The bill amends various sections of the Revised Code to enhance regulations surrounding financial disclosure forms and the annexation process. It introduces a requirement for school district approval for property tax exemptions related to residential community reinvestment areas and expands the list of public officials required to file disclosure statements to include city managers, assistant city managers, village administrators, and assistant village administrators. The bill specifies the information that must be included in these statements, such as sources of income and gifts, establishes filing deadlines, and allows for public inspection while maintaining confidentiality for certain disclosures related to school district officials. Additionally, it introduces a new fee structure for filing these statements and outlines penalties for late submissions.

In terms of annexation, the bill modifies existing procedures by reducing the maximum territory size for annexation from five hundred acres to two hundred acres and increasing the required contiguous boundary length with the municipal corporation. It establishes a special procedure for annexing land for significant economic development projects and mandates that annexation petitions be accompanied by an annexation agreement. The bill also clarifies that annexed territory will remain subject to township real property taxes unless specified otherwise and ensures that the state board of education transfers annexed territory to the appropriate school district. Furthermore, it repeals several obsolete sections of the Revised Code, streamlining the annexation process while considering the interests of both the annexing municipality and the affected territory.

Statutes affected:
As Introduced: 102.02, 709.022, 709.023, 709.024, 709.16, 3735.67