As Introduced

136th General Assembly

Regular Session H. B. No. 138

2025-2026

A BILL

To enact sections 1787.01, 1787.02, 1787.03, 1787.04, 1787.05, 1787.06, 1787.07, 1787.08, 1787.09, 1787.10, 1787.11, 1787.12, and 1787.13 of the Revised Code to authorize the creation of tourism promotion districts and the levying of assessments therein.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

Section 1. That sections 1787.01, 1787.02, 1787.03, 1787.04, 1787.05, 1787.06, 1787.07, 1787.08, 1787.09, 1787.10, 1787.11, 1787.12, and 1787.13 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 1787.01. As used in this chapter:

(A) "Authorizing legislative authority" means a legislative authority that adopts either an authorizing resolution or an ordinance or resolution stating its intent to establish or renew a tourism promotion district pursuant to section 1787.03 of the Revised Code or modify a district plan pursuant to section 1787.04 of the Revised Code.

(B) "Authorizing resolution" means an ordinance or resolution adopted by the legislative authority under section 1787.06 of the Revised Code.

(D) "District management association" means the nonprofit corporation a municipal corporation, township, or county contracts with to administer or implement supplemental services and improvements pursuant to section 1787.10 of the Revised Code.

(E) "District plan" means the plan described in division (B) of section 1787.03 of the Revised Code.

(F) "Improvement" means the acquisition, construction, or installation of, or maintenance relating to, tangible property with an estimated useful life of five years or more that is designed to provide benefits to lodging businesses.

(G) "Legislative authority" means the legislative authority of a municipal corporation, the board of trustees of a township, or the board of commissioners of a county.

(H) "Lodging business" means a "hotel" as defined in section 5739.01 of the Revised Code.

(I) "Lodging business owner" means the record owner of a lodging business.

(J) "Services" means the promotion of lodging business activities or tourism and any other activity provided for the benefit of lodging businesses for the purpose of increasing overnight lodging stays.

(K) "Supplemental services and improvements" means services and improvements provided through funding that is in excess of the amount determined under division (C)(12) of section 1787.06 of the Revised Code for the benefit of lodging businesses subject to a benefit assessment.

Sec. 1787.02. (A) A municipal corporation, township, or county may establish a tourism promotion district to fund supplemental services and improvements that benefit lodging businesses pursuant to this chapter by assessing a benefit assessment on lodging businesses located within the district.

(B) A municipal corporation may create a district within the territory of a municipal corporation. A township may create a district within the unincorporated territory of the township. A county may create a district within the unincorporated area of the county. A municipal corporation, township, or county may extend the boundaries of the district outside such territory, but only if the township or county, in the case of boundaries extended to unincorporated territory, or the municipal corporation, in the case of boundaries extended to the territory of the municipal corporation, consents, by ordinance or resolution, to the creation of that district. The boundaries of a proposed tourism promotion district shall not overlap with the boundaries of another tourism promotion district, and a district's territory shall be contiguous.

(C) A tourism promotion district shall be established for a specific term of years. The term of a newly established district shall be not less than three and not more than five years, unless the district plan proposes that revenue bonds are to be issued under section 1787.08 of the Revised Code, in which case the term shall run until the revenue bonds' maximum maturity. The term of a renewed district shall be not more than ten years, unless the plan proposes that revenue bonds are to be issued under section 1787.08 of the Revised Code, in which case the term shall run until the revenue bonds' maximum maturity.

Sec. 1787.03. (A) A legislative authority may, by ordinance or resolution, and subject to the notice, hearing, and protest provisions contained in section 1787.05 of the Revised Code, initiate proceedings to establish or renew a tourism promotion district. Such ordinance or resolution may only be adopted following the valid request of one or more lodging business owners that would be located within the proposed district.

A valid request to establish or renew a district shall include a district plan that complies with division (B) of this section and a plan summary that complies with division (C) of this section. An ordinance or resolution to initiate proceedings to establish or renew a district shall comply with division (D) of this section.

