Section 757. Initiative of electors seeking consolidation

1. The electors
  of two or more local government entities may  commence  a  consolidation
  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 entities or the greater portion of their
  territory are located, except that if one or more of the entities to  be
  consolidated  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  each  local government entity to be consolidated; provided, however,
  that where the local government entity to be consolidated 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 the original signature of an elector.
    3. The petition shall substantially comply with, and be circulated in,
  the following form:
                 PETITION FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT CONSOLIDATION
    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 and legal voters of (insert type and  name  of
  local  government  entities  proposed  to  be  consolidated),  for their
  approval or rejection at a referendum held for that purpose, a  proposal
  to  consolidate  (insert  type and name of local government entity) with
  (insert type and name of local government entity or entities).
    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 consolidation
  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 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 laws 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  or  bodies  of  the  local  government
  entities to be consolidated shall, no later than thirty days thereafter,
  enact  a  resolution in accordance with subdivision two of section seven
  hundred fifty-five of  this  title  calling  for  a  referendum  on  the
  proposed consolidation by the electors in each of the entities and set a
  date for such referendum.
    * NB Effective March 21, 2010