No subdivision or taxing unit shall:

Ask a legal question, get an answer ASAP!
Click here to chat with a lawyer about your rights.

(A) Make any appropriation of money except as provided in Chapter 5705 of the Revised Code; provided, that the authorization of a bond issue shall be deemed to be an appropriation of the proceeds of the bond issue for the purpose for which such bonds were issued, but no expenditure shall be made from any bond fund until first authorized by the taxing authority;

(B)(1) Make any expenditure of money unless the fiscal officer of the subdivision or taxing authority has certified that all of the following apply:

(a) The expenditure has been appropriated as provided in Chapter 5705 of the Revised Code;

(b) The expenditure has been appropriated by the subdivision’s or taxing unit’s legislative authority;

(c) The expenditure is not compelled by a process authorizing management, control, distribution, or disbursement of an appropriation or expenditure by a vote of the subdivision’s or taxing unit’s residents.

(2) Nothing in division (B)(1) of this section prohibits a subdivision or taxing unit from doing either of the following:

(a) Authorizing a bond issue otherwise permitted by law;

(b) Soliciting public input related to the management, control, distribution, or disbursement of funds.

(C) Make any expenditure of money except by a proper warrant drawn against an appropriate fund;

(D)(1) Except as otherwise provided in division (D)(2) of this section and section 5705.44 of the Revised Code, make any contract or give any order involving the expenditure of money unless there is attached thereto a certificate of the fiscal officer of the subdivision that the amount required to meet the obligation or, in the case of a continuing contract to be performed in whole or in part in an ensuing fiscal year, the amount required to meet the obligation in the fiscal year in which the contract is made, has been lawfully appropriated for such purpose and is in the treasury or in process of collection to the credit of an appropriate fund free from any previous encumbrances. This certificate need be signed only by the subdivision’s fiscal officer. Every such contract made without such a certificate shall be void, and no warrant shall be issued in payment of any amount due thereon. If no certificate is furnished as required, upon receipt by the taxing authority of the subdivision or taxing unit of a certificate of the fiscal officer stating that there was at the time of the making of such contract or order and at the time of the execution of such certificate a sufficient sum appropriated for the purpose of such contract and in the treasury or in process of collection to the credit of an appropriate fund free from any previous encumbrances, such taxing authority may authorize the drawing of a warrant in payment of amounts due upon such contract, but such resolution or ordinance shall be passed within thirty days after the taxing authority receives such certificate; provided that, if the amount involved is less than one hundred dollars in the case of counties or three thousand dollars in the case of all other subdivisions or taxing units, the fiscal officer may authorize it to be paid without such affirmation of the taxing authority of the subdivision or taxing unit, if such expenditure is otherwise valid.

(2) The board of county commissioners may adopt a resolution exempting county purchases of one thousand dollars or less from the requirement of division (D)(1) of this section that a certificate be attached to any contract or order involving the expenditure of money. The resolution shall state the dollar amount that is exempted from the certificate requirement and whether the exemption applies to all purchases, to one or more specific classes of purchases, or to the purchase of one or more specific items. Prior to the adoption of the resolution, the board shall give written notice to the county auditor that it intends to adopt the resolution. The notice shall state the dollar amount that is proposed to be exempted and whether the exemption would apply to all purchases, to one or more specific classes of purchases, or to the purchase of one or more specific items. The county auditor may review and comment on the proposal, and shall send any comments to the board within fifteen days after receiving the notice. The board shall wait at least fifteen days after giving the notice to the auditor before adopting the resolution. A person authorized to make a county purchase in a county that has adopted such a resolution shall prepare and file with the county auditor, within three business days after incurring an obligation not requiring a certificate, or within any other period of time the board of county commissioners specifies in the resolution, a written or electronically transferred document specifying the purpose and amount of the expenditure, the date of the purchase, the name of the vendor, the specific appropriation items from which the expenditures are to be made, and any additional information as the auditor of state may prescribe.

