Ohio Municipal League
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Columbus, Ohio 43215

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John Mahoney
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This week HB 289 (Cupp) was introduced in the Ohio Senate and referred to the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans' Affairs Committee. Though the bill reflects much of what was agreed to in discussions between the League and the Ohio Township Association, it is not the complete compromise that we had once hoped could be reached during those discussions.

Following the introduction of this legislation, the League, along with the Ohio Township Association and the County Commissioners' Association of Ohio, met with Senator Dick Schafrath, Chair of the Senate State and Local Government and Veterans' Affairs Committee, to discuss our concerns about the bill in its present form and the format for hearings on the bill. Senator Schafrath assured us that following the sponsor's testimony on Wednesday of last week, no further hearings on SB 289 would be scheduled until the Senate returns from its spring break the first week of May. The Senator also assured us that there would be adequate hearings on the bill to make certain that all views are heard.

On Thursday, the League Board of Trustees met by conference call to discuss the League's position on SB 289. Below is the complete text of that position:

"The Ohio Municipal League Board of Trustees has reviewed the substantive provisions of SB 289. While many of those provisions reflect the League's good faith efforts to negotiate with the Ohio Township Association toward a workable and fair bill, there are still key issues reflected in SB 289 that render that bill both unworkable and unfair to municipal interests.

The thrust of the negotiations, requested by Senate leadership, was to create a bill that, as a package, was acceptable to both the League and the Ohio Township Association. SB 289 fails to accomplish that goal in two critical provisions, specifically: (1) the provision which places the outside marker for concern on all annexations at 1/2 mile and (2) the overly generous schedule of payments to be made as reparations to townships on all annexations withdrawn from those townships. These critical provisions so damage the League's view of this proposal as to make less attractive much that could be useful in the rest of the bill, if given the proper context of compromise.