Board of Commissioners of the Sinking Fund. 1. What is your department s primary purpose and objectives?

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1 Board of Commissioners of the Sinking Fund 1. What is your department s primary purpose and objectives? The Board of Commissioners of the Sinking Fund consists of five members. The Auditor of State serves as the president of the board and the Secretary of State serves as the secretary. The remaining three members are the Governor, the Treasurer of State, and the Attorney General. The Sinking Fund has an office in the Treasurer of State's Office and receives its operating funds through a GRF line item in the Treasurer of State's operating budget (090401). The Commissioners of the Sinking Fund administer the debt service payments and administrative expenses related to state general obligation bonds issued for the following purposes: primary and secondary education facilities, higher education facilities, coal research and development, parks and natural resources capital improvements, conservation projects, local infrastructure projects, Third Frontier research and development, site development for business, highways, and bonus compensation for veterans who served during the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq conflicts. The Sinking Fund is also required under the Ohio Constitution and Revised Code to prepare and publish a semiannual report, which includes financial statements of the state's general obligation bonds, debt service requirements, and funding sources. 2. What is your department s past and anticipated workload, the number of staff required to complete that workload, and the department s total number of staff? Also provide a breakdown of how many staff work in administration, customer service, or in the field. Debt service is paid out of the Debt Management Department of the Treasurer of State s office. The semi-annual reports are compiled out of the Treasurer s office, reviewed and executed by the Commission members, and annually audited independently. 3. Please identify the rules adopted by your department and explain how these rules are consistent with the legislative mandate of the department as expressed in the statutes that created and empowered the department? Article VIII.07 of the Ohio Constitution reads as follows: The faith of the state being pledged for the payment of its public debt, in order to provide therefor, there shall be created a sinking fund, which shall be sufficient to pay the accruing interest on such debt, and, annually, to reduce the principal thereof, by a sum not less than one hundred thousand dollars, increased yearly, and each and every year, by compounding, at the rate of six per cent per annum. The said sinking fund shall consist, of the net annual income of the public works and stocks owned by the state, of any other funds or resources that are, or may be, provided by law, and of such further sum, to be raised by taxation, as may be required for the purposes aforesaid.

2 Article VIII.08 of the Ohio Constitution reads as follows: The governor, treasurer of state, auditor of state, secretary of state, and attorney general, are hereby created a board of commissioners, to be styled, The Commissioners of the Sinking Fund. OAC 129 pertains to the Board of the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund Chapter pertains to Notice of Meetings and is an internal rule Chapter pertains to General Provisions and is an internal rule 4. Does your department s jurisdiction or any of its programs overlap or duplicate those of other departments? If so, what is the extent to which your department coordinates with those other departments and the extent to which the department s programs could be consolidated with the programs of other state departments? The Commissioners of the Sinking Fund no longer act as the issuing authority for the State with respect to any of its debt issuances. Debt service is paid out of the Debt Management Department of the Treasurer of State s office. The Sinking Fund is housed in the Treasurer of State s office, and has a separate operating GRF appropriation line item under the Treasurer of State s operating budget The Sinking Fund also has its own appropriation line items for the payment of debt service on the following programs: Highway Capital Improvements Coal Research and Development Local Infrastructure Natural Resources Higher Education Common Schools (Primary and Secondary Education) Third Frontier Research and Development Site Development Conservation Veterans Compensation The semi-annual reports have continued to be compiled out of the Treasurer of State s office, reviewed and executed by the Commission members, and annually audited independently. The Treasurer of State s office serves as issuing authority for various general obligation, revenue, and special obligations of the state. The Office of Debt Management acts on behalf of the Treasurer of State to facilitate each debt issuance. Additionally, Debt Management performs certain duties on behalf of the Treasurer of State for the Ohio Public Facilities Commission (OPFC). The office works closely with financing team participants, the Treasurer of State s

3 financial advisor, and the Office of Budget and Management to facilitate all aspects of debt issuance, refunding analysis, and proposal review. Debt Issuance Functions: Underwriting proposal evaluation Method of sale analysis Transaction team coordination Working group participation including structuring considerations, spending agency coordination, and legal document review Pre-closing and closing participation including document signing Deposit and wire documents preparation for application of bond proceeds Monitoring of local and national bond markets Pricing negotiations Call option analysis Refunding analysis Payment of related issuance expenses Attend OPFC meetings authorizing the sale of and formally awarding bonds to the underwriter Tabulate and verify electronic bids submitted and report to OPFC the winning bidder for bonds sold via competitive sale 5. Is your department necessary to protect the health, safety, or welfare of the public? If so, how? Yes. Article VIII, Sections 7-11 of the Ohio Constitution pertain to the Commissioners of the Sinking Fund. 6. What is the amount of regulation exercised by your department compared to such regulation, if any, in other states? The Commissioners of the Sinking Fund is not a regulatory body. 7. Describe the general costs and impact of your department s activities on Ohio s businesses and individuals. The Commissioners of the Sinking Fund administer the debt service payments and administrative expenses related to state general obligation bonds issued for primary and secondary education facilities, higher education facilities, coal research and development, parks and natural resources capital improvements, conservation projects, local infrastructure projects, Third Frontier research and development, site development for business, highways, and bonus compensation for veterans

4 who served during the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq conflicts. If this work was not completed, these programs would be adversely impacted. 8. Identify and explain your customer service standards and what methods you use to monitor or improve customer service at your agency. 9. Please provide an assessment of the authority of your department regarding fees, inspections, enforcement, and penalties. 10. Has your department s operation been impeded or enhanced by existing statutes and procedures and by budgetary, resource, and personnel practices? If so, which sections? No. 11. Has your department recommended statutory changes to the general assembly that would benefit the public as opposed to the persons regulated by the department? If so, have those policies been adopted and implemented? No. The Commissioners of the Sinking Fund is not a regulatory body. 12. Has your department required or requested any persons it regulates to report to it the impact of department rules and decisions on the public as they affect service costs and service delivery? 13. Describe how your department encouraged public participation in its rule-making and decision-making? The Commissioners of the Sinking Fund have not promulgated rules under this administration. 14. What is the process for formal public complaints that are filed with the department? And how are they resolved? 15. Does federal law require that Ohio perform some or all of the tasks of your agency? If so, what functions are required and how are they met? No.

5 16. Please describe in detail how any state regulation or rule, of your department, exceeds or differs from any similar federal requirements with a similar impact. 17. Please identify the department s practices and methods to comply with public records requests; any methods to make your records more generally available or online; the number of public records disputes during the last 2 years and the top 3 record types that are requested by the public. There have been no public records disputes during the last 2 years. If your department issues licenses, please answer the following: 1. Are such licenses required by federal law and, if so, what law(s)? 2. What is the extent to which licensing ensures that practitioners have occupational skill sets or competencies that correlate with a public interest? What is the impact that those criteria have on applicants for a license, particularly those with moderate and low incomes, seeking to enter the occupation or profession? 3. What is the extent to which the requirement for the license stimulates or restricts competition, affects consumer choice, and affects the cost of services?