Allow City-County Mergers

Section 1. The general municipal law is amended by adding a new article 17-B to read as follows:

ARTICLE 17-B

MERGER OF A COUNTY AND CITY Section 795-a. Commencing the proceeding.

795-b. Proposed merger plan.

795-c. Publication of proposed merger plan.

795-d. Public hearings on proposed merger plan.

795-e. Referendum resolution for merger.

795-f. Effective date of merger plan.

795-g. Initiative of electors seeking merger.

795-h. Conduct of referendum.

795-i. Canvassing of vote; moratorium on further referendum.

795-j. Duty to approve proposed elector initiated merger plan.

795-k. Publication of proposed elector initiated merger plan.

795-l. Public hearings on proposed elector initiated merger

plan.

795-m. Effective date of elector initiated merger plan; permis-

sive referendum.

795-n. Court-ordered merger; judicial hearing officer.

795-o. Winding down the affairs of a merged county and city.

795-p. Effect on actions and proceedings; disposition of

records, books and papers.

795-q. Effect on existing laws.

795-r. Debts, liabilities and obligations.

EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

[ ] is old law to be omitted.

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795-s. Liability of officials and employees.

795-t. Laws governing merged entities.

795-u. Separability.

§ 795-a. Commencing the proceeding. 1. A city may be merged with the county in which it lies by the procedure described in this article to create a merged entity.

2. The merger proceedings may be commenced by:

(a) a joint resolution of the governing body of the county and the city to be merged endorsing a proposed merger plan; or

(b) elector initiative.

§ 795-b. Proposed merger plan. 1. The governing body of a county and a city may, by joint resolution, endorse a proposed merger plan for the purpose of commencing merger proceedings under this article.

2. The proposed merger plan shall specify:

(a) the name of the county and city to be merged;

(b) the territorial boundaries of the merging county and city;

(c) the type and/or class of the county and city;

(d) a fiscal estimate of the cost of the merger;

(e) any plan for the transfer or elimination of public employees;

(f) the county's and city's assets, including but not limited to real and personal property, and the fair value thereof in current money of the United States;

(g) the county's and city's liabilities and indebtedness, bonded and otherwise, and the fair value thereof in current money of the United States;

(h) any agreements entered into with the county to be merged by other municipalities within such county in order to carry out the merger;

(i) the manner and means by which the residents of the county and city will continue to be furnished municipal services by the merged entity following the merger;

(j) terms for the disposition of the county's and city's assets and the disposition of their liabilities and indebtedness, including the levy and collection of the necessary taxes and assessments therefor;

(k) findings as to whether any local laws, ordinances, rules or regulations of the county or city shall remain in effect after the effective date of the merger or shall remain in effect for a period of time other than as provided by section seven hundred ninety-five-q of this article;

(l) the effective date of the proposed merger;

(m) the time and place or places for a public hearing or hearings on the proposed merger plan pursuant to section seven hundred ninety-five-d of this article; and

(n) any other matter desirable or necessary to carry out the merger.

§ 795-c. Publication of proposed merger plan. No later than five business days after commencement of merger proceedings pursuant to section seven hundred ninety-five-b of this article, the governing body of the merging county and city shall:

1. cause a copy of the proposed merger plan, along with a descriptive summary thereof, to be displayed and readily accessible to the public for inspection in a public place or places within the city;

2. cause the proposed merger plan, along with a descriptive summary thereof and a reference to the public place or places within the city where a copy thereof may be examined, to be displayed on a website maintained by the city and on a website maintained by the county to be merged;

3. arrange to be published a descriptive summary of the proposed merger plan and a reference to the public place or places within the city

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where a copy thereof may be examined, at least once each week for four successive weeks in a newspaper having a general circulation within the county and city; and

4. cause the proposed merger plan to be mailed by certified or registered mail to the governing body of the county to be merged.

§ 795-d. Public hearings on proposed merger plan. 1. The governing body of the county and city to be merged shall set a time and place or places for one or more public hearings on the proposed merger plan. The hearing or hearings shall be held no less than thirty-five days and no more than ninety days after commencement of merger proceedings pursuant to section seven hundred ninety-five-b of this article. Any interested person shall be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard on any aspect of the proposed merger.

2. The public hearing or hearings shall be held on notice of at least ten days, but not more than twenty days, published in a newspaper or newspapers having general circulation within the county and city to be merged and displayed on a website maintained by the city and on a website maintained by the county to be merged. The notice of the hearing or hearings shall provide a descriptive summary of the proposed merger plan and a reference to the public place or places within the city where a copy of such plan may be examined.

3. After completion of the final hearing, the governing body of the county and city to be merged may amend the proposed merger plan, provided that the amended version complies with the provisions of subdivision two of section seven hundred ninety-five-b of this article and is publicized pursuant to subdivision four of this section, and/or approve a final version of the merger plan, or decline to proceed further with merger proceedings. Any approval by a governing body of a final version of the merger plan must occur within one hundred eighty days of the final hearing.

4. No later than five business days after amending the proposed merger plan, the governing bodies of the county and city to be merged shall:

(a) cause a copy of the amended version of the proposed merger plan, along with a descriptive summary thereof, to be displayed and readily accessible to the public for inspection in a public place or places within the city; and

(b) cause the amended version of the proposed merger plan, along with a descriptive summary thereof and a reference to the public place or places within the city where a copy thereof may be examined, to be displayed on a website maintained by the city and on a website maintained by the county to be merged.

§ 795-e. Referendum resolution for merger. 1. Contemporaneous with the final approval of the merger plan pursuant to subdivision three of section seven hundred ninety-five-d of this article, the governing bodies of the county and city shall enact a joint resolution calling for a referendum on the proposed merger by the electors in the county and city.

2. The resolution calling for the referendum on the proposed merger shall:

(a) provide (i) the name of the county and city to be merged; and (ii) the date for the referendums, in accordance with subdivision one of section seven hundred ninety-five-h of this article;

(b) state the substance of the question to be submitted to the electors; and

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(c) set forth such other matters as may be necessary to call, provide for and give notice of the referendums and to provide for the conduct thereof and the canvass of the returns thereupon.

3. The joint resolution calling for the referendums on the proposed merger shall have attached to it the final approved version of the merger plan.

§ 795-f. Effective date of merger plan. A county and city merged pursuant to a merger plan shall continue to be governed as before being merged until the effective date of the merger specified in the merger plan; provided, however, that no merger plan shall take effect unless approved by a majority of electors of both the county and the city at referendums called through a joint resolution enacted pursuant to section seven hundred ninety-five-e of this article.

§ 795-g. Initiative of electors seeking merger. 1. The electors of a county or city may commence a merger 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 the county clerk. 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 ten thousand electors, whichever is less, in the county to be merged; provided, however, that where the county to be merged contains fifty thousand or fewer electors, the petition shall contain the signatures of at least twenty percent of the number of electors. Additionally, at least thirty percent of the required number of signatures on the petition must be from electors in the city to be merged. 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 COUNTY AND CITY MERGER

We, the undersigned, electors and legal voters of the county of (insert name of the county), New York, qualified to vote at the next general or special election, respectfully petition that there be submitted to the electors of the county of (name of the county proposed to be merged), for their approval or rejection at a referendum held for that purpose, a proposal to merge the county of (name of the county) with the city of (name of the city).

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

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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.