37 - 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 lines  through  it may be omitted; but failure so to set forth any  provision  of  the  charter  which  is  in  fact  superseded  shall  not  invalidate the amendment or new charter or any portion thereof.    4.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.