(A) “Employer” or “public employer,” as defined in division (D) of section 145.01 of the Revised Code, does not include a regional council created under Chapter 167 of the Revised Code that meets all of the following criteria:

Terms Used In Ohio Code 145.014

  • employer: means the employer of any public employee. See Ohio Code 145.01
  • public employer: means the state or any county, township, municipal corporation, park district, conservancy district, sanitary district, health district, metropolitan housing authority, state retirement board, Ohio history connection, public library, county law library, union cemetery, joint hospital, institutional commissary, state medical university, state university, or board, bureau, commission, council, committee, authority, or administrative body as the same are, or have been, created by action of the general assembly or by the legislative authority of any of the units of local government named in this division not covered by section 742. See Ohio Code 145.01

(1) Membership in the council consists of political subdivisions of Ohio and at least two other states;

(2) The primary purpose of the council is regional transportation planning;

(3) The council was not contributing to the public employees retirement system on July 31, 1997.

(B) If, prior to the effective date of this section, the public employees retirement system determined that a regional council described in division (A) of this section was not a public employer, the system shall not require the council to submit employer and employee contributions for the time period following the date of the determination.

(C) An employee of a regional council described in division (A) of this section shall forever be barred from claiming or purchasing membership rights or service credit under the public employees retirement system for the period of that employee’s employment with the regional council.