OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
H.B. 616 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for H.B. 616’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Introduced
Primary Sponsor: Rep. Claggett
Effective date:
Amanda Goodman and Margaret E. Marcy, Attorneys
SUMMARY
 Authorizes a board of county commissioners to create a water improvement district
(WID) within the county to facilitate, coordinate, fund, finance, construct, reconstruct,
or repair water projects.
 Specifies that a water project is any waste water facility or water management facility
constructed or improved by a WID, including all buildings and facilities that the WID
board of trustees considers necessary for the operation of the project.
 Requires a WID to be governed by a board of trustees that includes at least six specified
members (five of whom are voting members), but up to an additional six members
representative of governmental agencies within the WID’s territory.
 Specifies the powers and duties of the WID board of trustees.
 Authorizes the WID board of trustees to enter into agreements with other governmental
agencies, including the boards of county commissioners of contiguous counties, in order
to assist in financing water projects or creating/repairing them within those other
jurisdictions.
 Authorizes the WID board of trustees to levy special assessments and issue bonds to
assist in financing the water projects proposed by the WID.
 Exempts WID projects and their contracts from certain restrictions (e.g., competitive
bidding, prevailing wage law) that otherwise govern government contracts.
 Requires the creation of a WID appeals board, consisting of 12 members (11 of whom
are voting members), to review appeals of any actions that arise concerning decisions
made by the WID board of trustees.
 Specifies the hearing process for any appeals and the governing procedures for the WID
appeals board.
 Declares an emergency.
June 21, 2024
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Water Improvement District (WID) ................................................................................................ 2
Creation and purpose .................................................................................................................. 2
WID board of trustees..................................................................................................................... 3
Creation ....................................................................................................................................... 3
Powers and duties ....................................................................................................................... 4
Agreements with other local governments ................................................................................ 5
Financing options for WIDs: special assessments and bonds......................................................... 6
Special assessments .................................................................................................................... 6
Bonds ........................................................................................................................................... 7
Exemptions for a WID project ......................................................................................................... 8
WID appeals board.......................................................................................................................... 8
Creation ....................................................................................................................................... 8
Appeals process ........................................................................................................................... 9
Emergency..................................................................................................................................... 11
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Water Improvement District (WID)
Creation and purpose
The bill authorizes a board of county commissioners, via resolution, to create a water
improvement district (WID) within a county to facilitate, coordinate, fund, finance, construct,
reconstruct, or repair water projects or engage in any combination of those activities. A WID is
a body both corporate and politic, and its exercise of its powers, granted under the bill, is an
essential governmental function.1
The concept of a WID is similar to the current law transportation improvement district
(a.k.a. a TID), which is a political entity that helps with the financing of transportation-related
projects. In the case of a WID, a water project is any waste water facility or water management
facility constructed or improved by a WID, including all buildings and facilities that the WID
board of trustees (see “WID board of trustees” below) considers necessary for the
operation of the project. Also included in the water project are all property and rights that must
be acquired by the board to construct, reconstruct, or repair the project.2
1 R.C. 6120.02(A) and (B).
2 R.C. 6120.01(Q).
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As Introduced
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While the WID is authorized to assist in financing the creation or repair of a water
project, the long-term operation and maintenance of the project remains with another
governmental agency. A governmental agency is any of the following:
 A department, division, or other unit of state government;
 A county, township, or municipal corporation;
 A watershed district, soil and water conservation district, park district, special water
district (including a county and regional water and sewer district), conservancy district,
sanitary district, sewer district (or any other public corporation or agency having the
authority to operate a waste water or water management facility), or other political
subdivision;
 A port authority; and
 The federal government.3
The bill requires a WID board of trustees to enter into an intergovernmental agreement
with the legislative body of one or more governmental agencies that specifies that the
governmental agency or agencies must operate and maintain a project under the terms
specified in the agreement. The intergovernmental agreement must contain terms that are
agreed upon by all parties prior to the WID board of trustees’ approval of a project.4
WID board of trustees
Creation
As indicated above, the bill requires each WID to be governed by a board of trustees
(“WID board”). The WID board must include at least six members as follows:
 Five voting members consisting of:
 Either the county sanitary engineer (if one has been appointed) or the county
engineer, or the engineer’s designee; and
 Four members appointed by the board of county commissioners, who have
experience in waste water facilities, waste water, sewage, or water management
facilities; and
 One nonvoting member appointed by the regional planning commission for the county.
The WID board may consist of up to an additional six nonvoting members who are
representative of the governmental agencies that are located within the WID’s territory. All of
the members serve without compensation, but may be reimbursed for their actual and
necessary expenses that are incurred in the performance of their official duties.
3 R.C. 6120.01(L).
4 R.C. 6120.02(A).
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As Introduced
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Each appointed member of the board must hold office for a term of two years, subject
to removal of their appointing authority only for malfeasance. Members may be reappointed
and any vacancy on the board must be filled in the same manner as the original appointment. A
majority of the board’s voting members constitutes a quorum, the affirmative vote of which is
necessary for any action of the WID. A vacancy does not impair the right of a quorum to
exercise all the rights and perform all the duties of the WID.
