N.Y. General Municipal Law § 757: Initiative of electors seeking consolidation

§ 757. Initiative of electors seeking consolidation. 1. The electors

of two or more local government entities may commence a consolidation

proceeding by filing an original petition, containing not less than the

number of signatures provided for in subdivision two of this section and

in the form provided for in subdivision three of this section, with the

clerk of the town in which the entities or the greater portion of their

territory are located, except that if one or more of the entities to be

consolidated is a village the original petition of electors from the

village shall be filed with the clerk of the village. Accompanying the

filed petition shall be a cover sheet containing the name, address and

telephone number of an individual who signed the petition and who will

serve as a contact person.

2. The petition shall contain the signatures of at least ten percent

of the number of electors or five thousand electors, whichever is less,

in each local government entity to be consolidated; provided, however,

that where the local government entity to be consolidated contains five

hundred or fewer electors, the petition shall contain the signatures of

at least twenty percent of the number of electors. No signature on a

petition is valid unless it is the original signature of an elector.

3. The petition shall substantially comply with, and be circulated in,

the following form:

PETITION FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT CONSOLIDATION

We, the undersigned electors and legal voters of (insert type of local

government entity - e.g., town, village or district) of (insert name of

local government entity), New York, qualified to vote at the next

general or special election, respectfully petition that there be

submitted to the electors and legal voters of (insert type and name of

local government entities proposed to be consolidated), for their

approval or rejection at a referendum held for that purpose, a proposal

to consolidate (insert type and name of local government entity) with

(insert type and name of local government entity or entities).

In witness whereof, we have signed our names on the dates indicated

next to our signatures.

Date Name - print name under signature Home Address

1. _____ _________________________________ ____________

2. _____ _________________________________ ____________

3. _____ _________________________________ ____________

(On the bottom of each page of the petition, after all of the numbered

signatures, insert a signed statement of a witness who is a duly

qualified elector of the state of New York. Such a statement shall be

accepted for all purposes as the equivalent of an affidavit, and if it

contains a material false statement, shall subject the person signing it

to the same penalties as if he or she has been duly sworn. The form of

such statement shall be substantially as follows:

I, (insert name of witness), state that I am a duly qualified voter of

the state of New York. Each of the persons that have signed this

petition sheet containing (insert number) signatures have signed their

names in my presence on the dates indicated above and identified

themselves to be the same person who signed the sheet. I understand that

this statement will be accepted for all purposes as the equivalent of an

affidavit, and if it contains a materially false statement, shall

subject me to the penalties of perjury.

_________________ _________________________________

Date Signature of Witness)

(In lieu of the signed statement of a witness who is a duly qualified

voter of the state of New York, the following statement signed by a

notary public or a commissioner of deeds shall be accepted:

On the date indicated above before me personally came each of the

electors and legal voters whose signatures appear on this petition sheet

containing (insert number) signatures, who signed the petition in my

presence and who, being by me duly sworn, each for himself or herself,

identified himself or herself as the one and same person who signed the

petition and that the foregoing information they provided was true.

_________________ _________________________________

Date Notary Public or Commissioner of Deeds)

4. An alteration or correction of information appearing on a

petition's signature line, other than an un-initialed signature and

date, shall not invalidate such signature.

5. In matters of form, this section shall be liberally construed, not

inconsistent with substantial compliance thereto and the prevention of

fraud.

6. Within ten days of the filing of the petition seeking consolidation

pursuant to subdivision one of this section, the clerk with whom the

petition was filed shall make a final determination regarding the

sufficiency of the number of signatures on the petition and provide

timely written notice of such determination to the contact person named

in the cover sheet accompanying the petition. The contact person or any

individual who signed the petition may seek judicial review of such

determination in a proceeding pursuant to article seventy-eight of the

civil practice laws and rules.

7. Upon the clerk's determination that the petition contains not less

than the number of signatures of electors required in subdivision two of

this section, the governing body or bodies of the local government

entities to be consolidated shall, no later than thirty days thereafter,

enact a resolution in accordance with subdivision two of section seven

hundred fifty-five of this title calling for a referendum on the

proposed consolidation by the electors in each of the entities and set a

date for such referendum.