The boards of township trustees of one or more townships and the legislative authorities of any one or more municipal corporations within or adjoining those townships, or the boards of township trustees of two or more townships, or the legislative authorities of two or more municipal corporations, may, by adoption of a joint resolution by a majority of the members of each board of township trustees and by a majority of the members of the legislative authority of each municipal corporation, create a joint ambulance district comprising the municipal corporations and all or any portions of the townships as are mutually agreed upon, except that no portion of a township or municipal corporation being served by a joint emergency medical services district shall be part of a joint ambulance district. A district so created shall be given a name different from the name of any participating township or municipal corporation.

The governing body of a district shall be a board of trustees, which shall include one representative appointed by each board of township trustees and one representative appointed by the legislative authority of each municipal corporation in the district. Members of the board of trustees may be compensated at a rate not to exceed seventy-five dollars per meeting, not to exceed fifteen meetings per year, and may be reimbursed for all necessary expenses incurred. The board shall employ a clerk. Before entering upon official duties, the clerk shall execute a bond, in the amount and with surety to be approved by the board, payable to the state, and conditioned for the faithful performance of all official duties required of the clerk. The bond shall be deposited with the presiding officer of the board, and copies of it, certified by the presiding officer, shall be filed with the county auditor of each county with a subdivision included in the district.

To provide the services and equipment it considers necessary for the district, the board may levy taxes, subject to Chapter 5705. of the Revised Code, and issue bonds and other evidences of indebtedness, subject to Chapter 133. of the Revised Code, after submitting the question of that issuance to the electors of the district in the manner provided by Chapter 133. of the Revised Code. The district may purchase, lease, lease with an option to purchase, construct, maintain, and use all materials, equipment, vehicles, buildings, and land necessary to perform its duties.

Any municipal corporation or township may join an existing district by the adoption of a resolution requesting membership and upon approval of the board of the district. Any municipal corporation or township may withdraw from a district by the adoption of a resolution ordering withdrawal. On or after the first day of January of the year following the adoption of the resolution of withdrawal, the municipal corporation or township withdrawing ceases to be a part of the district, and the power of the district to levy a tax upon taxable property in the withdrawing township or municipal corporation terminates, except that the district shall continue to levy and collect taxes for the payment of indebtedness within the territory of the district as it was comprised at the time the indebtedness was incurred.

Upon the withdrawal of any township or municipal corporation from a district, the county auditor shall ascertain, apportion, and order a division of the funds on hand, moneys and taxes in the process of collection, except for taxes levied for the payment of indebtedness, credits, and real and personal property, either in money or in kind, on the basis of the valuation of the respective tax duplicates of the withdrawing municipal corporation or township and the remaining territory of the district.

When the number of townships and municipal corporations constituting a district is reduced to one, the district ceases to exist by operation of law, and the funds, credits, and property remaining after apportionments to withdrawing municipal corporations or townships shall be assumed by the one remaining township or municipal corporation. When a district ceases to exist and an indebtedness remains unpaid, the board of county commissioners shall continue to levy and collect taxes for the payment of that indebtedness within the territory of the district as it was comprised at the time the indebtedness was incurred.

Amended by 133rd General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 62, §101.01, eff. 7/3/2019.

Effective Date: 09-20-2002 .