(B) A district plan shall include all of the following:

(1) A map that identifies the proposed tourism promotion district's boundaries in sufficient detail to allow a person to reasonably determine whether a lodging business is located within those boundaries;

(2) The name of the district and the day it will begin operating;

(3) Whether revenue bonds will be issued under section 1787.08 of the Revised Code for the benefit of the district;

(4) The term of years the district will be in operation;

(5) The name of the district management association;

(6) The supplemental services and improvements proposed for each year of operation of the district and the estimated cost thereof. If the supplemental services and improvements proposed for each year of operation are the same, a description of the first year's proposed supplemental services and improvements and a statement that the same supplemental services and improvements are proposed for subsequent years satisfies this requirement.

(7) The estimated amount proposed to be expended for supplemental services and improvements during each year of the district's operation. This amount may be estimated based on the benefit assessment amount or rate. An estimate of the amount proposed to be expended in the initial year of the district's operation and a statement that a similar amount applies to subsequent years satisfies this requirement.

(8) The proposed source or sources of financing, including the proposed method and basis of levying the benefit assessment in sufficient detail to allow a person to estimate the rate or amount of the benefit assessment to be levied against a lodging business. The plan may propose increases in the benefit assessment for any year of the district's operation.

(9) The estimated annual collections from the proposed benefit assessment;

(10) If the district is to provide supplemental improvements, whether revenue bonds will be issued under section 1787.08 of the Revised Code to finance those improvements and, if so, the revenue bonds' maximum maturity;

(11) The time and manner of collecting the benefit assessment and any interest or penalties for nonpayment;

(12) The specific number of years during which a benefit assessment will be levied, which shall equal the term of the district;

(13) Any proposed rules that will apply to the district;

(14) A description of the types or classes of lodging businesses to be included in the district and subject to the district benefit assessment;

(15) A list of the existing lodging businesses in the proposed district that are of the types of classes described under division (B)(14) of this section;

(16) An estimate of the benefit assessment that will be remitted on the basis of each lodging business subject to the assessment over the term of the district's operation;

(17) If the proposed district will be a renewed district, this disposition of any remaining revenues derived from benefit assessments levied for the benefit of the expiring district, which shall be consistent with division (E) of this section.

(1) A map showing the boundaries of the tourism promotion district;

(2) A description of the types or classes of lodging businesses to be included in the district and subject to the district benefit assessment;

(3) The benefit assessment rate or amount for each type or class of lodging business that will be subject to the benefit assessment;

(4) A description of the proposed supplemental services and improvements;

(5) The location where the public may review the district plan;

(6) A statement that the district plan will be provided upon request.

(D) An ordinance or resolution adopted pursuant to division (A) of this section shall state or include all of the following:

(1) That the legislative authority intends to establish or renew a tourism promotion district;

(2) A description of the exterior boundaries of the district, which may be made by reference to the map that is required to be included with the plan or plan summary;

(3) A description of the types or classes of lodging businesses to be included in the district and subject to the benefit assessment;

(4) The estimated annual collections of the benefit assessment;

(5) The benefit assessment rate or amount for each type or class of lodging business that will be subject to the benefit assessment;

(6) An estimate of the benefit assessment revenue that will be remitted;

(7) A description of the proposed supplemental services and improvements;

(8) The location at which the public may review the tourism district plan;

(9) That the tourism district plan will be furnished upon request;

(10) The time and place for a public hearing on the establishment or renewal of the district and the levy of the benefit assessment, which shall be consistent with the requirements of section 1787.05 of the Revised Code.

The descriptions required under divisions (D)(2) and (7) of this section do not need to be detailed and need only enable a person to generally identify the location and extent of the territory of the proposed district and the nature and extent of the proposed supplemental services and improvements.

If the boundaries of the proposed district overlap with another county, township, or municipal corporation for which consent is required under section 1787.02 of the Revised Code, the ordinance or resolution shall be accompanied by the ordinance or resolution of consent adopted by that other county, township, or municipal corporation.

(E) The boundaries, benefit assessments, or supplemental services and improvements of a renewed tourism promotion district may be different than those of the former tourism promotion district.