The five voting members of the WID board must elect a chairperson, vice-chairperson,
and a secretary-treasurer. The original organizational meeting of the WID board must be held at
a time and place designated by the nonvoting member who was appointed by the regional
planning commission. The WID board is authorized to establish fees related to its services in
order to pay the costs incurred by the WID in its exercise of its functions.5
Powers and duties
Similar to other political entity boards, the bill authorizes a WID board to do all of the
following:
 Adopt bylaws for the regulation of its affairs and the conduct of its business;
 Adopt an official seal;
 Sue and be sued in its own name;
 Facilitate, coordinate, fund, finance, construct, reconstruct, or repair projects or engage
in a combination of any of those activities;
 Issue WID revenue bonds and economic development bonds pursuant to the Ohio
Constitution to pay the costs of any project;
 Maintain funds as the WID board considers necessary;
 Direct its agents or employees, under certain circumstances, to enter upon lands within
its jurisdiction to make surveys and examinations preliminary to the location and
construction of projects for the WID, without liability of the WID or its agents or
employees except for actual damage done;
 Make and enter into all contracts and agreements necessary or incidental to the
performance of the WID board’s functions and the execution of its powers;
 Employ or retain or contract for the services of consulting engineers, superintendents,
managers, and other experts, as are necessary and fix their compensation;
 Receive and accept from any governmental agency, loans and grants for or in aid of the
construction, reconstruction, or repair of any project, and receive and accept
contributions from any source of money, property, labor, or other things of value;
5 R.C. 6120.02(C) to (G).
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As Introduced
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 Acquire, hold, and dispose of property in the exercise of its powers and the performance
of its duties;
 Cooperate with any governmental agencies in the planning, design, acquisition,
construction, maintenance, funding, and financing of projects; and
 Do all acts necessary and proper to carry out the powers expressly granted by the bill.6
Consistency with state requirements
The bill requires the WID board to determine whether a water project is consistent with
both:
 Any comprehensive plan of water management approved by or in the process of
preparation by the Director of Natural Resources; and
 The standards set for the waters of the state affected thereby by the Environmental
Protection Agency.
Relatedly, the bill requires a WID board resolution providing for the construction,
reconstruction, or repair of a project to include the WID board’s finding of the aforementioned
determinations.7
Agreements with other local governments
The bill authorizes a WID board to enter into an agreement with a contiguous board of
county commissioners for the WID to exercise all or any portion of its powers with respect to a
water project that is located wholly or partially within that contiguous county. Similarly, the
WID board may enter into an agreement with both the board of county commissioners that
created it and with the contiguous boards of county commissioners (for contiguous counties).
The agreement with the boards is to exercise all powers of the WID with respect to a project
that is (1) located partially or wholly within any of the counties that are party to the agreement
and (2) partially funded with federal money.8 Any agreements entered into with contiguous
counties must also include the board of county commissioners that creates the WID. The WID is
prohibited from undertaking any project located partially or wholly in another county unless
there is an agreement between the WID, the creating board of county commissioners, and any
other relevant boards of county commissioners.9
The bill also authorizes other local governments (specifically a county, a municipal
corporation, or a township) to make appropriations from money available to them and not
6 R.C. 6120.03(A).
7 R.C. 6120.032.
8 R.C. 6120.03(A)(12) and (14).
9 R.C. 6120.15.
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As Introduced
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otherwise appropriated to pay the costs incurred by the WID in the exercise of its functions.
Such money must be available for those purposes.10
Financing options for WIDs: special assessments and bonds
Special assessments
The bill allows a WID board to levy special assessments if all of the following occur:
1. The board determines that the construction, reconstruction, improvement, alteration,
or repair of any waste water or water management facility (“public improvement”) will
benefit the area where the project will occur;
2. If the public improvement is proposed in a political subdivision outside of the WID’s
territory, the legislative authority of that political subdivision approves the undertaking
of the improvement within their jurisdiction;
3. The board fixes a day for a hearing on the proposed improvement;
4. The board notifies, at least 15 days prior to the hearing, each landowner who will
benefit from the proposed improvement of the substance of the proposed
improvement and the time and place of the hearing on it and publishes the notification
in an appropriate newspaper;
5. The board conducts a hearing on the proposed improvement and indicates by metes
and bounds the area in which the public improvement will be made and the area that
will benefit from the improvement;
6. At the hearing, the board hears any and all testimony provided by any of the parties
affected by the proposed improvement and any other person competent to testify;
7. The board, or its representatives, inspect, by an actual viewing, the area to be benefited
by the improvement; and
8. The board determines the necessity of the improvement and finds that it will result in
general as well as special benefits.11
If the WID board levies a special assessment, the proceeds from the assessment may
pay the costs and expenses of the public improvement for which it was levied. The bill prohibits
a WID board from levying a special assessment more than one time on the same lot or parcel of
land, and the special assessment may not exceed 10% of the assessable value of a parcel of
land. The bill establishes procedures for determining a parcel’s assessable value.
A property owner may pay the special assessment in full in a lump sum or in semiannual
installments at the same time as other real property taxes. If the WID board levies the
assessments in semiannual installments, however, the county auditor must annually place upon
the tax duplicate the two installments of the assessment for that year.
10 R.C. 6120.02(F).
11 R.C. 6120.031.
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As Introduced
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The bill requires the WID board to certify to the appropriate county auditor the
boundaries of the area that is benefited by the public improvement. The county auditor must
then apportion the valuation of any lot or parcel of land lying partly within and partly outside
the area so benefited when requested by the WID board. If the WID board allocates special
assessment proceeds to pay a note, bond, instrument, or obligation issued to pay for the
impr