OAG 1994-004.

Case DateMarch 18, 1994
CourtOhio
Ohio Attorney General Opinions 1994. OAG 1994-004. March 18, 1994OPINION NO. 1994-004The Honorable David A. SamsMadison County Prosecuting Attorney23 West High Street London, Ohio 43140 Dear Prosecutor Sams: You have requested an opinion concerning the authority of a township to transfer certain of its funds to a joint fire district. You state that the township about which you ask formerly contracted with a municipality for fire protection, such contract being funded by a levy passed under R.C. 5705.19(I). Recently, however, with funds remaining from that levy, the township merged with another township in a joint fire district that has passed a separate levy for fire protection. Based upon these circumstances, you specifically ask: "in the event that a township created a special levy fund for the purpose of contracting for fire protection and then subsequently merged with another township in a joint fire district with a separate levy, is it proper to transfer the money left over from the old fire levy to the general fund or to the fund established for the new joint township fire district?"
Special Levy for Township Fire Protection
Because a township is a creature of statute, it may exercise only those powers that it has been granted, either expressly or impliedly, by the General Assembly. See State ex rel. Trustees of New London Township v. Miner, 26 Ohio St. 452 (1875). Thus, it is necessary to examine the statutory scheme governing the authority of a township to levy and use the proceeds of a special levy. R.C. 5705.19, which permits subdivisions, including townships, see R.C. 5705.01(A) (defining "subdivision" for purposes of R.C. Chapter 5705), to propose tax levies, states, in pertinent part:
The taxing authority of any subdivision at any time and in any year... may declare by resolution and certify the resolution to the board of elections not less than seventy-five days before the election upon which it will be voted that the amount of taxes that may be raised within the ten-mill limitation will be insufficient to provide for the necessary requirements of the subdivision and that it is necessary to levy a tax in excess of that limitation for any of the following purposes:
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(I) For the purpose of providing and maintaining fire apparatus, appliances, buildings, or sites therefor, or sources of water supply and materials therefor, or the establishment and maintenance of lines of fire alarm telegraph, or the payment of permanent, part-time, or volunteer fire fighters or fire-fighting companies to operate the same, including the payment of the firemen employer's contribution required under [R.C. 742.34], or to purchase ambulance equipment, or to provide ambulance or emergency medical services operated by a fire department or fire-fighting company.
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A levy for the purposes set forth in division (I), (J), or (U) of this section,
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