2023 New York Laws › GMU - General Municipal › Article 17-A - Consolidation and Dissolution of Local Government › Title 2 - Consolidation of Local Government Entities › 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.