Local Government Funds
PUBLIC LIBRARY FUND
Amounts Distributed to Counties, Calendar Year 2010
The public library fund was created in House Bill 291 of the
115th General Assembly (prior to a law change enacted in
2008, this fund was called the “library and local government
support fund”). It replaced the locally collected intangible
property tax, which was repealed beginning in calendar year
1986. This fund provides state aid to counties on a monthly
basis for libraries and local governments, which were
receiving revenue from the intangible property tax.
The state operating budget bill for the fiscal year 2008-2009
biennium (Am. Sub. H.B. 119, 127th General Assembly)
made a fundamental change to the public library fund (PLF),
consisting of a new funding mechanism. Monthly,
beginning in calendar year 2008, the PLF received 2.22
percent of total prior-month state General Revenue Fund tax
revenues. However, a provision included in the fiscal year
2010-2011 state operating budget (Am Sub. H.B. 1, 128th
General Assembly) temporarily reduced the PLF funding
percentage to 1.97 percent for the August 2009 - June 2011
time period.
For calendar year 2010, the total amount distributed to
county undivided public library funds was $348.0
million. The revenues received from the PLF were
distributed by county budget commissions with nearly all of
these monies going to libraries.
The recently enacted fiscal year 2012-2013 biennial budget
(Am. Sub. H.B. 153, 129th General Assembly) made additional
changes to the funding formula for the Public Library
Fund. The following link will provide a document that
details these changes as well as projected distributions:
http://tax.ohio.gov/channels/government/documents/FY12-13_PLF_enacted_budget_explanation_revised.pdf.
In summary, counties will experience varying growth rates
during CY 2011.
Despite the variations among the counties, each county will
experience at least some distribution growth during 2011.
Figures shown were compiled from records of the Ohio
Department of Taxation.