(A) As used in this section:
(1) "Traffic law photo-monitoring device" has the same meaning as in section4511.092of the Revised Code.
(2) "School zone" has the same meaning as in section4511.21of the Revised Code.
(3) "Transportation district" means a territorial district established by the director of transportation under section5501.14of the Revised Code.
(4) "District deputy director" means the person appointed and assigned by the director of transportation under section5501.14of the Revised Code to administer the activities of a transportation district.
(5) "Gross amount" means the entire amount of traffic camera fines and fees paid by a driver.
(6) "Local government fund adjustment" or "LGF adjustment" means the sum of:
(a) The gross amount of all traffic camera fines collected by a local authority during the preceding fiscal year, as reported under division (B)(1) of this section, if such a report is required; plus
(b) The residual adjustment computed for the local authority under division (B)(4) of this section, if such an adjustment applies.
(7) "Local government fund payments" or "LGF payments" means the payments a local authority would receive under sections5747.503,5747.51, and5747.53, and division (C) of section5747.50of the Revised Code, as applicable, if not for the reductions required by divisions (C) and (D) of this section.
(8) "Residual adjustment" means the most recent LGF adjustment computed for a local authority under division (B)(2) or (3) of this section minus the sum of the reductions applied after that computation under division (C) of this section to the local authority's LGF payments.
(9) "Traffic camera fines" means civil fines for any violation of any local ordinance or resolution that are based upon evidence recorded by a traffic law photo-monitoring device.
(10) "Qualifying village" has the same meaning as in section5747.503of the Revised Code.
(11) "Local authority" means a municipal corporation, county, or township.
(B)(1) Annually, on or before the thirty-first day of July, any local authority that directly or indirectly collected traffic camera fines during the preceding fiscal year shall file a report with the tax commissioner that includes a detailed statement of the gross amount of all traffic camera fines the local authority collected during that period and the gross amount of such fines that the local authority collected for violations that occurred within a school zone.
(2) Annually, on or before the tenth day of August, and except as otherwise provided in this division, the commissioner shall compute a local government fund adjustment for each local authority that files a report under division (B)(1) of this section or with respect to which a residual adjustment applies. Subject to division (B)(3) of this section, the LGF adjustment shall be used by the commissioner to determine the amount of the reductions required under division (C) of this section for each of the next twelve months, starting with the month in which the LGF adjustment is computed. After those twelve months, the LGF adjustment ceases to apply and, if an LGF adjustment continues to be required, the amount of the reductions required under division (C) of this section shall be determined based on an updated LGF adjustment computed under this division.
After the effective date of this amendment, no LGF adjustment shall be calculated for a county or township prohibited from operating a traffic law photo-monitoring device by section4511.093of the Revised Code. An LGF adjustment that applies to a county or township on the effective date of this amendment ceases to apply as of that date.
(3) Upon receipt of a report described by division (B)(1) of this section that is not timely filed, the commissioner shall do both of the following:
(a) If one or more payments to the local authority has been withheld under division (D) of this section because of the local authority's failure to file the report, notify the county auditor and county treasurer of the appropriate county that the report has been received and that, subject to division (C) of this section, payments to the local authority from the undivided local government fund are to resume.
(b) Compute the local authority's LGF adjustment using the information in the report. An LGF adjustment computed under this division shall be used by the commissioner to determine the amount of the reductions required under division (C) of this section starting with the next required reduction. The LGF adjustment ceases to apply on the thirty-first day of the ensuing July, following which, if an LGF adjustment continues to be required, the amount of the reductions required under division (C) of this section shall be determined based on an updated LGF adjustment computed under division (B)(2) of this section.
(4) Annually, on or before the tenth day of August, the commissioner shall compute a residual adjustment for each local authority whose LGF adjustment for the preceding year exceeds the amount by which the local authority's LGF payments were reduced during that year under division (C) of this section. The residual adjustment shall be used to compute the LGF adjustment for the ensuing year under division (B)(2) of this section.
(C) The commissioner shall do the following, as applicable, respecting any local authority to which an LGF adjustment computed under division (B) of this section applies:
(1) If the local authority is a municipal corporation with a population of one thousand or more, reduce payments to the municipal corporation under division (C) of section5747.50of the Revised Code by one-twelfth of the LGF adjustment. If one-twelfth of the LGF adjustment exceeds the amount of money the municipal corporation would otherwise receive under division (C) of section5747.50of the Revised Code, the commissioner also shall reduce payments to the appropriate county undivided local government fund under division (B) of section5747.50of the Revised Code by an amount equal to the lesser of (a) one-twelfth of the excess, or (b) the amount of the payment the municipal corporation would otherwise receive from the fund under section5747.51or5747.53of the Revised Code.
