Chapter 701 | General Provisions

Section 701.01 | General provisions definitions.

• Effective: August 7, 2007
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 53 - 127th General Assembly

In the interpretation of Title VII of the Revised Code, unless the context shows that another meaning was intended:

(A) "Person" includes a private corporation.

(B) "Writing" includes printing.

(C) "Oath" includes affirmation.

(D) "Property" includes real, personal, and mixed estates and interests.

(E) "Land" and "real estate" include rights and easements of an incorporeal nature.

(F) "Plan of sewerage," "system of sewerage," "sewer," and "sewers" include sewers, sewage disposal works and treatment plants, and sewage pumping stations, together with facilities and appurtenances necessary and proper therefor.

This enumeration does not require a strict construction of any other words in such title.

Section 701.03 | Right of visitation.

• Effective: July 6, 1982
• Latest Legislation: Senate Bill 23 - 114th General Assembly

The general assembly, by a committee; the governor; the legislative authority of the municipal corporation, by a committee; the mayor or the board of health of a municipal corporation; the judge of any court of this state; the grand jury of the county; or a duly authorized representative of the governor may at any time visit and inspect any of the benevolent or correctional institutions established by a municipal corporation, and examine the books and accounts thereof.

Section 701.05 | Authority of municipal corporations.

• Effective: July 26, 1963
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 69 - 105th General Assembly

Municipal corporations operating under a charter which provides for or authorizes a method of procedure in the passage and publication of legislation, the making of improvements, and the levying of assessments differing from the method prescribed by general law, may pass and publish such legislation, make such improvements, and levy such assessments under the general law or in accordance with the procedure provided for or authorized by its charter. Assessments so levied by charter municipal corporations shall, as to their amount, be subject to the limitations, whether based on percentages of value of land to be assessed, proportion of cost and expense of the improvement, or other basis, as fixed by general law; provided that notwithstanding section 727.05 of the Revised Code, the entire cost may be assessed of sprinkling, sweeping, cleaning, removing snow from and treating the surface of municipal streets, alleys, and public ways.

Section 701.06 | Validating previous proceedings.

• Effective: October 1, 1953
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 1 - 100th General Assembly

All legislative steps and all improvements and assessment proceedings taken by any charter municipal corporation prior to April 16, 1925, which would have been valid if this section and section 701.05 of the Revised Code had been in effect at the time, shall be legal and valid legislative steps, improvements, and assessments. All notes or bonds issued or authorized by any such charter municipal corporation prior to such date, which have been or will be sold for not less than par and accrued interest, and the proceeds thereof have been or will be paid into the treasury, which would have been valid if such sections had been in effect at the time, shall be valid and binding obligations.

Section 701.07 | Cooperative economic development agreements.

• Effective: March 22, 1999
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 434 - 122nd General Assembly

(A) The legislative authority of one or more municipal corporations, by ordinance or resolution, and the board of township trustees of one or more townships, by resolution, may enter into a cooperative economic development agreement under this section. The board of county commissioners of one or more counties may become a party to a cooperative economic development agreement upon the written consent of the legislative authority of each municipal corporation and the board of township trustees of each township that is a party to the agreement.

Before entering into a cooperative economic development agreement pursuant to this section, the parties to the agreement shall jointly hold a public hearing concerning the agreement. The parties shall provide to residents of the territory affected by the agreement at least thirty days' public notice of the time and place of the public hearing in one or more newspapers of general circulation in that territory. During the thirty-day period prior to the public hearing, each party to the agreement, except the state or any state agency or any person or private entity that becomes a party to the agreement under division (C)(10) or (F) of this section, shall make available for public inspection a copy of the proposed agreement.

(B) A cooperative economic development agreement may be amended at any time in the same manner as it was initially authorized. A cooperative economic development agreement shall designate the territory the agreement covers.

(C) A cooperative economic development agreement may provide for any of the following:

(1) The provision of joint services and permanent improvements within incorporated or unincorporated areas;

(2) The provision of services and improvements by a municipal corporation in unincorporated areas;

(3) The provision of services and improvements by a county or township within the territory of a municipal corporation;

(4) The payment of service fees to a municipal corporation by a township or county;

(5) The payment of service fees to a township or a county by a municipal corporation;

(6) The issuance of notes and bonds and other debt obligations by a municipal corporation, county, or township for public purposes authorized by or under a cooperative economic development agreement and provision for the allocation of the payment of the principal of, interest on, and other charges and costs of issuing and servicing the repayment of the debt;

(7) The issuance of industrial development notes, bonds, and debt obligations by a municipal corporation to finance projects in territory located outside the municipal corporation but located within the territory covered by a cooperative economic development agreement and provision for the allocation of the payment of the principal of, interest on, and other charges and costs of issuing and servicing the repayment of the debt. To implement division (C)(10) of this section, a municipal corporation may undertake projects under Chapter 165., 761., or 902. of the Revised Code even though the project is in territory located outside the municipal corporation.

