N.Y. Municipal Home Rule § 37: Provisions for adoption of city charter amendments or new city charters initiated by petition

§ 37. Provisions for adoption of city charter amendments or new city

charters initiated by petition. 1. A local law amending a city charter

(however extensively) or providing a new city charter, also may be

adopted in accordance with the provisions of this section.

2. Qualified electors of a city, in number equal to at least ten per

centum of the total number of valid votes cast for governor in such city

at the last gubernatorial election, or to thirty thousand, whichever is

less, may file in the office of the city clerk a petition for the

submission to the electors of the city of such a proposed local law to

be set forth in full in the petition. Qualified electors shall be deemed

for this purpose to be voters of the city who were registered and

qualified to vote in such city at the last general election preceding

the filing of the petition.

3. Such local law shall set forth the new matter to be added to the

charter either in italics or underlined and the matter to be deleted

therefrom either in brackets or with lines drawn through it, and after

adoption the matter so set forth in italics or underlined may be set

forth in the charter in ordinary type, and the matter in brackets or

with lines through it may be omitted; but failure so to set forth any

provision of the charter which is in fact superseded shall not

invalidate the amendment or new charter or any portion thereof.

4. Such a local law may amend, repeal or supersede any local law

inconsistent with the charter amendment or new charter proposed thereby

or any inconsistent provision of a state statute which may be amended by

local law, in which event it shall specify the chapter number and year

of enactment, sections, subsections or other parts of each statute or

local law so affected. Such a local law also may contain provisions as

described in paragraph (a) of subdivision four of section thirty-six of

this chapter.

5. Such petition shall conform to the provisions of section

twenty-four of this chapter in relation to petitions. It shall be

examined and reported on by the city clerk as prescribed therein, and

objections thereto shall be disposed of by the supreme court as

prescribed by such section. In addition, the city clerk, at the same

time that he transmits to the legislative body his certificate that the

petition complies or does not comply with all the requirements of law,

shall transmit a copy of such certificate to the person by whom the

petition was filed and, if he certifies that the petition does not

comply with all the requirements, shall state in such certificate

specifically in what respects it fails to comply. If he shall certify

that there is an insufficient number of valid signatures, he shall make

available to the legislative body a statement as to the number of

signatures found to be invalid and the reasons for such invalidity, and

shall make the same information available to the person by whom the

petition was filed and make it, together with the petition and his

notations of rulings thereon or relative thereto, a matter of public

record in his office. A finding by the city clerk that a petition does

not comply with all the requirements of law may be contested in a

proceeding in the supreme court.

6. Whether or not he finds the petition sufficient, the city clerk

shall transmit such proposed local law forthwith to the legislative

body. If the proposed local law is such that a mandatory referendum is

not required for its adoption under the provisions of this chapter or of

the city charter, such legislative body may adopt it as its own act

pursuant to article three of this chapter. If a mandatory referendum is

required, the legislative body may submit it to the electors of the city

at the next general election occurring at least sixty days after the

legislative body votes to submit it.

7. If, however, such a petition meets all the requirements of law and

during a period of two months immediately following the filing thereof

such legislative body shall fail so to adopt such local law without

change or to submit it without change to the electors of the city as

aforesaid, an additional petition filed with the city clerk at least two

months and not more than four months after the filing of the original

petition and signed at any time prior to its filing by qualified

electors who did not sign the original petition, equal in number to at

least five per centum of the total number of votes cast for governor in

such city at the last gubernatorial election, or to fifteen thousand,

whichever is less, may require the submission of the local law at the

next general election held not less than sixty days after the filing of

such additional petition.

8. Such an additional petition shall conform to the requirements of

subdivision five for an original petition and shall be dealt with by the

city clerk and by the supreme court in the same manner as an original

petition except that the city clerk shall submit his certificate as to

its sufficiency within twenty days after it is filed with him.

9. When so required by the filing of such an additional petition

complying with all the requirements of law, the city clerk shall

transmit such proposed local law in the form in which it is to be

submitted to the election officers charged with the duty of publishing

the notice of such election, and the legislative body shall provide for

suitable publication thereof and publicity thereon for the information

of interested voters. If there be more than one such proposed local law

to be voted upon at such election, each such proposed local law shall be

separately and consecutively numbered.

10. Any political committee organized for the purpose of supporting or

opposing any charter amendment or new charter submitted to the voters

under the provisions of this section shall have the same rights as a

political party to name watchers and challengers to serve at the

election at which the question is submitted.

11. No such petition for a proposed local law requiring the

expenditure of money shall be certified as sufficient by the city clerk

or become effective for the purposes of this section unless there shall

be submitted, as a part of such proposed local law, a plan to provide

moneys and revenues sufficient to meet such proposed expenditures. This

restriction shall not prevent the submission of a local law to adopt a

new charter or to reorganize the functions of city government, or a part

thereof, relying partly or solely on normal budgetary procedures to

provide the necessary moneys to meet the expenses of city government

under such reorganization, whether or not such reorganization includes

the creation of new offices, provided only that such reorganization

shall not require specific salaries or the expenditure of specific sums

of money not theretofore required.

12. No charter amendment or new charter submitted under the provisions

of this section which requires the expenditure of money shall become

effective with respect to such expenditure before the beginning of the

first fiscal year for which a city budget is prepared and adopted after

the adoption of the amendment or new charter.

13. If any such proposed local law receives the affirmative vote of a

majority of the qualified electors of such city voting thereon, it shall

become operative as prescribed therein, except that in case of conflict

between provisions of two or more local laws adopted at the same

election the local law receiving the largest number of affirmative votes

shall prevail to the extent of such conflict.