Section 317.321 — Acquisition or maintenance of imaging and other technological equipment and contract services therefor; proposal to reserve funds.
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(A)Not later than the first day of October of any year, the county recorder may submit to the board of county commissioners a proposal for funding any of the following:
(1)The acquisition and maintenance of imaging and other technological equipment and contract services therefor;
(2)To reserve funds for the office's future technology needs if the county recorder has no immediate plans for the acquisition of imaging and other technological equipment or contract services, or to use the county recorder's technology fund as a dedicated revenue source to repay debt to purchase any imaging and other technological equipment before the accumulation of adequate resources to purchase the equipment with cash.
(3)Subject to division
(G)of this section, for other expenses associated with the acquisition and maintenance of imaging and other technological equipment and contract services.
(B)The proposal shall be in writing and shall include at least the following:
(1)A request that an amount not to exceed eight dollars of the total base fees collected for filing or recording a document for which a fee is charged as required by division (A)(1) of section 317.32 or by section 1309.525 or 5310.15 of the Revised Code be placed in the county treasury to the credit of the county recorder's technology fund;
(2)Except as provided in division (E)(3) of this section, the number of years, not to exceed five, for which the county recorder requests that the amount requested under division (A)(1) of this section be given the designation specified in that division;
(3)An estimate of the total amount of fees that will be generated for filing or recording a document for which a fee is charged as required by division (A)(1) or
(2)of section 317.32 of the Revised Code or by section 1309.525 or 5310.15 of the Revised Code;
(4)An estimate of the total amount of fees for filing or recording a document for which a fee is charged as required by division (A)(1) or
(2)of section 317.32 or by section 1309.525 or 5310.15 of the Revised Code that will be credited to the county recorder's technology fund if the request submitted under division (B)(1) of this section is approved by the board of county commissioners.
(C)A proposal for the purposes of division (A)(1) of this section shall include a description or summary of the imaging and other technological equipment that the county recorder proposes to acquire and maintain, and the nature of contract services that the county recorder proposes to utilize, if the proposal is for those purposes. A proposal for the purposes of division (A)(2) of this section shall explain the general future technology needs of the office for imaging and other technological equipment, or for revenue to repay debt, if the proposal is for those purposes. A proposal for the purposes of division (A)(3) of this section shall identify the other expenses associated with the acquisition and maintenance of imaging and other technological equipment and contract services that the county recorder proposes to pay with moneys in the county recorder's technology fund, if the proposal is for those purposes.
(D)The board of county commissioners shall receive a proposal and the clerk shall enter it on the journal. At the same time, the board shall establish a date, not sooner than fifteen or later than thirty days after the board receives the proposal, on which to meet with the recorder to review the proposal.
(E)(1) Except as provided in division (E)(3) of this section, not later than the fifteenth day of December of any year in which a proposal is submitted under division
(A)of this section, the board of county commissioners shall approve, reject, or modify the proposal and notify the county recorder of its action on the proposal. If the board rejects or modifies the proposal, it shall make a written finding that the request is for a purpose other than for a purpose in division
(A)of this section, or that the amount requested is excessive as determined by the board.
(2)A proposal submitted under division
(A)of this section that was approved by the board of county commissioners before, and is in effect on the effective date of this amendment, shall continue in effect until January 1, 2030, notwithstanding the number of years of funding specified in the approved proposal.
(3)A proposal submitted under division
(A)of this section between October 1, 2019, and October 1, 2028, may request that an amount that does not exceed three dollars be credited to the county recorder's technology fund, in addition to the amount previously approved by the board of county commissioners in a proposal described in division (E)(2) of this section. The proposal may be submitted each year during that time period, but shall be limited to funding in the following fiscal year. If the total of the amount under division (E)(2) of this section and the amount requested under this division does not exceed eight dollars, the board shall approve the proposal and notify the county recorder of its approval.
(4)If the total amount of fees provided for in divisions (B), (E)(2), and (E)(3) of this section is less than eight dollars, a proposal requesting additional fees may be submitted to the board of county commissioners under division (E)(1) of this section, as long as the total amount of the fees in divisions
(B)and (E)(2), (3), and
(4)of this section that are to be credited to the county recorder's technology fund does not exceed eight dollars, and the proposal is for a number of years, not to exceed five.
(5)When a proposal is approved by the board of county commissioners under division
(E)of this section, the county recorder's technology fund is established in the county treasury, and, beginning on the following first day of January, the fees approved shall be deposited in that fund.
(F)The acquisition and maintenance of imaging and other technological equipment, and other associated expenses and contract services therefor, shall be specifically governed by sections 307.80 to 307.806 , 307.84 to 307.846 , 307.86 to 307.92 , and 5705.38 , and by division
(D)of section 5705.41 of the Revised Code.
(G)If the use of the county recorder's technology fund for the purposes of division (A)(3) of this section includes associated expenses for personnel, the use of the fund for personnel shall be strictly confined to personnel directly related to imaging and other technological equipment, and any compensation increases for those personnel shall not exceed the average of the annual aggregate percentage increase or decrease in the compensation fixed by the board of county commissioners for their employees, and for the officers in section 325.27 of the Revised Code. Use of the fund for compensation bonuses, or for recognizing outstanding employee performance in a manner described in section 325.25 of the Revised Code, is prohibited.
(H)If a county is under a fiscal caution under section 118.025 of the Revised Code, or is under a fiscal watch or fiscal emergency as defined in section 118.01 of the Revised Code, the board of county commissioners, notwithstanding sections 5705.14 to 5705.16 of the Revised Code, may transfer from the county recorder's technology fund any moneys the board deems necessary.