Chapter 745 | Street Railways

Section 745.01 | Street railway - indeterminate permit definitions.

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

As used in sections 745.01 to 745.14, inclusive, of the Revised Code:

(A) "Public utility" means any street railway operated in whole or in part under sections 4951.20 to 4951.22, inclusive, and 4951.27 to 4951.31, inclusive, of the Revised Code, or any street railway operated in connection with or upon the tracks of any such street railway, and any corporation which owns, operates, or leases any such street railway.

(B) "Indeterminate permit" means any grant of a municipal corporation to any person, association of persons, company, or corporation of power, right, or privilege to own, operate, manage, or control any plant or equipment or any part of a plant or equipment within this state of any public utility, which by the terms thereof is to continue in force until such time as the municipal corporation exercises its right to purchase the property of such public utility, in accordance with sections 745.01 to 745.14, inclusive, of the Revised Code, or until it is otherwise terminated according to law.

Section 745.02 | Authority to grant indeterminate permit.

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

A municipal corporation may grant an indeterminate permit to any public utility upon such terms as are considered conducive to the public interests, and as provided in sections 745.01 to 745.14, inclusive, of the Revised Code.

Section 745.03 | Authority to surrender franchise and accept indeterminate permit.

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

Any public utility may surrender any existing license, permit, grant, or franchise, and may accept in lieu thereof any indeterminate permit, and the municipal corporation in which all or the major part of the property of such public utility is situated may accept such surrender and grant an indeterminate permit. At the time provided in the grant of such permit, or, if no time is provided in such grant, then at any time after such grant, the municipal corporation may purchase all the property of such public utility actually used and useful for the convenience of the public, upon paying a just compensation therefor as determined or agreed upon in accordance with sections 745.01 to 745.14, inclusive, of the Revised Code.

Any such municipal corporation may purchase and operate such property, and every such public utility shall sell such property for the compensation determined or agreed upon in accordance with such sections. The amount to be paid for the property may be determined by condemnation proceedings, by proceedings before the public utilities commission, or by agreement between the municipal corporation and the public utility. In ascertaining the compensation to be paid by any municipal corporation for the property of any public utility, either by condemnation proceedings or proceedings before the public utilities commission, the compensation shall be made and awarded only for such property of the public utility as is used and useful for the convenience of the public, excluding therefrom the value of any franchise or right to own, operate, or enjoy such property in excess of the amount actually paid to such municipal corporation as the consideration for the grant of such indeterminate permit.

Section 745.04 | Determination of compensation.

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

When a municipal corporation determines to acquire the property of a public utility by condemnation, the compensation therefor shall be determined in the manner provided by sections 719.01 to 719.21, inclusive, of the Revised Code.

Section 745.05 | Procedure for acquisition of public utility.

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

When a municipal corporation desires, as expressed in an ordinance determining to acquire the property of a public utility, to have the compensation for such property determined by the public utilities commission, such municipal corporation shall make a request in writing to the commission in accordance with section 4909.04 of the Revised Code. Thereupon the commission shall proceed to make an inventory and valuation of the property of such public utility. The proceedings for a review of such valuation shall be as prescribed in section 4909.11 of the Revised Code. Such valuation shall not become binding upon the municipal corporation unless the legislative authority thereof passes an ordinance accepting such valuation. Such ordinance is subject to a referendum in accordance with sections 731.29 to 731.41, inclusive, of the Revised Code. If not accepted, the municipal corporation shall reimburse the public utility for its expenses reasonably incurred in the valuation proceedings, the amount thereof to be ascertained and fixed by the commission. In the absence of an agreement as to compensation as provided in section 745.06 of the Revised Code, the acceptance of an indeterminate permit shall be construed as a consent on the part of the public utility to the procedure provided for in this section.

Section 745.06 | Agreement by municipal corporation with public utility as to compensation and time of purchase - proceedings.

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

Any municipal corporation may, contemporaneously with or at any time after the grant of an indeterminate permit as provided in sections 745.02 and 745.03 of the Revised Code, agree with a public utility upon the compensation to be paid for its property and the times for the exercise of the privilege of purchase, but no period between the times fixed for such purchase shall exceed five years. Upon the determination of the municipal corporation to acquire the property of such public utility, the amount to be paid by the municipal corporation and the terms of the acquisition shall be as agreed upon. The agreement of the municipal corporation shall be by ordinance. In the same or other ordinances, the municipal corporation and the public utility may agree upon:

(A) The amount of or basis of calculating the amount of annual payment to be made to the municipal corporation to be treated as operating expenses of the utility or otherwise;

(B) The basis of a division of earnings between the utility and the municipal corporation;

(C) The purposes for which and the amounts or the basis for calculating the amounts in which new stock, bonds, or other securities may be issued;

(D) The minimum net earnings or basis of or device for calculating the minimum net earnings which the utility may earn as a condition precedent to a reduction of fares or rates, and as a test of the reasonableness of extensions;

(E) The initial rates, fares, and charges, and the dates of revision of rates, fares, or charges, but no period between dates fixed for revision shall exceed five years;

(F) The obligations of the utility with reference to minimum maintenance, renewal, and depreciation reserve funds;

(G) The arbitration of differences;

(H) Other terms relative to the construction, maintenance, financing, operation, and control of service of the utility consistent with sections 745.01 to 745.14, inclusive, of the Revised Code and an indeterminate permit.

Section 745.07 | Submission of ordinance to electors - notice of election.

