§ 172-c. Alteration of boundaries of fire protection district. The
town board of a town in which any fire protection district has been
established, or if established in two or more towns, the town boards of
such towns acting jointly by a majority vote of the members of each of
such town boards, upon petition and after a public hearing, or upon the
motion of such town board or town boards after a public hearing, may
alter the boundaries of such fire protection district in accordance with
such petition or motion and exclude from the district territory
previously located therein. Such petition, if any, shall be signed by
resident taxpayers owning taxable real property aggregating at least
one-half of the assessed valuation of all the taxable real property
owned by resident taxpayers in the territory to be excluded and at least
one-half of the assessed valuation of all the taxable real property
owned by resident taxpayers in the remaining territory of the district.
The assessed valuations in either case shall be the assessed valuations
of the taxable real property as shown by the latest completed
assessment-roll of the town. Such petition, if any, shall be signed, and
acknowledged or proved in the same manner as a deed to be recorded, or
authenticated in the manner provided by the election law for the
authentication of nominating petitions. Notice of such hearing shall be
given and such hearing held and the subject matter thereof determined in
the manner provided herein for hearings upon the establishment of fire
protection districts, except that the notice of hearing shall state in
general terms the purposes of the hearing and the manner in which it is
proposed to alter the boundaries of the district. Any resolution
altering the boundaries of such fire protection district made upon
motion of the town board or town boards without a petition shall be
subject to a permissive referendum as provided in article seven of this
chapter. For the purposes of this section, the boundaries of such fire
protection district shall be deemed to be altered pursuant to petition
of resident taxpayers and the territory described in the notice
excluded, upon the adoption by the town board or town boards of the
resolution providing therefor, unless such resolution shall specify some
other date for such purpose, in which case such boundaries shall be
deemed to be altered and such territory excluded on the date so
specified, and such alteration of boundaries upon motion of the town
board or town boards without a petition shall become effective as
provided in section ninety-one of this chapter. Unless renegotiated,
any existing contract for the supplying of fire protection to any such
fire protection district shall be carried out in the same manner as if
such boundaries had not been altered or territory excluded from the
district.