Section 785. Effective date of elector initiated dissolution plan; permissive referendum

1. A local government entity  dissolved  pursuant  to  an  elector initiated dissolution plan shall continue to be governed
  as before dissolution  until  the  effective  date  of  the  dissolution
  specified in the elector initiated dissolution 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 eighty-four or subdivision
  three of section seven hundred eighty-six of this title.
    2. Notwithstanding  subdivision  one  of  this  section,  the  elector
  initiated  dissolution  plan  shall  not  take  effect if, no later than
  forty-five  days  after  final  approval  of  such  plan   pursuant   to
  subdivision  three  of  section seven hundred eighty-four or subdivision
  three of section seven hundred eighty-six of this title, electors of the
  local government entity to be dissolved 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  dissolution
  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  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
  seventy-nine  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
  dissolved, 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 be dissolved shall within thirty days enact a resolution calling  for
  a  referendum  by  the  electors  on  the  question  whether the elector
  initiated dissolution plan shall take effect 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
  dissolution 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 be dissolved 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
  dissolution plan;
    (b)  a  statement as to where may be examined a copy of the resolution
  and elector initiated dissolution 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 be dissolved in a form reading substantially as follows:
    "The voters of the (insert type and name of local government entity to
  be  dissolved)  having  previously  voted to dissolve, shall the elector
  initiated dissolution plan take effect?
    YES ____
    NO ____"
    8. The elector initiated dissolution plan shall not take effect unless
  a majority of the electors voting in  the  local  government  entity  to
  which  the  petition  applies  votes  in favor of dissolution. If such a
  majority vote does not result, the referendum shall fail and dissolution
  shall not take effect.
    * NB Effective March 21, 2010