(A) As used in this section:

(1) "Grant revenue" means revenues from a tax imposed under section 5739.026 or 5741.023 of the Revised Code that are allocated for the purpose of division (A)(4) of section 5739.026 of the Revised Code.

(2) "Available grant revenue" means the amount certified under division (B)(2) of this section, less the amount of any grants previously awarded for the year under division (C) of this section.

(3) "Grant" means a payment award for the year to a government agency for a permanent improvement project in the amount specified by the community improvements board.

(4) "Government agency" means the county, the state, or a political subdivision, including a school district, any part of which is located in the county .

(5) "Debt service charges" means interest, principal, and premium on grant award bonds.

(6) "Grant award bonds" means bonds or notes issued under section 307.284 of the Revised Code.

(7) "Year" means a calendar year.

(8) "Permanent improvement project" means any permanent improvement to be undertaken for which the government agency that receives a grant is authorized to expend the proceeds of that grant.

(9) "School district" means a city, local, or exempted village school district.

(B) Each year the community improvements board shall convene and determine and certify to the board of county commissioners each of the following:

(1) The estimated grant revenue to be transferred to the community improvement fund during the current year.

(2) The total amount of grants that may be awarded during the current year. Except as provided in division (D) of this section, the total amount of grants that may be awarded during any year may not exceed the sum of the unencumbered balance in the community improvements fund on the first day of the year plus the estimated grant revenue for the current year, less the debt service charges certified under division (B)(3) of this section.

(3) With respect to outstanding grant award bonds, the total debt service charges for the current year and each of the ensuing nine years.

(C) Upon the making of such certifications, the community improvements board may award grants for the year for any one or more permanent improvement projects. For each grant awarded, the board shall certify to the board of county commissioners the project for which the grant is awarded, the amount of the grant, and the government agency to which the grant is to be paid. The board shall include in the certification a statement instructing the board of county commissioners with respect to whether and in what proportion or amount the grant is to be reduced or whether the grant is to be paid in full in the event the actual grant revenues for the current year are less than the estimated grant revenues for the year. By a unanimous vote the board of county commissioners may disallow a grant awarded under this division, in which case it shall certify its determination to the community improvements board, and the grant shall not be paid in the current year as otherwise required under division (E) of this section.

Except as otherwise provided in this division, grants awarded by the community improvements board shall be used only for permanent improvement projects located within the county. If the grant revenue is derived from a tax that was levied on the effective date of the amendment of this section by H.B. 49 of the 132nd general assembly and the government agency to which the grant is to be paid is a school district, the grant may be used for permanent improvement projects located anywhere within that school district even if a portion of the school district is located outside the county.

Except as provided in division (D) of this section, the board may not award any grant in any year that exceeds the available grant revenue. The board may award grants to more than one government agency for the same project and may award grants for the same project in more than one year.

(D) The community improvements board may award grants in excess of the available grant revenue for any one or more permanent improvement projects, but the sum of the grants awarded for the year under this division shall not exceed the available grant revenue, adjusted to reflect the sum of any grants that are not to be paid, as determined under the certification made under division (D)(3) of this section, plus the amount by which the amount certified under division (D)(1) of this section exceeds the amount certified under division (D)(2) of this section. For each grant awarded under this division, the board shall certify to the board of county commissioners the project for which the grant is awarded, the amount of the grant, and the government agency to which the grant is to be paid. The board of county commissioners may disallow a grant awarded under this division, in which case it shall certify its determination to the community improvements board, and the grant shall not be paid in the current year as otherwise required under division (E) of this section. If the community improvements board elects to award a grant under this division, at the time it makes the certifications required by division (B) of this section it shall make the following additional certifications:

(1) The estimated grant revenue to be transferred to the community improvement fund during each of the nine ensuing years;

(2) The estimated total debt service charges, exclusive of principal, for the current year and each of the nine ensuing years on grant award bonds that would have to be issued during the current year in order to pay a grant awarded under this division;

(3) Which, if any, of the grants awarded under division (C) of this section should not be paid if a grant award made under this division is paid.

(E) Except as otherwise provided by divisions (C) and (D) of this section, the board of county commissioners shall pay each government agency from the county's community improvement fund the amount of its grant award in accordance with the certification of the community improvement board. If the balance in the fund is insufficient to make the payment of any grant in the amount specified in the certification, the board of county commissioners may issue grant award bonds in the amount of such insufficiency and make the balance of the payment from the proceeds of such bonds. The proceeds of a payment received under this division may be expended solely for the permanent improvement project for which the grant was awarded.

(F) If a board of county commissioners disallows a grant under division (C) or (D) of this section, the community improvements board may reconvene for the purpose of awarding grants under this section. For the purpose of making grant awards as provided under this division, any grant that the board of county commissioners disallows shall be considered not to have been awarded.

(G) Before the community improvements board may approve funding for a permanent improvement project that has been rejected by a separate prior vote of the electorate, there must have occurred a subsequent separate vote of the electorate reversing the prior result.

Amended by 132nd General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 49, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2017.

Effective Date: 02-20-1986.