• Effective: September 29, 2011
• Latest Legislation: House Bill 153 - 129th General Assembly

An ordinance passed pursuant to section 745.06 of the Revised Code shall not take effect until submitted to the electors of the municipal corporation, at a special or general election held in the municipal corporation at such time as the legislative authority determines, and approved by a majority of the electors voting on it. The ordinance shall be passed by an affirmative vote of not less than a majority of the members of the legislative authority and shall be subject to the approval of the mayor as provided by law. The ordinance shall specify the form or phrasing of the question to be placed upon the ballot. Thirty days' notice of the election shall be given by publication once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation in the municipal corporation or as provided in section 7.16 of the Revised Code. If the board of elections operates and maintains a web site, notice of the election also shall be posted on that web site for thirty days prior to the election. The notice shall contain the full form or phrasing of the question to be submitted. The clerk of the legislative authority shall certify the passage of the ordinance to the officers having control of elections in the municipal corporation, who shall cause the question to be voted on at the general or special election as specified in the ordinance.

Section 745.08 | Time of continuance of indeterminate permit - effect of acceptance.

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

Any indeterminate permit shall continue in force until such time as the municipal corporation acquires the property of the public utility as provided in sections 745.01 to 745.14, inclusive, of the Revised Code, or until otherwise terminated according to the terms of the permit. The acceptance of an indeterminate permit deprives the public utility of all rights under any license, permit, grant, or franchise, or granted in any municipal ordinance or resolution existing at the time of the granting of the permit. From the time of such grant, the rates, fares, charges, service, accounts, equipments, repairs, additions, extensions, improvements, transfers, joint use, depreciation, capitalization, bonded or other indebtedness, and all other terms relating to the financing, construction, maintenance, and operation of such utility shall be subject to municipal regulation. Such power of municipal regulation shall not be exercised in a manner inconsistent with the express terms of the ordinance granting the permit.

The capitalization and bonded or other indebtedness for improvement and other purposes beyond the limits of the municipal corporation granting the permit shall remain subject to regulation by the public utilities commission. No such capitalization or indebtedness shall be given effect as a basis for purchase price to or rate regulation by the municipal corporation contrary to the agreement of the municipal corporation and public utility as expressed in the ordinance granting the permit.

Such sections do not confer upon any municipal corporation, or upon any officer, department, or commission thereof, any power to grant an indeterminate permit to any such public utility in any other manner than by ordinance, or to prescribe that such ordinance shall take effect in any other manner than by acceptance by the public utility to which it is granted by filing a written acceptance thereof with the clerk of the legislative authority or other officers named in such permit.

Section 745.09 | Rates, tolls, or charges.

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

In the absence of agreement between the municipal corporation and a public utility as to rates, fares, or charges, as provided in section 745.06 of the Revised Code, all rates, fares, tolls, and charges for services rendered and commodities furnished by such public utility shall be sufficient to yield a reasonable compensation to the public utility operating under an indeterminate permit, and in the ascertainment of what shall constitute such reasonable rates, fares, tolls, and charges, the municipal corporation shall have regard, among other things, to the value of all the property of the public utility actually used and useful for the convenience of the public, excluding therefrom the value of any franchise or right to own, operate, or enjoy such property in excess of the amount actually paid to the municipal corporation as the consideration for the grant of such indeterminate permit, exclusive of any value added thereto by reason of a monopoly or merger, and shall have regard to the necessity of making reservation out of the income for surplus, depreciation, and contingencies.

Section 745.10 | Department may be created to exercise the powers conferred.

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

If any municipal corporation establishes a department to exercise any of the powers conferred by sections 745.01 to 745.14, inclusive, of the Revised Code, such department is hereby granted such powers of supervision and regulation of any public utility operating under an indeterminate grant as are provided by such sections and the ordinance granting the permit, and as are prescribed by any ordinance not inconsistent with the ordinance granting the permit. Each such public utility shall comply with all orders and regulations of such department issued by virtue of the powers granted by this section. The procedure of, by, and before such department shall be as ordained by the legislative authority of the municipal corporation in the permit and other ordinances. The legislative authority may prescribe the penalties for noncompliance with and the methods of enforcement of the orders and regulations of such department, not inconsistent with the ordinance granting the permit. The permit or any ordinance or order of the municipal corporation passed or issued under sections 745.01 to 745.14, inclusive, of the Revised Code, shall be binding upon all public officers and commissions.

Section 745.11 | Appeal when ordinance contains no provisions for appeal.

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

When an ordinance granting an indeterminate permit contains no provisions whatever relative to appeal from or arbitration concerning the orders of the municipal corporation, the utility may appeal to the public utilities commission from any order of the municipal corporation which is in violation of law or of the permit, or from any unreasonable order concerning matters upon which the parties have not agreed in the permit itself. Such appeal shall be by petition filed within thirty days from the issuance of the order. The filing of any such appeal shall not suspend the operation of the order appealed from unless the public utility gives an undertaking payable to the municipal corporation in such amount and containing such conditions as are fixed by the commission.

Section 745.12 | Procedure on appeals to public utilities commission.

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

If an ordinance granting an indeterminate permit provides for an appeal to or arbitration by the public utilities commission, the commission shall determine such appeal or arbitration according to the procedure, methods, and terms provided for in such ordinance. There shall be no judicial review of the actions of the commission upon such appeals or arbitration. Except as provided in this section and section 745.11 of the Revised Code, the law relating to appeals, complaints, or applications to the commission shall not apply to public utilities operating under indeterminate permits.

Section 745.13 | Writ of mandamus.

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

In addition to the methods of enforcement provided by sections 745.01 to 745.14, inclusive, of the Revised Code, the duties imposed upon public utilities by such sections shall be enforceable by mandamus and all other judicial proceedings provided for the enforcement of the duties of public utilities.

Section 745.14 | Rights of charter municipality as to indeterminate permits.

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

Sections 745.01 to 745.13, inclusive, of the Revised Code do not deprive any municipal corporation of its rights to prescribe, by charter, any other methods or terms according to and upon which indeterminate permits may be granted in such municipal corporation.