N.Y. VIL Law § 2-202 — New York Code / Act VIL / Article 2 / Section 2-202
Petition for incorporation
Status: in_force

§ 2-202 Petition for incorporation. 1. A proceeding for the\nincorporation of such territory as a village shall commence with a\npetition. The requirements for such petition are as follows:\n  a. Petitioners. Signatures from at least twenty percent of the\nresidents of such territory qualified to vote for town officers in a\ntown in which all or part of such territory is located shall be required\nin order to commence a proceeding for the incorporation of such\nterritory as a village.\n  b. Contents of petition. The petition shall contain the following\ninformation:\n  (1) An allegation of the basis on which the petition is signed.\n  (2) The name of the proposed village.\n  (3) An allegation that such territory contains a population of at\nleast one thousand five hundred regular inhabitants.\n  (4) The manner in which the area requirements of section 2-200 of this\narticle are satisfied.\n  (5) A designation of at least one but no more than three persons,\ngiving full names and addresses, on whom and at which addresses all\npapers required to be served in connection with the proceeding for\nincorporation, shall be served. A majority of such designees must reside\nin such territory.\n  (6) Each page of the petition and all exhibits and certifications\nshall be securely fastened together.\n  c. Exhibits and certifications. Each copy of the petition shall have\nattached thereto prior to the signature pages:\n  (1) A description of such territory sufficient to identify the\nlocation and extent of such territory with common certainty and which\nshall be in one of the following forms or a combination thereof: (a) a\nmetes and bounds description; (b) a description made with reference to\nexisting streets and navigable waters or a combination of same; or (c) a\nmap showing existing streets and navigable waters or a combination of\nsame forming boundaries or metes and bounds or the entire boundaries of\none or more districts of an entire town.\n  (2) A list of the names and address of the regular inhabitants of such\nterritory.\n  (3) Study of proposed village and surrounding town or towns. A study\nthat addresses the fiscal, service, and taxation interests of the\npopulation which would constitute the residents of such territory to be\nincorporated as a village, as indicated in clause (a) of this\nsubparagraph, and that provides for an impact assessment that shall\nevaluate the fiscal and operational effects of incorporation of the\nproposed village on the surrounding town or towns wherein the village\nwould be incorporated, as indicated in clause (b) of this subparagraph.\nThe study shall include a certification that it sets forth all the\nelements required by this section.\n  (a) Fiscal, service, and taxation assessment of proposed village. An\nassessment of the fiscal, service, and taxation interests of the\npopulation which would constitute the residents of such territory to be\nincorporated as a village, must include the following elements of the\nproposed village:\n  (i) Inventory. List the number of parcels by property classification.\nFor each such property, list the full valuation and taxable assessed\nvalue as appearing on the most recent applicable final assessment roll.\n  (ii) Taxes. Provide a fiscal estimate of all taxes that could be\ncollected for the structures and places listed on the inventory this\nclause requires to be developed. The town or towns' current property tax\nrate and assessment should be used in developing the fiscal estimate.\n  (iii) Revenue. Other than taxes, list all other sources of revenue\nexpected to be generated for the area of the proposed village.\n  (iv) Operations. Provide an estimate of what it would cost to operate\nthe proposed village listing expenditures required in connection with\nthe appointment or hiring of personnel to provide the services\nidentified pursuant to item (v) of this clause, the holding of meetings\nof the board of trustees, and designating an official newspaper.\n  (v) Services. List the municipal services currently provided within\nthe area of the proposed village and how such services are provided,\nlist all municipal services proposed to be provided upon incorporation\nof the proposed village, and how such municipal services are expected to\nbe provided. Municipal services may include, but are not limited to:\npolice; fire; water; sewer; enforcement of any planning, zoning, and\nland use regulations; and, enforcement of the New York state uniform\nfire prevention and building code and energy conservation construction\ncode.\n  (b) Impact assessment and study of surrounding town or towns. An\nimpact assessment that provides an evaluation of the fiscal and\noperational effects of incorporation of the proposed village on the\nsurrounding town or towns wherein the village would be incorporated,\nmust include the following elements:\n  (i) Revenue and expenditures. List the estimated taxes, other revenue\nand expenditures for the area of the town or towns outside of the\nproposed village.\n  (ii) Fiscal impact. A description of the manner and means by which the\nresidents of the area of the town or towns outside the proposed village\nwill continue to be furnished municipal services following the village's\nincorporation, an estimation of any change in the property tax rate for\nthe area of the town or towns outside of the proposed village to\ncontinue such services. Provide such estimate with respect to the area\nof the town or towns outside the proposed village services only.\n  (iii) Economic impact. Assess the potential economic impact to the\ntown or towns outside of the proposed village upon incorporation of such\nvillage.\n  (iv) Land use impact. Assess the potential impact to the town or towns\noutside of the proposed village from the loss of land use, planning and\nzoning control within the area proposed to be incorporated.\n  (c) Submission. The study must be submitted to the commission and\nfiled in the manner provided by this subdivision.\n  d. Execution of petition. (1) The signatures to a petition shall be\nsubscribed on a separate page or pages following the exhibits.\n  (2) Prefatory statement. Each signature page shall be prefaced by a\nstatement of the basis on which the petition is signed and of the\npetitioners' familiarity with the contents and purpose thereof and the\nboundaries of the territory sought to be incorporated.\n  (3) Additional information. Following each signature there shall be\nset forth, not necessarily by the signer, the signer's address\nconsisting of street name and number, if any, and town.\n  (4) Authentication. There shall be set forth at the bottom of each\npage of signatures an authenticating affidavit of a witness to the\nsigning thereof which shall be in substantially the following form:\nSTATE OF NEW YORK\nCOUNTY OF            ss.:\n....................................................... being duly sworn,\n(name of witness)\nsays:\nI reside at ..................................................... in the\n                       (street name and number)\n................................. of ....................................\n(town, city or village)                           (name of municipality)\n............................................... in the State of New York:\nI know each of the persons whose names are subscribed to the above sheet\nhaving .................................... signatures; and each of them\n              (number)\nsubscribed the same in my presence.\n                                     ...................................\n                                          (signature of witness)\nSworn to before me\nThis .................. day of ..................,  ....................\n             (day)                  (month)               (year)\n ...............................\n   (official title of officer)\n  e. Filing and deposit. (1) Filing. The original petition, the study\nand all exhibits and certifications required by this section shall be\nfiled with the commission. Duplicate originals, photocopies or other\nsimilar reproductions of the original petition, the study and all\nexhibits and certifications required by this section shall be filed with\nthe town clerk of each town in which any portion of such territory is\nlocated.\n  (2) Deposit. At the time of filing of the petition there shall be\ndeposited with the department of state, on behalf of the commission, the\nsum of six thousand dollars to pay the cost of posting, publishing and\nserving required notices, stenographic services and services of\ninspectors of election in the event incorporation is not effected.\n  2. Study attached to the petition. The study to be submitted shall be\na study prepared by a third-party jointly selected by the petitioner or\npetitioners and the supervisors of the town or towns which shall be\nconfirmed in writing by the petitioner or petitioners and clerks of the\ntown or towns, or a study prepared pursuant to paragraph f of\nsubdivision two of section 2-260 of this article; and provided further,\nthat the department of state shall post such study on its website within\nten days of receiving the study from the petitioner or petitioners. Such\nstudy shall be paid for by the petitioner or petitioners except in cases\nwhere an appropriation has been provided to pay for the study.\n