FAX BULLETIN

June 14, 2002

The Ohio General Assembly will be in for sessions next week. The House is scheduled to be in session on June 19th. The Senate is scheduled to meet the 18th, 19th and 20th.

Prior to the House session, the House Public Utilities Committee will meet to finalize a version of SB 255, the Right-of-Way bill. Under provisions of that bill, municipalities would clearly continue to have authority over their right-of-ways. Ordinances, which include right-of-way fees, that are passed after the effective date of the bill would have the fee portions subject to a Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) review if appealed by an affected utility. The PUCO review would determine if the fees in the ordinance are fair and reasonable. Any portion of the fee that is determined to be in excess of the "fair and reasonable" standard would be billed to the ratepayers of the municipality only, rather than spread across all ratepayers. The bill also requires that right-of-way fees be subject to segregated funds accounting, in the same manner as water and sewer funds.

The League has taken a neutral position on this bill. We do not believe that a right-of-way bill such as this is really necessary. However, there are, of course, many right-of-way users and legislators who emphatically do not share that view. Given that, we have worked with the Ohio Municipal Electric Association and representatives of those cities which brought court action against the state on the right-of-way issue to come to a workable compromise.

SB 255, in its present form with some smaller "agreed-to" amendments, which will be offered at next week's meeting, does several things well. It makes clear that the control of the local right-of-way is local. It allows all fee ordinances to go forward without interference. The only change the PUCO can make is how the utilities will bill out such fees. Finally, we think, if applied properly and fairly, it puts in place a right-of-way law that has a good chance of meeting constitutional muster on Home Rule issues.

Should this rather delicate compromise hold together next week, we believe SB 255 will pass the House on the 19th and be concurred in by the Senate in quick order.

The House Public Utilities Committee is scheduled to meet at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, June 18 in House Hearing Room 017. There are no other significant hearings on other bills of municipal interest during the week in either the House or the Senate. Following this week of session, the General Assembly is not scheduled to meet in session until sometime in the middle of September.