2006 New York Code - Provisions For Adoption Of City Charter Amendments Or New City Charters Initiated By Petition

 
    §  37.  Provisions for adoption of city charter amendments or new city
  charters initiated by petition. 1. A local law amending a  city  charter
  (however  extensively)  or  providing  a  new  city charter, also may be
  adopted in accordance with the provisions of this section.
    2. Qualified electors of a city, in number equal to at least  ten  per
  centum of the total number of valid votes cast for governor in such city
  at  the last gubernatorial election, or to thirty thousand, whichever is
  less, may file in the office of  the  city  clerk  a  petition  for  the
  submission  to  the electors of the city of such a proposed local law to
  be set forth in full in the petition. Qualified electors shall be deemed
  for this purpose to be voters  of  the  city  who  were  registered  and
  qualified  to  vote  in such city at the last general election preceding
  the filing of the petition.
    3. Such local law shall set forth the new matter to be  added  to  the
  charter  either  in  italics  or underlined and the matter to be deleted
  therefrom either in brackets or with lines drawn through it,  and  after
  adoption  the  matter  so  set forth in italics or underlined may be set
  forth in the charter in ordinary type, and the  matter  in  brackets  or
  with  lines  through  it may be omitted; but failure so to set forth any
  provision  of  the  charter  which  is  in  fact  superseded  shall  not
  invalidate the amendment or new charter or any portion thereof.
    4.  Such  a  local  law  may  amend, repeal or supersede any local law
  inconsistent with the charter amendment or new charter proposed  thereby
  or any inconsistent provision of a state statute which may be amended by
  local  law,  in which event it shall specify the chapter number and year
  of enactment, sections, subsections or other parts of  each  statute  or
  local  law  so affected. Such a local law also may contain provisions as
  described in paragraph (a) of subdivision four of section thirty-six  of
  this chapter.
    5.   Such   petition  shall  conform  to  the  provisions  of  section
  twenty-four of this chapter  in  relation  to  petitions.  It  shall  be
  examined  and  reported  on by the city clerk as prescribed therein, and
  objections thereto  shall  be  disposed  of  by  the  supreme  court  as
  prescribed  by  such  section.  In addition, the city clerk, at the same
  time that he transmits to the legislative body his certificate that  the
  petition  complies  or does not comply with all the requirements of law,
  shall transmit a copy of such certificate to  the  person  by  whom  the
  petition  was  filed  and,  if  he  certifies that the petition does not
  comply with all  the  requirements,  shall  state  in  such  certificate
  specifically  in  what  respects it fails to comply. If he shall certify
  that there is an insufficient number of valid signatures, he shall  make
  available  to  the  legislative  body  a  statement  as to the number of
  signatures found to be invalid and the reasons for such invalidity,  and
  shall  make  the  same  information  available to the person by whom the
  petition was filed and make it,  together  with  the  petition  and  his
  notations  of  rulings  thereon  or relative thereto, a matter of public
  record in his office. A finding by the city clerk that a  petition  does
  not  comply  with  all  the  requirements  of  law may be contested in a
  proceeding in the supreme court.
    6. Whether or not he finds the petition  sufficient,  the  city  clerk
  shall  transmit  such  proposed  local  law forthwith to the legislative
  body. If the proposed local law is such that a mandatory  referendum  is
  not required for its adoption under the provisions of this chapter or of
  the  city  charter,  such  legislative  body may adopt it as its own act
  pursuant to article three of this chapter. If a mandatory referendum  is
  required, the legislative body may submit it to the electors of the city
  at  the  next  general  election occurring at least sixty days after the
  legislative body votes to submit it.
    7. If, however, such a petition meets all the requirements of law  and
  during  a  period of two months immediately following the filing thereof
  such legislative body shall fail so to  adopt  such  local  law  without
  change  or  to  submit  it without change to the electors of the city as
  aforesaid, an additional petition filed with the city clerk at least two
  months  and  not  more than four months after the filing of the original
  petition and signed at  any  time  prior  to  its  filing  by  qualified
  electors  who  did not sign the original petition, equal in number to at
  least five per centum of the total number of votes cast for governor  in
  such  city  at  the last gubernatorial election, or to fifteen thousand,
  whichever is less, may require the submission of the local  law  at  the
  next  general election held not less than sixty days after the filing of
  such additional petition.
    8. Such an additional petition shall conform to  the  requirements  of
  subdivision five for an original petition and shall be dealt with by the
  city  clerk  and  by the supreme court in the same manner as an original
  petition except that the city clerk shall submit his certificate  as  to
  its sufficiency within twenty days after it is filed with him.
    9.  When  so  required  by  the  filing of such an additional petition
  complying with all  the  requirements  of  law,  the  city  clerk  shall
  transmit  such  proposed  local  law  in  the  form in which it is to be
  submitted to the election officers charged with the duty  of  publishing
  the  notice of such election, and the legislative body shall provide for
  suitable publication thereof and publicity thereon for  the  information
  of  interested voters. If there be more than one such proposed local law
  to be voted upon at such election, each such proposed local law shall be
  separately and consecutively numbered.
    10. Any political committee organized for the purpose of supporting or
  opposing any charter amendment or new charter submitted  to  the  voters
  under  the  provisions  of  this section shall have the same rights as a
  political party to  name  watchers  and  challengers  to  serve  at  the
  election at which the question is submitted.
    11.   No  such  petition  for  a  proposed  local  law  requiring  the
  expenditure of money shall be certified as sufficient by the city  clerk
  or  become effective for the purposes of this section unless there shall
  be submitted, as a part of such proposed local law, a  plan  to  provide
  moneys and revenues sufficient to meet such proposed expenditures.  This
  restriction  shall  not prevent the submission of a local law to adopt a
  new charter or to reorganize the functions of city government, or a part
  thereof, relying partly or solely  on  normal  budgetary  procedures  to
  provide  the  necessary  moneys  to meet the expenses of city government
  under such reorganization, whether or not such  reorganization  includes
  the  creation  of  new  offices,  provided only that such reorganization
  shall not require specific salaries or the expenditure of specific  sums
  of money not theretofore required.
    12. No charter amendment or new charter submitted under the provisions
  of  this  section  which  requires the expenditure of money shall become
  effective with respect to such expenditure before the beginning  of  the
  first  fiscal year for which a city budget is prepared and adopted after
  the adoption of the amendment or new charter.
    13. If any such proposed local law receives the affirmative vote of  a
  majority of the qualified electors of such city voting thereon, it shall
  become  operative as prescribed therein, except that in case of conflict
  between provisions of two  or  more  local  laws  adopted  at  the  same
  election the local law receiving the largest number of affirmative votes
  shall prevail to the extent of such conflict.