Upon renewal, any remaining revenues derived from benefit assessments, or any revenues derived from the sale of assets acquired with the revenues, shall be transferred to the renewed tourism promotion district. If the renewed district does not include lodging businesses previously included in the prior district, the remaining revenues attributable to these lodging businesses shall either be spent consistent with the district plan or be refunded to the owners of these lodging businesses.

Sec. 1787.04. Upon the written request of an existing tourism promotion district's district management association, the authorizing legislative authority may, by ordinance or resolution, state its intent to modify the district's district plan.

An ordinance or resolution adopted pursuant to this section shall state the modifications to be considered and the date and location of a public hearing to consider the modifications. The hearing date shall be not more than ninety days after the adoption of the ordinance or resolution pursuant to this section.

Sec. 1787.05. (A) If an authorizing legislative authority, pursuant to section 1787.03 of the Revised Code, adopts an ordinance or resolution stating its intent to establish a new tourism promotion district or renew an existing district or, pursuant to section 1787.04 of the Revised Code, adopts an ordinance or resolution stating its intent to modify an existing district plan, the legislative authority shall hold a public hearing on the applicable question on or before the date the legislative authority adopts an ordinance or resolution authorizing that question pursuant to section 1787.06 of the Revised Code.

At least thirty days before the hearing date, the clerk of the legislative authority shall send notice of the hearing, by ordinary mail, to the owner of each lodging business identified under division (D)(6) of section 1787.03 of the Revised Code or, in the case of a hearing on modification requested under section 1787.04 of the Revised Code, the owner of each lodging business subject to the benefit assessment under the plan in effect at the time the notice is sent. The notice shall include either a copy of the written protest form described in division (B) of this section or the address of a web site at which that form may be obtained.

(B) Any lodging business owner that is entitled to notice pursuant to division (A) of this section, or the owner's agent, may file a written protest against the proposed question, on or before the hearing date, on a form prescribed by the legislative authority, with the legislative authority. The legislative authority may waive any irregularity in the form or content of any written protest. A written protest may be withdrawn in writing at any time before the conclusion of the hearing.

Each written protest shall contain a description of the owner's lodging business and, if the person filing the protest is not the lodging business owner, the protest shall be accompanied by written evidence that the person submitting the protest is the owner's agent.

If written protests that comply with division (B) of this section, or for which the legislative authority waives irregularity, are received and, excluding withdrawn protests, represent forty per cent or more of the proposed benefit assessment, the legislative authority shall not adopt an ordinance or resolution to create or renew the tourism promotion district, or modify the tourism promotion district plan, pursuant to section 1787.06 of the Revised Code. The percentage of benefit assessment represented by the protesting owners shall be determined by dividing the benefit assessment estimated to be remitted on the basis of the protesting owners' lodging businesses over the term of the district divided by the benefit assessment estimated to be remitted on the basis of all lodging businesses over the term of the district.

Sec. 1787.06. (A) After the hearing described in section 1787.05 of the Revised Code, the authorizing legislative authority may, by ordinance or resolution, establish or renew a tourism promotion district or modify a district plan, in accordance with division (C) of this section and provided the legislative authority is not prohibited from doing so by division (B) of that section.

(B) An ordinance or resolution establishing or renewing a tourism promotion district may not reflect a benefit assessment rate or amount that is higher, district boundaries that increase the district's area, or types or classes of lodging businesses subject to benefit assessment that are broader, than those stated in the ordinance or resolution adopted under section 1787.03 of the Revised Code.

If the benefit assessment rate or amount is lower, the reduction shall be made in either a uniform manner or specific to each lodging business.

(C) An ordinance or resolution establishing or renewing a tourism promotion district, or modifying a tourism promotion district plan, shall include all of the following:

(1) The name of the district and the day it will begin operating;

(2) Whether revenue bonds will be issued under section 1787.08 of the Revised Code for the benefit of the district;

(3) The term of years the district shall be in operation;

(4) A statement that the approved district plan is incorporated into the ordinance or resolution by reference;

(5) A description of the proposed supplemental services and improvements, the amount or rate of the proposed benefit assessment, a description of the types or classes of lodging businesses that will be subject to the assessment, and a description of the boundaries of the tourism promotion district, which may be made by reference to any plan or map that is on file with the legislative authority.

