After the filing of a petition for the organization of a sanitary district, and before the district is organized, the costs of publication and other official costs of the proceedings shall be paid out of the general funds of the county in which the petition is pending. Such payment shall be made on the warrant of the county auditor on the order of the court. If the district is organized, such cost shall be repaid to the county out of the first funds received by the district through levying of taxes or assessments or selling of bonds, or the borrowing of money. If the district is not organized, the cost shall be collected from the petitioners or their bondsmen. Upon the organization of the district, the court shall make an order indicating a preliminary division of the preliminary expenses between the counties included in the district in approximately the proportions of interest of the various counties as estimated by the court. The court shall issue an order to the auditor of each county to issue his warrant upon the county treasurer of his county to reimburse the county having paid the total cost.

Expenses incurred after the organization of the district and prior to the receipt of money by the district from taxes or assessments, bond sales, or otherwise, shall be paid from the general funds of the counties upon the order of the court and upon certification of the clerk of the court of such order specifying the amount and purpose of the levy to the auditor of each county, who shall thereupon at once issue his warrant to the treasurer of his county, said payments to be made in proportion to the order outlined by the court. Upon receipt of funds by the district from the sale of bonds or by taxation or assessment the funds so advanced by the counties shall be repaid.

As soon as any district has been organized, and a board of directors of the sanitary district has been appointed and qualified, such board may levy upon the property of the district not to exceed three-tenths of a mill on the assessed valuation thereof as a level rate to be used for the purpose of paying expenses of organization, for surveys and plans, and for other incidental expenses which may be necessary up to the time money is received from the sale of bonds or otherwise. This tax shall be certified to the auditors of the various counties and by them to the respective treasurers of their counties. If such items of expense have already been paid in whole or in part from other sources, they may be repaid although the work proposed may have been found impracticable or for other reasons is abandoned. The collection of such tax levy and the procedure relating to the nonpayment of taxes shall conform in all matters to the collection of taxes and assessments for the district. The board may borrow money in any manner provided for in sections 6115.47 and 6115.50 of the Revised Code, and may pledge the receipts from such taxes or, in the case of a sanitary district organized for the purpose of providing a water supply, the proceeds of the sale of water pursuant to section 6115.62 of the Revised Code for its repayment, the information collected by the necessary surveys, the appraisal of benefits and damages, and other information and data being of real value and constituting benefits for which the tax may be levied. In case a district is disbanded for any cause before the work is constructed, the data, plans, and estimates which have been secured shall be filed with the clerk of the court before which the district was organized and shall be matters of public record available to any person interested.

Effective Date: 07-08-1993 .