(A) As used in this section, "qualifying contract" means any agreement for the expenditure of money under which aggregate payments from the funds included in the school district's five-year forecast under section 5705.391 of the Revised Code will exceed the lesser of the following amounts:

(1) Five hundred thousand dollars;

(2) One per cent of the total revenue to be credited in the current fiscal year to the district's general fund, as specified in the district's most recent certificate of estimated resources certified under section 5705.36 of the Revised Code.

(B)

(1) Notwithstanding section 5705.41 of the Revised Code, no school district shall adopt any appropriation measure, make any qualifying contract, or increase during any school year any wage or salary schedule unless there is attached thereto a certificate, signed as required by this section, that the school district has in effect the authorization to levy taxes including the renewal or replacement of existing levies which, when combined with the estimated revenue from all other sources available to the district at the time of certification, are sufficient to provide the operating revenues necessary to enable the district to maintain all personnel and programs for all the days set forth in its adopted school calendars for the current fiscal year and for a number of days in succeeding fiscal years equal to the number of days instruction was held or is scheduled for the current fiscal year, as follows:

(a) A certificate attached to an appropriation measure under this section shall cover only the fiscal year in which the appropriation measure is effective and shall not consider the renewal or replacement of an existing levy as the authority to levy taxes that are subject to appropriation in the current fiscal year unless the renewal or replacement levy has been approved by the electors and is subject to appropriation in the current fiscal year.

(b) A certificate attached, in accordance with this section, to any qualifying contract shall cover the term of the contract.

(c) A certificate attached under this section to a wage or salary schedule shall cover the term of the schedule.

If the board of education has not adopted a school calendar for the school year beginning on the first day of the fiscal year in which a certificate is required, the certificate attached to an appropriation measure shall include the number of days on which instruction was held in the preceding fiscal year and other certificates required under this section shall include that number of days for the fiscal year in which the certificate is required and any succeeding fiscal years that the certificate must cover.

The certificate shall be signed by the treasurer and president of the board of education and the superintendent of the school district, unless the district is in a state of fiscal emergency declared under Chapter 3316. of the Revised Code. In that case, the certificate shall be signed by a member of the district's financial planning and supervision commission who is designated by the commission for this purpose.

(2) In lieu of the certificate required under division (B) of this section, an alternative certificate stating the following may be attached:

(a) The contract is a multi-year contract for materials, equipment, or nonpayroll services essential to the education program of the district;

(b) The multi-year contract demonstrates savings over the duration of the contract as compared to costs that otherwise would have been demonstrated in a single year contract, and the terms will allow the district to reduce the deficit it is currently facing in future years as demonstrated in its five-year forecast adopted in accordance with section 5705.391 of the Revised Code.

The certificate shall be signed by the treasurer and president of the board of education and the superintendent of the school district, unless the district is in a state of fiscal emergency declared under Chapter 3316. of the Revised Code. In that case, the certificate shall be signed by a member of the district's financial planning and supervision commission who is designated by the commission for this purpose.

(C) Every qualifying contract made or wage or salary schedule adopted or put into effect without such a certificate shall be void, and no payment of any amount due thereon shall be made.

(D) The department of education and the auditor of state jointly shall adopt rules governing the methods by which treasurers, presidents of boards of education, superintendents, and members of financial planning and supervision commissions shall estimate revenue and determine whether such revenue is sufficient to provide necessary operating revenue for the purpose of making certifications required by this section.

(E) The auditor of state shall be responsible for determining whether school districts are in compliance with this section. At the time a school district is audited pursuant to section 117.11 of the Revised Code, the auditor of state shall review each certificate issued under this section since the district's last audit, and the appropriation measure, contract, or wage and salary schedule to which such certificate was attached. If the auditor of state determines that a school district has not complied with this section with respect to any qualifying contract or wage or salary schedule, the auditor of state shall notify the prosecuting attorney for the county, the city director of law, or other chief law officer of the school district. That officer may file a civil action in any court of appropriate jurisdiction to seek a declaration that the contract or wage or salary schedule is void, to recover for the school district from the payee the amount of payments already made under it, or both, except that the officer shall not seek to recover payments made under any collective bargaining agreement entered into under Chapter 4117. of the Revised Code. If the officer does not file such an action within one hundred twenty days after receiving notice of noncompliance from the auditor of state, any taxpayer may institute the action in the taxpayer's own name on behalf of the school district.

(F) This section does not apply to any contract or increase in any wage or salary schedule that is necessary in order to enable a board of education to comply with division (B) of section 3317.13 of the Revised Code, provided the contract or increase does not exceed the amount required to be paid to be in compliance with such division.

(G) Any officer, employee, or other person who expends or authorizes the expenditure of any public funds or authorizes or executes any contract or schedule contrary to this section, expends or authorizes the expenditure of any public funds on the void contract or schedule, or issues a certificate under this section which contains any false statements is liable to the school district for the full amount paid from the district's funds on the contract or schedule. The officer, employee, or other person is jointly and severally liable in person and upon any official bond that the officer, employee, or other person has given to the school district to the extent of any payments on the void claim, not to exceed ten thousand dollars. However, no officer, employee, or other person shall be liable for a mistaken estimate of available resources made in good faith and based upon reasonable grounds. If an officer, employee, or other person is found to have complied with rules jointly adopted by the department of education and the auditor of state under this section governing methods by which revenue shall be estimated and determined sufficient to provide necessary operating revenue for the purpose of making certifications required by this section, the officer, employee, or other person shall not be liable under this section if the estimates and determinations made according to those rules do not, in fact, conform with actual revenue. The prosecuting attorney of the county, the city director of law, or other chief law officer of the district shall enforce this liability by civil action brought in any court of appropriate jurisdiction in the name of and on behalf of the school district. If the prosecuting attorney, city director of law, or other chief law officer of the district fails, upon the written request of any taxpayer, to institute action for the enforcement of the liability, the attorney general, or the taxpayer in the taxpayer's own name, may institute the action on behalf of the subdivision.

(H) This section does not require the attachment of an additional certificate beyond that required by section 5705.41 of the Revised Code for current payrolls of, or contracts of employment with, any employees or officers of the school district.

This section does not require the attachment of a certificate to a temporary appropriation measure if all of the following apply:

(1) The amount appropriated does not exceed twenty-five per cent of the total amount from all sources available for expenditure from any fund during the preceding fiscal year;

(2) The measure will not be in effect on or after the thirtieth day following the earliest date on which the district may pass an annual appropriation measure;

(3) An amended official certificate of estimated resources for the current year, if required, has not been certified to the board of education under division (B) of section 5705.36 of the Revised Code.

Amended by 129th General AssemblyFile No.28, HB 153, §101.01, eff. 9/29/2011.

Effective Date: 08-15-2003 .