N.Y. General Municipal Law § 779: Initiative of electors seeking dissolution

§ 779. Initiative of electors seeking dissolution. 1. The electors of

a local government entity may commence a dissolution 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 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. 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 the local government entity to be dissolved; provided, however, that

where the local government entity to be dissolved 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 an original signature of an elector.

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

the following form:

PETITION FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT DISSOLUTION

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 of (insert type and name of local government

entity proposed to be dissolved), for their approval or rejection at a

referendum held for that purpose, a proposal to dissolve and terminate

(insert type and name of local government entity).

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 dissolution

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 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.

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 of the local government entity to be

dissolved shall, no later than thirty days thereafter, enact a

resolution in accordance with subdivision two of section seven hundred

seventy-seven of this title calling for a referendum on the proposed

dissolution by the electors in the entity and set a date for such

referendum.