The descriptions in division (C)(5) of this section do not need to be detailed and need only enable a person to generally identify the nature and extent of the proposed supplemental services and improvements and the location and extent of the territory of the proposed tourism promotion district.

(6) The number, date of adoption, and title of the ordinance or resolution adopted under section 1787.03 or section 1787.04 of the Revised Code;

(7) The time and place where the public hearing required under section 1787.05 of the Revised Code was held;

(8) A determination regarding any protests received in accordance with division (B) of section 1787.05 of the Revised Code, or for which the legislative authority waived irregularity;

(9) The following statement: "The lodging businesses in the tourism promotion district shall be subject to any amendments to Chapter 1787. of the Revised Code";

(10) A statement that the supplemental services and improvements to be provided to lodging businesses in the tourism promotion district will be funded by the proceeds of the benefit assessment;

(11) A finding that the lodging businesses within the tourism promotion district will benefit from the supplemental services and improvements funded by the benefit assessment;

(12) The amount of services and improvements funded by the county, township, or municipal corporation in the area encompassed by the district for the fiscal year preceding the fiscal year in which the ordinance or resolution is adopted;

(13) A statement that, for any fiscal year in which the district is in operation, the legislative authority shall not reduce funding for services and improvements for the area encompassed by the district below the amount described in division (C)(12) of this section.

Sec. 1787.07. After adopting the authorizing resolution, the authorizing legislative authority shall levy the benefit assessment at the amount or rate authorized in that resolution on lodging businesses of the type or class that are subject to the benefit assessment for the term of the tourism promotion district, as described in the district plan and beginning on the date the district begins operating.

Benefit assessments may be levied based on a per cent of gross lodging business revenue, a fixed dollar amount per transaction, or any other reasonable method based upon benefit. A benefit assessment may vary by types or classes of lodging businesses as described in the tourism promotion district plan. The rate or amount of a benefit assessment shall be levied on a basis that provides a rational relationship between the amount of the assessment against each lodging business subject to the assessment and the benefit rendered to that business.

Any lodging business of the types or classes that are subject to the benefit assessment located within the boundaries of the tourism promotion district that begins operations during the district's term shall be subject to the benefit assessment.

The collection of the benefit assessments levied pursuant to this chapter shall be made at the time and in the manner described in the district plan. All proceeds shall be remitted by the lodging business owner to the county, township, or municipal corporation and deposited in a special fund created in the county, township, or municipal treasury. Money in that fund shall be paid to a district management association, at the request of that association, and used solely for the supplemental services and improvements authorized in the district plan, including to support the issuance of revenue bonds under section 1787.08 of the Revised Code.

All delinquent payments for benefit assessments levied pursuant to this chapter may be charged interest and penalties. A percentage of the benefit assessments, not to exceed two per cent, may be retained by the county, township, or municipal corporation to offset the cost of collection as described in the district plan.

All other revenue from the benefit assessment shall be used solely for the purposes specified in the district plan.

Any delinquent payments for benefit assessments, along with any interest or penalties, shall constitute a debt owed to the authorizing legislative authority and may be collected by the authorizing legislative authority as a debt under law.

Any delinquent payments for benefit assessments, interest, or penalties recovered under this section shall be expended in the same manner as provided in the district plan for proceeds of the benefit assessment.

Sec. 1787.08. (A) Pursuant to Ohio Constitution, Article VIII, Section 13, the authorizing legislative authority for a tourism promotion district, the district management association of a tourism promotion district, or a port authority created under Chapter 4582. of the Revised Code that encompasses the entire territory of a tourism promotion district may issue revenue bonds to fund improvements benefiting the district.

(B) Benefit assessments levied in two or more tourism promotion districts may be pledged to secure a single revenue bond issue to fund improvements benefiting those districts.

