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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OML E- BULLETIN
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And the Hits Just Keep On Coming.

The General Assembly returned this week to continue and begin consideration on a number of bills. While committee schedules were fairly heavy, so little legislation moved that only two bills were voted on by the full House and no bills passed out of the Senate. Next week Senate Committees will meet, but there will be no full sessions. House Committees are not scheduled to meet and there will be no House sessions.

Unfortunately, this light schedule of activity did not spare the state from more bad news on the budget front. On Thursday, State Budget Director Tom Johnson virtually declared a recession through he end of 2001 in a memo to his boss, Governor Bob Taft. Revenues, which have come in below estimates, upon which the budget passed July 1 was based, are off by over $100 million and will probably slide further in September through the end of the year, Johnson said. When revenues go down, expenditures stemming from social service programs, which are a large part of the state budget, usually go up, though we have not heard much about that pincer in the budget squeeze yet.

The state also went back to the Supreme Court this week asking for reconsideration of the school funding decision handed down about two weeks ago. Despite hesitancy on the part of the Speaker of the House and the Senate President to do so, the Governor decided that, given the rippling economic effects caused by our national tragedy and that estimates now make it clear that the Court's decision, which the Court thought was an $800 million biennial order for more school funds is really a $2.4 billion order, reconsideration by the Court might be helpful. Legislative leaders, who in the end deferred to the Governor, felt reconsideration might open up the funding order to additional issues and a larger funding decision by the Court. The Coalition for Equity and Adequacy of School Funding, the group that sued the state in the first place, promised to try to do just that if the state asked for reconsideration.

And mid-week, Cuyahoga County, backed by five other counties, sued the state over budget decisions which directed some federal dollars ($268 million) to pay for human services programs previously funded by the state. The result of that shift meant counties got short changed on social service dollars that would have otherwise gone to the counties, according to the suit.

On one municipal issue, we are hopeful that HB 244 (Niehaus) will receive quick consideration in the Senate Ways and Means Committee. That bill grants relief and refunds to several municipalities on inordinate fines imposed by the Police and Fire Pension Funds on the late filing of some forms and contributions. The bill is supported by both the League and the Fund. The bill would also create a more reasonable and flexible method for the Fund to enforce deadlines on those forms and contributions.

Who Uses GASB34?

The League has received numerous phone calls regarding GASB 34 and who must comply with it. We have talked to the State Auditor's office and to those individuals who are well versed on the subject. The answer was found in the Ohio Administrative Code 117-2-03 (B).

"(B) All counties, cities and school districts, including educational service centers and community schools, shall file their annual financial reports pursuant to generally accepted accounting principles." (aka. GAAP)

Since GASB 34 is part of GAAP, and no village reports on a GAAP basis, no village is required to use GASB 34. We hope that this clears up some of the confusion associated with this subject.