As Reported by the Senate Ways and Means Committee

132nd General Assembly

Regular Session Sub. S. B. No. 252

2017-2018

Senator Peterson

Cosponsor: Senator Eklund

A BILL

To amend sections 5715.49 and 5715.50 and to enact sections 3.111 and 5739.081 of the Revised Code to authorize local elected officers that have levied a hotel lodging excise tax, or a designee of such officers, to simultaneously hold the position of officer or member of the board of trustees of a convention and visitors' bureau without constituting incompatible offices and to require that, upon request, county auditors, municipal fiscal officers, and their employees must share lodging tax return information with the directors of convention and visitors' bureaus operating in their counties.

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

Section 1. That sections 5715.49 and 5715.50 be amended and sections 3.111 and 5739.081 of the Revised Code be enacted to read as follows:

Sec. 3.111. An elected officer of a county, township, or municipal corporation that has levied an excise lodging tax under section 5739.08 or 5739.09 of the Revised Code, or a designee appointed by such elected officer, may simultaneously serve in the elected or appointed position and as a member or officer of the board of trustees of a convention and visitors' bureau organized under Chapter 1702. of the Revised Code. The simultaneous holding of the two positions shall not constitute the holding of incompatible offices or employment, notwithstanding Ohio common law or any contrary provision of the Revised Code.

Nothing in this section prevents a municipal corporation or chartered county from adopting a more restrictive policy regarding the simultaneous holding of the positions described in this section.

Sec. 5715.49. (A) Except as provided in division (B) or (C) of this section, no former or present county auditor or member of a county board of revision shall divulge, except in the performance of official duties or upon the order of the department of taxation, or when called upon to testify in any court or proceeding, any information acquired in the exercise of the powers vested by the laws relating to taxation, or while claiming to exercise any such powers, as to the transactions, property, or business of any person, company, firm, corporation, association, or partnership. Whoever violates this section shall thereafter be disqualified from acting in any official capacity in connection with the assessment or collection of taxes or recoupment charges.

(B) Division (A) of this section does not prohibit a county auditor from divulging the name and business address of a vendor, a vendor's license number, or information regarding the active or inactive status of a vendor's license issued by the county auditor pursuant to section 5739.17 of the Revised Code.

(C) Division (A) of this section does not prohibit a county auditor from divulging to the executive director of a convention and visitors' bureau operating in the county the tax return information of a hotel subject to a lodging tax levied by the county pursuant to section 5739.09 of the Revised Code.

Sec. 5715.50. (A) Except as provided in division (B) of this section, no former or present expert, clerk, or employee of a county auditor, county board of revision, or the tax commissioner, and no former or present deputy, assistant, or agent of the tax commissioner shall divulge, except in the performance of official duties or in any report to the county auditor, the county board of revision, or the tax commissioner, or when called upon to testify in any court or proceeding, any information acquired in the exercise of the powers vested therein by any law, or while claiming to exercise such powers, as to the transactions, property, or business of any person, company, firm, corporation, association, or partnership. Whoever violates this section shall thereafter be disqualified from acting in any official capacity in connection with the assessment or collection of taxes or recoupment charges.

(B) Division (A) of this section does not prohibit the divulgence of:

(1) The name and address of the statutory agent in this state and the names of officers and directors of any corporation;

(2) The name and business address of a vendor, vendor's license number, or information regarding the active or inactive status of a vendor's license issued by the county auditor pursuant to section 5739.17 of the Revised Code.

(3) The tax return information of a hotel subject to a lodging tax levied by the county pursuant to section 5739.09 of the Revised Code when that information is provided to the executive director of a convention and visitors' bureau operating in the county.

Sec. 5739.081. A county auditor, the fiscal officer of a municipal corporation, or an employee of either shall, upon request, provide to the executive director of a convention and visitors' bureau operating in the county the tax return information of a hotel subject to a lodging tax levied by the county or municipal corporation pursuant to section 5739.08 or 5739.09 of the Revised Code.

Section 2. That existing sections 5715.49 and 5715.50 of the Revised Code are hereby repealed.