House Bill 315 affects Ohio township operations

by Laura Bednar

On Jan. 2, Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law House Bill 315, which includes 17 provisions that directly affect Ohio townships. Rep. Thomas Hall (R-Madison Twp.) and Bill Seitz (R-Cincinnati) introduced the bill at the request of the Ohio Township Association.

OTA Executive Director Heidi M. Frought said in an OTA press release that the changes are not significant, but provide townships the same authority that cities might already have or the flexibility to operate their governments more effectively and inexpensively.

Of the provisions, the most impactful include creating preservation commissions, updating zoning regulations and publishing public notices. 

Hinckley Township Trustee Jack Swedyk said the ease of the digital public notice announcement would be an advantage. 

Townships no longer have to advertise public notices in newspapers, but can instead publish them via the state’s public notice website or the township’s website and social media accounts.

“This approach aligns with modern communication methods and will help manage costs previously associated with media publications,” said Bath Township Trustee Sean Gaffney.

By creating seven-member preservation commissions, townships are eligible for federal grants from the Ohio History Connection. These grants, according to the Ohio Legislative Service Commission, are used to support historic preservation activities.

Bath has organizations in place for historic preservation such as the Heritage Corridors of Bath committee, which preserves the township’s Scenic Byway. Gaffney said there is no plan to create a new commission as the existing groups support Bath’s preservation goals.

The Ohio Legislative Service Commission also noted money appropriated under the new bill, $1.5 million in each of the two years year of fiscal year 2024-2025, will be offered as grants to political subdivisions seeking to update zoning regulations. 

“Potentially useful are the funds available to assist in paying for zoning code updates since we are currently redoing our Land Use Plan, which might necessitate changes to our code,” said Richfield Township Trustee Don Laubacher. 

Laubacher added that he plans to explore opportunities for historic preservation commissions with the Richfield Historical Society.

Another $1 million will be appropriated to offset the costs a township incurs for cremating or burying the remains of indigent people. Townships are also now also exempt from going to voters when wanting to build or improve a town hall at a cost that requires competitive bidding. 

Among the less impactful provisions is allowing townships to impose up to a $1 fee for admission to certain tax-exempt event venues. Revenue is used for township fire, police and emergency medical services.

Within the bill is also a provision that affects any government body with a law enforcement department, allowing them to charge up to $75 an hour, with a cap of $750 per public records request, for police body camera footage. Swedyk said he started discussions with Hinckley’s police chief on creating a policy relating to this charge, which he said could recoup expenses spent on the video redaction software that is used to blur faces. Gaffney said Bath has already amended its policy to authorize a fee of $75 per hour, capped at $750, for video review and redaction.