In any township in which there is a cemetery owned or partly owned by such township, if in the opinion of the board of township trustees, it is desirable to add to the area of such cemetery by the purchase of additional grounds, and if suitable lands cannot be procured by contract on reasonable terms, the board may appropriate lands, not exceeding ten acres, by proceedings in accordance with sections 163.01 to 163.22 of the Revised Code, for the expansion of an existing cemetery if the township zoning ordinances do not prohibit such use. Lands appropriated for the expansion of a cemetery shall not be appropriated within fifty feet of a dwelling house or other building and shall be considered a part of the original cemetery even though separated therefrom by a road or highway.
For such purpose the board may expend funds as provided in section 517.08 of the Revised Code, or the board may levy a tax, not to exceed one-half of one mill, on the taxable property of the township, for a period not to exceed five years, which tax shall be collected as other taxes, and appropriated for the purchase or appropriation of such additional cemetery grounds which shall become part of the township cemetery.
R.C. § 517.13