(C) Revenue bonds issued pursuant to this section shall be backed exclusively by the benefit assessments supporting the tourism promotion district or districts they are issued to fund. The revenue bonds shall not be regarded as indebtedness of any municipal corporation, township, or county for the purpose of any limitation imposed by any law.

Sec. 1787.09. The validity of a benefit assessment levied under this chapter shall not be contested in any action or proceeding unless the action or proceeding is commenced not more than thirty days after the date the authorizing resolution is adopted. To challenge the validity of a benefit assessment, a lodging business owner that is or will be subject to the benefit assessment, or the agent thereof, must file a claim in writing with the court of common pleas in the county where the tourism promotion district is established and the clerk of the legislative authority. The claim shall include a specific showing that the tourism promotion district will not provide a benefit to the claimant's lodging business. Any appeal from a final judgment in an action or proceeding shall be perfected within thirty days after the entry of judgment.

Sec. 1787.10. The municipal corporation, township, or county that forms a tourism promotion district shall contract with a new or existing nonprofit corporation that is compliant with division (A) or (B) of this section, as applicable, to act as the district management association and administer or implement the supplemental services and improvements described in the district plan.

(A) In the case of a newly formed nonprofit corporation designated as the district management association, the certificate of incorporation or bylaws shall provide that at least two-thirds of the total number of board members must be lodging business owners whose lodging businesses are subject to the tourism promotion district's benefit assessment, or the agents of such owners.

(B) Where an existing nonprofit corporation is designated as the district management association, the nonprofit corporation's board of directors shall create a committee of which at least two-thirds of the total number of board members must be lodging business owners whose lodging businesses are subject to the tourism promotion district's benefit assessment, or the agents of such owners. The committee shall be charged with managing benefit assessment funds and fulfilling the obligations of the tourism promotion district plan.

(C) A district management association shall have full discretion to select the specific supplemental services and improvements within the authorized parameters of the tourism promotion district plan that will be funded with tourism promotion district benefit assessment revenue.

Sec. 1787.11. (A) The district management association shall prepare a report for each fiscal year of the association during which benefit assessments are levied and collected, except the first such year.

The district management association shall submit the report to the auditor of state and the authorizing legislative authority not more than ninety days after the conclusion of each fiscal year that the report is required. The auditor of state may require an annual financial audit of the district management association.

(B) The report shall refer to the tourism promotion district by name, specify the dates of the fiscal year to which the report applies, and, with respect to that year, include all of the following information:

(1) A review of the supplemental services and improvements provided in the preceding fiscal year;

(2) The supplemental services and improvements to be provided for the current fiscal year;

(3) The association's budget for the current fiscal year, including an estimate of the cost of providing the supplemental services and improvements for that year;

(4) The method and basis of levying the benefit assessments in sufficient detail to allow each lodging business owner to estimate the amount of the benefit assessment to be levied against the owner's lodging business for that year;

(5) The estimated amount of any surplus revenues to be carried over from the preceding fiscal year.

(C) The authorizing legislative authority may approve the annual report as filed by the district management association or may recommend modifications to the report within forty-five days after receiving the report. The report shall be considered final and approved within ninety days following its submission by the district management association to the authorizing legislative authority.

Sec. 1787.12. (A) Subject to division (B) of this section, all of the following apply:

(1) Tourism promotion districts created under this chapter and district management associations are not political subdivisions, except for the purpose of section 4905.34 of the Revised Code;

(2) Tourism promotion districts created under this chapter and district management associations shall be considered public agencies under section 102.01 and public authorities under section 4115.03 of the Revised Code;

(3) Tourism promotion districts created under this chapter and district management associations are not subject to sections 121.81 to 121.83 of the Revised Code;

(4) Tourism promotion districts created under this chapter and district management associations are subject to sections 121.22 and 121.23 of the Revised Code;

(5) All records of a tourism promotion district created under this chapter and district management associations are public records under section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

(B) An existing nonprofit corporation that enters a contract to act as a district management association pursuant to section 1787.10 of the Revised Code is only subject to division (A) of this section when acting as a district management association. Records of such a corporation are not public records under section 149.43 or 149.431 of the Revised Code solely by reason of the corporation's contract to act as a district management association, but all records of the committee described in division (B) of section 1787.10 of the Revised Code are public records under section 149.43 of the Revised Code.

