02/15/2024

House Bill 331

Lead Sponsors: Representative Adam Mathews and Representative Tom Young

Status: Passed the House 88-3 (June 12, 2024)

Description: The bill creates a new avenue for village dissolution, which involves a board of county officials (the county auditor, the county treasurer, and a county commissioner), at least once every ten years (to be completed by the end of the year after the federal decennial census results are released), evaluating if the village provides at least five services from a list of nine. If it finds that the village did not offer at least five, the county budget commission then determines if at least one candidate appeared on the ballot for each elected village position.

If the village does not meet either condition, the county board of elections will submit to the electors of the village the question of dissolution at the next general election at least 90 days after the county budget commission completes its findings.

In the case of a village that spans multiple counties, the county budget commission of the county in which the largest portion of the village's population resides is the commission tasked with conducting the evaluation.

CCAO Position: No position (as of July 2024)

Notes: The Ohio Municipal League provided interested party testimony.