(3) Upon certification by the auditor or other chief fiscal officer that a certain sum of money, not in excess of an amount established by resolution or ordinance adopted by a majority of the members of the legislative authority of the subdivision or taxing unit, has been lawfully appropriated, authorized, or directed for a certain purpose and is in the treasury or in the process of collection to the credit of a specific line-item appropriation account in a certain fund free from previous and then outstanding obligations or certifications, then for such purpose and from such line-item appropriation account in such fund, over a period not extending beyond the end of the fiscal year, expenditures may be made, orders for payment issued, and contracts or obligations calling for or requiring the payment of money made and assumed; provided, that the aggregate sum of money included in and called for by such expenditures, orders, contracts, and obligations shall not exceed the sum so certified. Such a certification need be signed only by the fiscal officer of the subdivision or the taxing district and may, but need not, be limited to a specific vendor. An itemized statement of obligations incurred and expenditures made under such certificate shall be rendered to the auditor or other chief fiscal officer before another such certificate may be issued, and not more than one such certificate shall be outstanding at a time.

In addition to providing the certification for expenditures as specified in this division, a subdivision also may make expenditures, issue orders for payment, and make contracts or obligations calling for or requiring the payment of money made and assumed for specified permitted purposes from a specific line-item appropriation account in a specified fund for a sum of money upon the certification by the fiscal officer of the subdivision that this sum of money has been lawfully appropriated, authorized, or directed for a permitted purpose and is in the treasury or in the process of collection to the credit of the specific line-item appropriation account in the specified fund free from previous and then-outstanding obligations or certifications; provided that the aggregate sum of money included in and called for by the expenditures, orders, and obligations shall not exceed the certified sum. The purposes for which a subdivision may lawfully appropriate, authorize, or issue such a certificate are the services of an accountant, architect, attorney at law, physician, professional engineer, construction project manager, consultant, surveyor, or appraiser by or on behalf of the subdivision or contracting authority; fuel oil, gasoline, food items, roadway materials, and utilities; and any purchases exempt from competitive bidding under section 125.04 of the Revised Code and any other specific expenditure that is a recurring and reasonably predictable operating expense. Such a certification shall not extend beyond the end of the fiscal year or, in the case of a board of county commissioners that has established a quarterly spending plan under section 5705.392 of the Revised Code, beyond the quarter to which the plan applies. Such a certificate shall be signed by the fiscal officer and may, but need not, be limited to a specific vendor. An itemized statement of obligations incurred and expenditures made under such a certificate shall be rendered to the fiscal officer for each certificate issued. More than one such certificate may be outstanding at any time.

In any case in which a contract is entered into upon a per unit basis, the head of the department, board, or commission for the benefit of which the contract is made shall make an estimate of the total amount to become due upon such contract, which estimate shall be certified in writing to the fiscal officer of the subdivision. Such a contract may be entered into if the appropriation covers such estimate, or so much thereof as may be due during the current year. In such a case the certificate of the fiscal officer based upon the estimate shall be a sufficient compliance with the law requiring a certificate.

Any certificate of the fiscal officer attached to a contract shall be binding upon the political subdivision as to the facts set forth therein. Upon request of any person receiving an order or entering into a contract with any political subdivision, the certificate of the fiscal officer shall be attached to such order or contract. “Contract” as used in this section excludes current payrolls of regular employees and officers.

(E) Taxes and other revenue in process of collection, or the proceeds to be derived from authorized bonds, notes, or certificates of indebtedness sold and in process of delivery, shall for the purpose of this section be deemed in the treasury or in process of collection and in the appropriate fund. This section applies neither to the investment of sinking funds by the trustees of such funds, nor to investments made under sections 731.56 to 731.59 of the Revised Code.

No district authority shall, in transacting its own affairs, do any of the things prohibited to a subdivision by this section, but the appropriation referred to shall become the appropriation by the district authority, and the fiscal officer referred to shall mean the fiscal officer of the district authority.