(8) The territory to be annexed to a municipal corporation when agreed to by the municipal corporation to which annexation is proposed and the township in which the territory to be annexed is located;

(9) Any periods of time during which no annexations will occur and any areas that will not be annexed during the period when agreed to by the municipal corporation and township affected by the annexation moratorium;

(10) Agreements by a municipal corporation and a township, or by a municipal corporation and a county, with landowners or developers of land that is to be annexed, or with both such landowners and land developers, concerning the provision of public services, facilities, and permanent improvements. Any person or other private entity described in division (C)(10) of this section that enters into an agreement with a municipal corporation and a township, or with a municipal corporation and a county, pursuant to this division shall be considered to be a party to the agreement.

(11) The application of tax abatement statutes within the territory covered by the cooperative economic development agreement;

(12) Changing township boundaries under Chapter 503. of the Revised Code to exclude newly annexed territory from the original township and providing services to that territory;

(13) The earmarking by a municipal corporation for its general revenue fund of a portion of the utility charges it collects in territory located outside the municipal corporation but located within the territory covered by a cooperative economic development agreement, but only if the cooperative economic development agreement does not cover any matters relating to annexation;

(14) Payments in lieu of taxes, if any, to be paid to a township by a municipal corporation. These payments may be in addition to or in lieu of other payments required by law to be made to the township by that municipal corporation.

(15) Any other matter pertaining to the annexation or development of territory, whether the territory is owned by a governmental entity or a person or private entity.

As used in division (C)(2) of this section, "improvement" includes, but is not limited to, sewers, roadways, public utilities, and the acquisition of land.

(D) Cooperative economic development agreements shall not be in derogation of the powers granted to municipal corporations by Article XVIII, Ohio Constitution, or any other provisions of the Ohio Constitution or of a municipal charter, nor shall municipal corporations and townships, or municipal corporations and counties, agree to share proceeds of any tax levy, although such proceeds may be used to make payments authorized in a cooperative economic development agreement.

(E) If any party to a cooperative economic development agreement believes any other party has failed to perform its part of any provision of the agreement, including the failure to make any payment of moneys due under the agreement, the complaining party shall give notice to the other party clearly stating what breach the complaining party believes has occurred. The party receiving the notice has ninety days from the receipt of that notice to cure the breach. If the breach has not been cured within that ninety-day period, the complaining party may sue for the recovery of the money due under the agreement, sue for specific enforcement of the agreement, or terminate the agreement by giving notice of termination to all other parties.

(F) In order to assist economic development or to provide appropriate state functions and services to any part of the state, the state or any state agency may become a party to a cooperative economic development agreement upon the approval of the governor and the written consent of the legislative authority or governing board of each government entity that is a party to the agreement and upon the approval of each person or private entity described in division (C)(10) of this section that is party to the agreement.

(G) A cooperative economic development agreement entered into under this section is in addition to any other agreements authorized by law between municipal corporations and counties or between municipal corporations and townships.

(H) The powers and authorizations provided for under this section and under any cooperative economic development agreement entered into pursuant to this section shall be liberally construed to allow parties to enter into cooperative economic development agreements and to carry out such an agreement by providing government improvements and facilities and services, by promoting and supporting economic development, by creating and preserving employment opportunities, and by allowing for the sharing by counties and townships in the benefits of economic development even if the economic development does not occur in an unincorporated area.

Section 701.10 | Unpaid charges for collection or disposal services.

• Effective: September 30, 2021
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 110 - 134th General Assembly

(A)(1) The legislative authority of a municipal corporation that has established a rate or charge, payable to the municipal corporation, for the provision of collection or disposal services for garbage, ashes, animal and vegetable refuse, dead animals, or animal offal may certify to the county auditor, by ordinance, the amount of the rate or charge that has not been paid in accordance with applicable requirements by a person using the collection or disposal services, when either of the following applies:

(a) The unpaid amount is equal to or greater than two hundred fifty dollars; or

(b) The unpaid amount is equal to or greater than the applicable annual rate or charge imposed by the municipal corporation upon the person using the collection or disposal services, regardless of the actual cost incurred by the municipal corporation in providing the collection or disposal services.

(2) The amount certified shall be a lien on the person's property to which services are provided, placed on the tax list in a separate column, collected as other taxes, and paid into the general fund of the municipal corporation.

(B) A municipal corporation that, on or before October 17, 2019, collected all rates or charges for such services in a manner consistent with the collection of other taxes, rather than making that rate or charge payable to the municipal corporation, may continue to collect amounts in such manner without being subject to the limitation in division (A)(1) of this section.

Last updated July 14, 2021 at 4:10 PM