2023 New York Laws › GMU - General Municipal › Article 17-A - Consolidation and Dissolution of Local Government › Title 3 - Dissolution of Local Government Entities › 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.