(A) A transportation improvement district may be created by the board of county commissioners of a county. The board, by resolution, shall determine the structure of the board of trustees of the transportation improvement district it creates by adopting the structure contained either in division (C)(1) or (2) of this section.

(B) A transportation improvement district is a body both corporate and politic, and the exercise by it of the powers conferred by this chapter in the financing, construction, maintenance, repair, and operation of a project are and shall be held to be essential governmental functions.

(C)

(1) If the board of county commissioners so elects, a transportation improvement district shall be governed by a board of trustees consisting of the following members:

(a) Two members appointed by the board of county commissioners;

(b) Three members appointed by the legislative authority of the most populous municipal corporation in the district;

(c) Two members appointed by the legislative authority of the second most populous municipal corporation in the district;

(d) Two members appointed by the board of township trustees of the township in the county that is most populous in its unincorporated area;

(e) The county engineer;

(f) One member appointed by the legislative authority of any township or municipal corporation that cannot otherwise appoint a member to the board pursuant to this section, and that is wholly or partially within the area of the transportation improvement district as the district was originally designated by the board of county commissioners;

(g) If the area of a transportation improvement district is expanded by the board of county commissioners, the legislative authority of any township or municipal corporation that is wholly or partially within the area of expansion and that cannot otherwise appoint a member to the board pursuant to this section, with the consent of the board of trustees of the district, may appoint one member to the board;

(h) The members of the general assembly in whose legislative districts any part of the transportation improvement district is located, who shall be ex officio, nonvoting members of the board;

(i) One member appointed by the regional planning commission for the county, who shall be a nonvoting member of the board.

One of each of the appointments made by the board of county commissioners, the legislative authority of a municipal corporation, and the board of township trustees under divisions (C)(1)(a), (b), (c), and (d) of this section, shall be members of the chamber of commerce for the respective political subdivision.

Whenever the addition of members to the board of trustees of a transportation improvement district pursuant to division (C)(1)(f) or (g) of this section results in an even number of total voting members on the board, the board of trustees of the district may appoint an additional person to its membership to maintain an odd number of voting members.

(2) As an alternative to the structure prescribed in division (C)(1) of this section, a board of county commissioners, by resolution, may elect that the transportation improvement district it creates be governed by a board of trustees consisting of the following members:

(a) Five members appointed by the board of county commissioners;

(b) One nonvoting member appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives of the general assembly;

(c) One nonvoting member appointed by the president of the senate of the general assembly.

(D) Each appointed member of the board shall hold office for a term of two years but subject to removal at the pleasure of the authority that appointed the member. Members may be reappointed. Except as otherwise provided in this division, any vacancy on the board shall be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. Any vacancy on a board appointed under division (C)(1) of this section lasting longer than thirty days due to the failure of the legislative authority of a municipal corporation or a board of township trustees to make an appointment shall be filled by the board of trustees of the transportation improvement district.

(E) The voting members of the board shall elect from the entire board membership a chairperson, vice-chairperson, and secretary-treasurer. A majority of the voting members of the board constitutes a quorum, the affirmative vote of which is necessary for any action of the district. No vacancy in the membership of the board impairs the right of a quorum to exercise all the rights and perform all duties of the district.

(F) The board of county commissioners of the county, the legislative authority of any municipal corporation, and the board of township trustees of any township that is part of the district, may make appropriations from moneys available to them and not otherwise appropriated, to pay costs incurred by the district in the exercise of its functions under this chapter.

(G) An organizational meeting of the board of trustees of a transportation improvement district created under this section shall be held at the time and place designated by the board member who has served the most years as a member of the general assembly.

Effective Date: 12-02-1996 .