Ohio Municipal League
175 South Third Street
Suite 510
Columbus, Ohio 43215

614-221-4349 Office
614-221-4390 Fax

email:
Legislative Inquiries
John Mahoney
General Inquiries
info@omunileague.org

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League Testifies on "Development Commission" Bill.

League staff testified this week before the House Local Government and Townships Committee as an interested party in HB 397, a bill which would allow municipalities to establish a "Development Commission." Modeled after an entity used by Portland, Oregon, such commissions would draw up plans for designated redevelopment areas, submit those plans to council for approval, and, upon approval, have a delineated set of powers to execute those plans. Included in those powers would be the power of eminent domain, the power to establish tax increment financing programs on an area-wide basis and the ability to propose development tax levies that would only affect the area for development. The Development Commission, though connected to the municipality, would be considered a separate political subdivision by statute.

The impetus for this legislation comes, primarily, from some individual members of the Cincinnati City Council.

The League's position is that if this legislation is to be permissive, then a number of provisions, such as the membership of the Commission, the appointing authority and the terms of commissioners should be left to the municipality interested in such an entity. Also, we expressed our concern that some communities would not be able or willing to use this legislation if the powers given to the Commission could not be limited by council because of policy decisions or charter limitations. Finally, we asked the committee to consider allowing municipalities the use of some of the tools in the bill, such as area-wide TIF's, without establishing a separate political entity.

Because of the tax provisions of HB 397, the committee moved the bill to the House Rules Committee for re-referral to the House Ways and Means Committee.

PERS Legislation Introduced

The General Assembly has introduced legislation that will change certain benefits paid by PERS. The changes were thoroughly explained in the March 24 Legislative Bulletin. The are two companion bills, House Bill 628 sponsored by Representative Nancy Hollister and Senate Bill 277 sponsored by Senator Grace Drake. Hearings on these two pieces of legislation may soon commence. The bills will also be looked over by the Ohio Retirement Study Council to see that the proposals are fiscally sound. We will keep you informed as these bills make their way through the legislative process.

On May 1, 2000, from 6:00 - 10:00 p.m., at Baldwin-Wallace College in Berea, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) will hold a hearing to receive public comments regarding the draft rules for implementing quiet zones. The FRA has proposed that the railroads must blow their horns at each at-grade crossing, unless sufficient safety measures can be constructed which would allow specific crossings to be exempt from the horn-blowing rule. For more information, you may contact Beth Wilson, Ohio Rail Development Commission, at 614/728-9497.

SB 266 WORKERS’ COMPENSATION (Horn) Permits public employers, other than the state, to become self-insuring employers for purposes of the Workers’ Compensation Law. (2^nd Hearing)

HB 483 ELECTRIC UTILITY TAXATION (Mottley) Prescribes a uniform set of procedures for municipal taxation of electric companies. (1^st Hearing)

SB 193 UTILITY EXCAVATIONS (Blessing) Provides for the establishment and operation of a single, statewide, one-call notification system as a means of preventing or minimizing damage to subsurface facilities as a result of excavations occurring in this state. (6^th Hearing - Substitute bill to be offered)

HB 627 WORKERS’ COMPENSATION (Mottley) Permits public employers, other than the state, to become self-insuring employers for purposes of the Workers’ Compensation Law. (1^st Hearing)

HB 434 CONTRACTOR CERTIFICATION (Buehrer) Requires statewide certification of specified contractors and makes additional modifications to the Construction Industry Certification Law. (4^th Hearing)

HB 623 RETIREMENT PLANS (Cates) Establishes a new defined contribution retirement plan for certain public employees who are elective officials or are in the state’s unclassified civil service in positions exempt from collective bargaining. (1^st Hearing)

HB 628 PERS BENEFITS (Hollister) Increases certain benefits paid by the Public Employees Retirement System (PERS) and makes other changes. (1^st Hearing)

HB 249 RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT (Tiberi) Prohibits a political subdivision from requiring its employees to reside in any specific area of the state. (2^nd Hearing)

HB 565 RESIDENCY REQUIREMENT (Young) Specifies that state law does not require a municipal corporation fire chief or village fire prevention officer to be a resident or elector of the municipal corporation. (3^rd Hearing - Possible vote)