In lieu of having the elected office of village clerk and the office of village treasurer, or the combined elected office of village clerk-treasurer, a village may combine the duties of the clerk and treasurer into one appointed office, to be known as the village fiscal officer.

To make this change, the village legislative authority shall pass, by a two-thirds vote, an ordinance or resolution proposing to make the change effective on the first day of January following the next regular municipal election at which the village clerk or village clerk-treasurer is to be elected.

So that no election for the office of village clerk or village clerk-treasurer is held after the passage of the ordinance or resolution, the village legislative authority shall file a certified copy of the ordinance or resolution with the board of elections not less than one hundred twenty days before the day of the next succeeding municipal primary election at which candidates for the office of village clerk or village clerk-treasurer are to be nominated, or, in villages with a population of under two thousand in which no petition for a primary election is filed under section 3513.01 of the Revised Code or in villages in which no primary is held under section 3513.02 of the Revised Code, not less than one hundred twenty days before the next succeeding regular municipal election at which the village clerk or village clerk-treasurer is to be elected.

In addition to the circumstances described in division (A) of this section, when a vacancy exists in the office of village clerk or village clerk-treasurer, the village legislative authority may pass, by a two-thirds vote, an ordinance or resolution to combine the duties of the clerk and the treasurer into the appointed office of village fiscal officer. That change shall take effect on the effective date of the ordinance or resolution.

A village fiscal officer appointed under this section shall perform the duties provided by law for the village clerk and treasurer and any other duties consistent with the nature of the office that are provided for by municipal ordinance.

A village fiscal officer shall be appointed by the mayor of the village, but that appointment does not become effective until it is approved by a majority vote of the village legislative authority. The village fiscal officer need not be an elector of the village or reside in the village at the time of appointment; however, the fiscal officer shall become a resident of the village within six months after the appointment takes effect, unless an ordinance is passed approving the fiscal officer’s residence outside of the village.

The village fiscal officer may be removed without cause either by the mayor with the consent of a majority of the members of the village legislative authority or by a three-fourths vote of the village legislative authority with or without the consent of the mayor.

The legislative authority of a village that has a village fiscal officer may abolish that appointed office and return to an elected office of village clerk-treasurer by passing an ordinance or resolution by a two-thirds vote.