(2) If the local authority is a township or qualifying village, reduce the supplemental payments to the appropriate county undivided local government fund under section5747.503of the Revised Code by the lesser of one-twelfth of the LGF adjustment, or the amount of money the township or qualifying village would otherwise receive under that section. If one-twelfth of the LGF adjustment exceeds the amount of money the township or qualifying village would otherwise receive under section5747.503of the Revised Code, the commissioner also shall reduce payments to the appropriate county undivided local government fund under division (B) of section5747.50of the Revised Code by an amount equal to the lesser of (a) one-twelfth of the excess, or (b) the amount of the payment the township or qualifying village would otherwise receive from the fund under section5747.51or5747.53of the Revised Code.
(3) If the local authority is a county, reduce payments to the appropriate county undivided local government fund under division (B) of section5747.50of the Revised Code by an amount equal to the lesser of (a) one-twelfth of the LGF adjustment, or (b) the amount of the payment the county would otherwise receive from the fund under section5747.51or5747.53of the Revised Code.
(4) For any local authority, on or before the tenth day of each month a reduction is made under division (C)(1), (2), or (3) of this section, make a payment to the local authority in an amount equal to the lesser of (a) one-twelfth of the gross amount of traffic camera fines the local authority collected in the preceding fiscal year for violations that occurred within a school zone, as indicated on the report filed by the local authority pursuant to division (B)(1) of this section, or (b) the amount by which the local authority's LGF payments were reduced that month pursuant to division (C)(1), (2), or (3) of this section. Payments received by a local authority under this division shall be used by the local authority for school safety purposes.
(D) Upon discovery, based on information in the commissioner's possession, that a local authority required to file a report under division (B)(1) of this section has failed to do so, the commissioner shall do the following, as applicable:
(1) If the local authority is a municipal corporation with a population of one thousand or more, cease providing for payments to the municipal corporation under section5747.50of the Revised Code beginning with the next required payment and until such time as the report is received by the commissioner;
(2) If the local authority is a township or qualifying village, reduce the supplemental payments to the appropriate county undivided local government fund under section5747.503of the Revised Code by an amount equal to the amount of such payments the local authority would otherwise receive under that section, beginning with the next required payment and until such time as the report is received by the commissioner;
(3) For any local authority, reduce payments to the appropriate county undivided local government fund under division (B) of section5747.50of the Revised Code by an amount equal to the amount of such payments the local authority would otherwise receive under section5747.51or5747.53of the Revised Code, beginning with the next required payment and until such time as the report is received by the commissioner;
(4) For any local authority, notify the county auditor and county treasurer that such payments are to cease until the commissioner notifies the auditor and treasurer under division (E) of this section that the payments are to resume.
(E) The commissioner shall notify the county auditor and county treasurer on or before the day the commissioner first reduces a county undivided local government fund payment to that county under division (C) of this section. The notice shall include the full amount of the reduction, a list of the local authorities to which the reduction applies, and the amount of reduction attributed to each such local authority. The commissioner shall send an updated notice to the county auditor and county treasurer any time the amount the reduction attributed to any local authority changes.
A county treasurer that receives a notice from the commissioner under this division or division (B)(3)(a) or (D)(4) of this section shall reduce, cease, or resume payments from the undivided local government fund to the local authority that is the subject of the notice as specified by the commissioner in the notice. Unless otherwise specified in the notice, the payments shall be reduced, ceased, or resumed beginning with the next required payment.
(F)(1) There is hereby created in the state treasury the Ohio highway and transportation safety fund. On or before the tenth day of each month, the commissioner shall deposit in the fund an amount equal to the total amount by which payments to local authorities were reduced or ceased under division (C) or (D) of this section minus the total amount of payments made under division (C)(4) of this section. Except as provided in division (F)(2) of this section, the amount deposited with respect to a local authority shall be credited to an account to be created in the fund for the transportation district in which that local authority is located. If the local authority is located within more than one transportation district, the amount credited to the account of each such transportation district shall be prorated on the basis of the number of centerline miles of public roads and highways in both the local authority and the respective districts. Amounts credited to a transportation district's account shall be used by the department of transportation and the district deputy director exclusively to enhance public safety on public roads and highways within that transportation district.
(2) Notwithstanding division (F)(1) of this section, in fiscal year 2026, six million dollars of the amount in the Ohio highway and transportation safety fund, including any account thereof, shall be used for rail development infrastructure projects pursuant to an appropriation made by the general assembly. The amounts credited to each account of a transportation district pursuant to division (F)(1) of this section shall be reduced in the same proportion that the amount deposited in each account is of the total fund balance.
Last updated August 1, 2025 at 11:27 AM