(1) Membership on the board of directors of a district management association shall not be considered as holding a public office. However, each member of the board of directors of a district management association described in division (A) of section 1787.10 of the Revised Code and each member of a committee described in division (B) of section 1787.10 of the Revised Code, each member's designee or proxy, and each officer or employee of a district management association is a public official or employee under section 102.01 and a public official under section 2921.42 of the Revised Code. District management association officers, members of a board of directors of a district management association described in division (A) of section 1787.10 of the Revised Code, and members of a committee described in division (B) of section 1787.10 of the Revised Code, and their designees or proxies, are not required to file a statement with the Ohio ethics commission under section 102.02 of the Revised Code.

(2) Members of the board of directors of a district management association described in division (A) of section 1787.10 of the Revised Code and members of a committee described in division (B) of section 1787.10 of the Revised Code and their designees are entitled to the same immunity as an employee under division (A)(6) of section 2744.03 of the Revised Code, except that directors and their designees are not entitled to the indemnification provided in section 2744.07 of the Revised Code unless the director or designee is an employee or official of the township, county, or municipal corporation whose legislative authority formed the district and is acting within the scope of the director's or designee's employment or official responsibilities.

(D) Employees of an existing nonprofit corporation designated as a district management association, and members of a committee described in division (B) of section 1787.10 of the Revised Code, are public officials or employees under section 102.01 and public officials under section 2921.42 of the Revised Code by virtue of their positions with the association only when they act with respect to a purpose for which the district is created and not when they act with respect to any other purpose for which the corporation is organized.

Sec. 1787.13. (A) An authorizing legislative authority may, by ordinance or resolution adopted on its own initiative, dissolve a tourism promotion district established or renewed pursuant to this chapter if no revenue bonds issued under section 1787.08 of the Revised Code for the benefit of that district remain outstanding and either of the following are true:

(1) The legislative authority finds there has been misappropriation of funds from, or other malfeasance relating to, the district;

(2) The legislative authority finds there has been a violation of law in connection with the management of the district.

(B) During each of the district management association's fiscal years a tourism promotion district operates, excluding the first two years, a majority of lodging business owners subject to the benefit assessment may request, in writing, that the authorizing legislative authority dissolve the tourism promotion district pursuant to and subject to the requirements of division (A) of this section. A request for dissolution from lodging business owners shall be submitted during a thirty-day period beginning on the first day of the district management association's fiscal year.

Upon receipt of a written request submitted pursuant to division (B) of this section, the authorizing legislative authority shall adopt an ordinance or resolution stating that it has received a valid request to dissolve the tourism promotion district and it intends to consider the dissolution at a public hearing. The ordinance or resolution shall state the reason for the potential dissolution, the time and place of the public hearing, and a proposal to dispose of any assets acquired with the revenues of the benefit assessments levied within the tourism promotion district.

The notice of the hearing on dissolution required by this division shall be sent by the clerk of the legislative authority to each lodging business owner subject to benefit assessments in the tourism promotion district by ordinary mail. The legislative authority shall conduct the public hearing not less than thirty days after mailing the notice to the lodging business owners but not more than sixty days after the adoption of the ordinance or resolution stating that it intends to consider dissolution. After the public hearing, the authorizing legislative authority may adopt an ordinance or resolution dissolving the district.

(C) Upon the dissolution or expiration, without renewal, of a tourism promotion district, any remaining revenues, after all outstanding debts are paid, derived from the levy of benefit assessments or derived from the sale of assets acquired with the revenues, shall be spent in accordance with the tourism promotion district plan or shall be refunded to the owners of the lodging businesses in proportion to the district's benefit assessment remitted by each owner in the fiscal year in which the district dissolves or expires.