to collect unpaid utility charges.

House Bill 422, sponsored by state Reps. Mark Fraizer and Thomas West, would make certain changes to limit the ways in which municipal corporations could apply liens to rental properties for certain unpaid utility bills.

This week, a substitute bill for HB 422 was released, which would expand this legislation to include limited home rule township water and sewer, county water districts, and regional water and sewer districts, in addition to municipalities. The substitute bill was not adopted by the committee during the hearing.

As drafted, the substitute bill would place new restrictions on the ability for county water districts to place liens on properties when unpaid water utilities are in the tenant’s name. The language also establishes a new state appeals process by which property owners could appeal county water bills and liens.

CCAO staff continue to have discussions with lawmakers on the intent behind the legislation. Further changes to the legislation are possible.

Any questions about HB 422 can be directed to CCAO Policy Analyst Adam Schwiebert.

Busy legislative week as tax, local fiscal liability legislation considered in multiple committees

Senate approves Sales Tax Exemption

Senate Bill 235 (Sen. Roegner), which exempts certain fees from the sales tax, passed the Senate by a 31 – 0 vote. The exempted fees are: (1) electronic tax filing and payment service charges used in business to report or pay income tax, other than employee withholding, on behalf of an individual, and (2) documentary service charges imposed by motor vehicle dealers and manufactured home dealers. The Legislative Service Commission estimates that these two changes combined will remove about $10 million in sales tax revenue to counties and transit authorities. CCAO is opposed to the bill.

Senate approves legislation affecting county land banks and tax foreclosure

Senate Bill 112 (Sen. Dolan), a bill that makes numerous changes to procedures that affect county land banks and tax foreclosures, passed the Senate by a vote of 31 – 0.

One of the notable features of the bill is that it allows county commissioners to direct up to 50 percent of taxes collected on certain real property conveyed by a county land bank to be paid to the land bank for up to five years, rather than to the applicable taxing districts. Also, the bill allows tax foreclosure notices to be published electronically rather than in newspapers, creating a potential savings for counties.

The bill changes the current law split of sale proceeds to the county treasurer and prosecutor’s DTAC funds. Under the bill, the county prosecutor and treasurer each receive 10% of the sale proceeds, and an additional 10% is deposited into the county land reutilization fund if one exists. The county auditor’s fee for deeds of land sold for taxes is increased from $5 to $45. CCAO supports the bill.

House Committee Considers Legislation to Modify Fiscal Officer Liability

CCAO offered proponent testimony for Senate Bill 15 (Sen. Wilson) in the House State and Local Government Committee. The bill clarifies that a fiscal officer is not liable for the loss of public funds if the officer performed his or her official duties with reasonable care. The officer is only liable for the loss of public funds if he or she acted negligently or committed a wrongful act.
The bill is supported by the County Treasurers Association and the County Auditors Association.

Senate passes modification to “sore loser law”

The Ohio Senate this week passed Senate Bill 53, which updates Ohio’s sore loser election law. Under current statute, a candidate who appeared on the primary ballot for any position is ineligible to fill a ballot vacancy, even for a different position on the November ballot.

Recently, a sitting mayor who was running for re-election resigned from his position days after winning the primary election. Due to Ohio’s statute, five out of six candidates who applied to fill the appointment for the mayor’s office were disqualified because they each had appeared on the primary ballot for separate elections.

This legislation creates an exception to Ohio’s sore loser law to allow a person who sought a political party’s nomination to an office at a primary election to become a candidate for a local partisan office at the following general election by filling a vacancy on the ballot.

Introduced legislation

HB 567 (Stewart, Brown) - To generally require the clerk of the court of common pleas to make available the court's general docket, including documents on each case file, on the clerk of court's web site.