N.Y. General Municipal Law § 763: Effective date of elector initiated consolidation plan; permissive referendum

§ 763. Effective date of elector initiated consolidation plan;

permissive referendum. 1. Local government entities consolidated

pursuant to an elector initiated consolidated plan shall continue to be

governed as before consolidation until the effective date of the

consolidation specified in such plan, which date shall be no less than

forty-five days after final approval of such plan pursuant to

subdivision three of section seven hundred sixty-two or subdivision four

of section seven hundred sixty-four of this title.

2. Notwithstanding subdivision one of this section, the elector

initiated consolidation plan shall not take effect if, no later than

forty-five days after final approval thereof pursuant to subdivision

three of section seven hundred sixty-two or subdivision four of section

seven hundred sixty-four of this title, electors of a local government

entity to be consolidated pursuant to such plan shall:

(a) file an original petition, containing not less than the number of

signatures provided for in subdivision three of this section, seeking a

referendum on the question whether the elector initiated consolidation

plan shall take effect, with the clerk of the town in which the entity

or the greater portion of its territory is located, except that if the

entity is a village the original petition of electors from the village

shall be filed with the clerk of the village; and

(b) thereafter less than a majority of the electors in the entity vote

in the affirmative on such question at a referendum.

3. The petition shall be circulated, signed and authenticated in

substantial compliance with the provisions of section seven hundred

fifty-seven of this title, shall contain the signatures of at least

twenty-five percent of the number of electors or fifteen thousand

electors, whichever is less, in the local government entity to be

consolidated, and shall be accompanied by 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.

4. Within ten days of the filing of the petition seeking a referendum

on whether the elector initiated dissolution plan shall take effect, 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 law and rules. Upon the clerk's

determination that the petition contains no less than the required

number of signatures, the governing body of the local government entity

to which such petition applies shall within thirty days enact a

resolution calling for a referendum by the electors of such entity on

the question whether to approve the elector initiated consolidation plan

and set a date for such referendum in accordance with subdivision five

of this section.

5. The referendum on the question whether the elector initiated

consolidation plan shall take effect shall be submitted at a special

election to be held not less than sixty or more than ninety days after

enactment of a resolution pursuant to subdivision four of this section,

provided, however, that in cases where a town or village general

election falls within such period, the referendum question may be

considered during a town or village general election.

6. Notice of the referendum shall be given to the electors of the

local government entity to which the petition applies by publication in

a newspaper having a general circulation within the boundaries of the

entity at least once a week for four consecutive weeks immediately prior

to the referendum. The notice shall include, but not be limited to:

(a) a summary of the contents of the resolution and elector initiated

consolidation plan;

(b) a statement as to where may be examined a copy of the resolution

and elector initiated consolidation plan;

(c) the time and place or places at which the referendum will be held,

in accordance with subdivision five of this section; and

(d) such other matters as may be necessary to call, provide for and

give notice of the referendum and to provide for the conduct thereof and

the canvass of the returns thereupon.

7. In a referendum held pursuant to this section, the referendum

question shall be placed before the electors of the local government

entity to which the petition applies in a form reading substantially as

follows:

"The voters of the (insert type and name of each local government

entity to which the consolidation plan applies) having previously voted

to consolidate, shall the elector initiated consolidation plan take

effect?

YES ____

NO _____"

8. The elector initiated consolidation plan shall not take effect

unless a majority of the electors voting in the local government entity

to which the petition applies vote in favor of such plan taking effect.

If such a majority vote does not result, the referendum shall fail and

consolidation shall not take effect.