AGO 1993-019.

• Case Date: September 16, 1993
• Court: Ohio

Ohio Attorney General Opinions 1993. AGO 1993-019. September 16, 1993OPINION NO. 1993-019The Honorable David W. Norris Portage County Prosecuting Attorney 466 South Chestnut Street P.O. Box 671 Ravenna, Ohio 44266-0671 Dear Prosecutor Norris: You have asked for an opinion concerning the taxation of property that is located within both a township and a municipal corporation. Your questions relate to situations in which a township has either a city or a village within its borders. Your questions are as follows:

Assuming that neither subdivision has taken the statutory steps for separation (and that no special taxing district has been created within the township), we are requesting your opinion on the following questions:

1. When a municipal corporation is located within the boundaries of a township, must the residents of the incorporated areas of the township vote on both township officials and township-wide levies?

2. When a municipal corporation is located within the boundaries of a township and has not been separated from it, does the taxable value of the township include that portion within the municipality's boundaries?

3. When a municipal corporation is located within the boundaries of a township and has not been separated from it, must the residents within the municipality be assessed the same township inside millage as those within the unincorporated areas of the township?

Local Government Law Each parcel of land in Ohio may be located in, and subject to taxation by, a variety of overlapping political subdivisions or other taxing units. For example, a parcel of land may be located in a township, see R.C. Title 5; a municipal corporation, see Ohio Const. art. XVIII; R.C. Title 7; a school district, see R.C. Chapter 3311; a park district, see R.C. Chapter 1545; a joint-county alcohol, drug addiction, and mental health service district, see R.C. Chapter 340; and any of a number of other taxing entities that may encompass different territories. See R.C. 5705.01(A), (C), (H), (I). If the boundaries of a township and a municipal corporation are identical, the township offices are abolished and the governmental duties are transferred to the municipal corporation. See R.C. 703.22; see also R.C. 503.09. If, however, some or all of the territory of a township is included within a municipal corporation but the boundaries are not identical, then the township continues to exist and function. See, e.g., 1985 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 85-033; 1959 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 888, p. 584; 1954 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 4642, p. 648 (overruled in part, on other grounds, by 1959 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 91, p. 42). In those circumstances, territory that is incorporated into a city or village remains part of the township in which it is located, and residents of that territory are residents of both the municipal corporation and the township. See, e.g, State ex rel. Halsey v. Ward, 17 Ohio St. 543 (1867); 1990 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 90-048; Op. No. 85-033. Various statutory means are available for changing municipal and township boundaries, either to make the boundaries identical so that the township offices will be abolished within the municipal corporation, or to deal in other ways with the effects of overlapping boundaries. See, e.g., R.C. 503.07-.09; R.C. 703.20; R.C. Chapter 709. Your letter assumes that no such boundary changes have been made in the...