(A) The contract creating a joint economic development district shall provide for the amount or nature of the contribution of each contracting party to the development and operation of the district and may provide for the sharing of the costs of the operation of and improvements for the district. The contributions may be in any form to which the contracting parties agree and may include, but are not limited to, the provision of services, money, real or personal property, facilities, or equipment. The contract may provide for the contracting parties to share revenue from taxes levied by one or more of the contracting parties, if those revenues may lawfully be applied to that purpose under the legislation by which those taxes are levied. The contract shall specify and provide for new, expanded, or additional services, facilities, or improvements. The contract may provide for expanded or additional capacity for or other enhancement of existing services, facilities, or improvements.
(B) The contract shall enumerate the specific powers, duties, and functions of the board of directors of the district described under section 715.78 of the Revised Code and shall provide for the determination of procedures that are to govern the board.
(C)
(1) The contract may grant to the board the power to adopt a resolution to levy an income tax within the district and the contract may designate certain portions of the district where such an income tax may be levied. The income tax shall be used for the purposes of the district or any portion of the district in which the contract authorizes an income tax and for the purposes of the contracting parties pursuant to the contract. The income tax may be levied in the district based on income earned by persons working within the district and based on the net profits of businesses located in the district, but the income of an individual who resides in the district shall not be subject to such income tax unless the income is received for personal services performed in the district. The income tax of the district shall follow the provisions of Chapter 718. of the Revised Code, except that no vote shall be required. The rate of the income tax shall be no higher than the highest rate being levied by a municipal corporation that is a contracting party.
(2) If the board adopts a resolution to levy an income tax, it shall enter into an agreement with a municipal corporation that is a contracting party to administer, collect, and enforce the income tax on behalf of the district.
(3) A resolution levying an income tax under this section shall require the contracting parties to annually set aside a percentage, to be stated in the resolution, of the amount of the income tax collected for the long-term maintenance of the district.
(4) An income tax levied under this section shall apply in the district or any portion of the district in which the contract authorizes an income tax throughout the term of the contract creating the district, notwithstanding that all or a portion of the district becomes subject to annexation, merger, or consolidation.
(D) The contract creating a joint economic development district shall continue in existence throughout its term and shall be binding on the contracting parties and on any parties succeeding to the contracting parties, whether by annexation, merger, or consolidation. Except as provided in division (E) of this section, the contract may be amended, renewed, or terminated with the approval of the contracting parties or any parties succeeding to the contracting parties. If the contract is amended to add area to an existing district, the amendment shall be adopted in the manner prescribed under section 715.761 of the Revised Code.
(E) If two or more contracting parties previously have entered into a separate contract for utility services, then amendment, renewal, or termination of the separate contract for utility services shall not constitute any part of the consideration for the contract creating a joint economic development district. A contract creating a joint economic development district shall be rebuttably presumed to violate this division if it is entered into within two years prior or five years subsequent to the amendment, renewal, or termination of a separate contract for utility services that two or more contracting parties previously have entered into. The presumption stated in this division may be rebutted by clear and convincing evidence of both of the following:
(1) That other substantial consideration existed to support the contract creating a joint economic development district;
(2) That the contracting parties entered into the contract creating a joint economic development district freely and without duress or coercion related to the amendment, renewal, or termination of the separate contract for utility services.
(F) A contract creating a joint economic development district that violates division (E) of this section is void and unenforceable.
(G) The contract may designate property as a community entertainment district or may be amended to designate property as a community entertainment district as prescribed in division (D) of section 4301.80 of the Revised Code. A contract or amendment designating a community entertainment district shall include all information and documentation described in divisions (B)(1) through (6) of section 4301.80 of the Revised Code. The public notice required under section 715.75 of the Revised Code shall specify that the contract designates a community entertainment district and describe the location of that district. Except as provided in division (F) of section 4301.80 of the Revised Code, an area designated as a community entertainment district under a joint economic development district contract shall not lose its designation even if the contract is canceled or terminated.
Amended by 130th General Assembly File No. TBD, HB 494, ยง1, eff. 3/23/2015.
Effective Date: 03-22-1999; 2008 HB562 09-22-2008; 2008 SB129 12-30-2008
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