§ 763. Effective date of elector initiated consolidation plan;
permissive referendum. 1. Local government entities consolidated
pursuant to an elector initiated consolidated plan shall continue to be
governed as before consolidation until the effective date of the
consolidation specified in such 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 sixty-two or subdivision four
of section seven hundred sixty-four of this title.

2. Notwithstanding subdivision one of this section, the elector
initiated consolidation plan shall not take effect if, no later than
forty-five days after final approval thereof pursuant to subdivision
three of section seven hundred sixty-two or subdivision four of section
seven hundred sixty-four of this title, electors of a local government
entity to be consolidated pursuant to such plan 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 consolidation
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 in the entity 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
fifty-seven 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
consolidated, 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 which such petition applies shall within thirty days enact a
resolution calling for a referendum by the electors of such entity on
the question whether to approve the elector initiated consolidation plan
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
consolidation 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 which the petition applies 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
consolidation plan;

(b) a statement as to where may be examined a copy of the resolution
and elector initiated consolidation 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 which the petition applies in a form reading substantially as
follows:

"The voters of the (insert type and name of each local government
entity to which the consolidation plan applies) having previously voted
to consolidate, shall the elector initiated consolidation plan take
effect?

YES ____

NO _____"

8. The elector initiated consolidation plan shall not take effect
unless a majority of the electors voting in the local government entity
to which the petition applies vote in favor of such plan taking effect.
If such a majority vote does not result, the referendum shall fail and
consolidation shall not take effect.