Section 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.
    * NB Effective March 21, 2010