A.
Initiative. The qualified voters of the Borough shall have the right
to propose an ordinance to Council. Upon Council's failure to
adopt the ordinance without substantial change within 62 days after
submission at a regular meeting of Council, said ordinance shall be
submitted to the voters at the next election occurring at least 90
days thereafter.
B.
Referendum. The qualified voters of the Borough shall have the right
to require reconsideration by Council of an adopted ordinance. Upon
Council's failure to repeal any ordinance so reconsidered within
62 days after the request, the voters shall have the opportunity to
approve or reject it at the next election occurring at least 90 days
from the adoption of said ordinance.
C.
Limitations. The above powers of initiative and referendum shall
not extend to the budget, capital improvements program or to any ordinance
appropriating money, levying taxes or affecting the salaries of Borough
officers or employees.
Any five qualified voters wishing to begin an initiative or
referendum proceeding shall join in filing an affidavit with the Borough
Manager. This shall contain their names, addresses and the principal
address to which any notice concerning the proceeding should be sent
and should set forth in full the proposed initiative ordinance or
the ordinance sought to be recalled. Upon the filing of this affidavit,
the Borough Manager shall issue petition blanks.
A.
Number of signatures. Initiative or referendum petitions must be
signed by a number of qualified voters of the Borough equal to 10%
of the number of registered voters entitled to vote in the preceding
municipal election.
B.
Form and content. All papers of the petition shall be of uniform
size and shall be filed as a single document. Each signature shall
be in ink or indelible pencil and shall show the address of the person
signing. Throughout their circulation, each copy of the petition shall
contain or have attached the text of the ordinance under consideration.
C.
Affidavit of circulator. Each page of the petition containing signatures
shall bear, in a designated place, the signature of the person who
circulated that portion of the petition. Each person circulating the
petition shall file with the petition an affidavit stating his name
and address, the number of signatures he collected, a statement that
he believes these to be genuine signatures of registered voters, that
all such signatures were affixed in his presence and that each signer
was given an opportunity to read the full text of the proposal before
signing.
D.
Time for filing referendum petitions. Referendum petitions must be
filed within 90 days after adoption by Council of the ordinance sought
to be reconsidered.
A.
Certification. Within 10 days after filing of petition, the Borough Manager shall prepare a certificate of sufficiency and shall send a copy thereof to Council and one by registered mail to the principal address given in the filing affidavit. In the event that the petition is certified as insufficient, the reasons for such insufficiency shall be clearly stated on the certificate. Petitioners shall have 10 days from receipt of this notice to correct the defect by filing a supplemental petition, which shall comply with §§ C-109 and C-110 above. The Borough Manager shall then have five days from receipt of the supplemental petition to prepare a certificate of sufficiency, and the Clerk shall again send copies of the certificate to Council and to the petitioners, as provided in this section. In the event this second certificate also declares the petition to be insufficient, petitioners shall have two working days from receipt thereof to file with the Borough Manager a request for Council review.
B.
Council review. Upon request, Council shall review a petition declared
insufficient in the manner prescribed above at its next regular meeting
and, at that time, shall approve or disapprove the certificate. Council's
determination shall be a final administrative determination on the
sufficiency of the petition.
C.
Court review. A final administrative determination of insufficiency
shall be subject to court review. A ruling by the court sustaining
a finding of insufficiency shall not prejudice the filing of a new
petition.
When a referendum petition has been filed with the Borough Manager,
the ordinance sought to be reconsidered shall be suspended until:
A.
Action by Council. Upon receipt of a certificate of sufficiency,
Council, at its next regularly scheduled meeting, must act to comply
with the petition. Upon failure to do so within that time, it must
act to place the question on the ballot.
B.
Submission to voters. The Borough shall vote on the question of adoption
or retention of the ordinance named in the petition not less than
60 days or more than one year from final Council action thereon.
C.
Withdrawal of petitions. Up until the 75th day before the election,
the petition may be withdrawn by written request of four of the original
five petitioners. Upon the filing of such a request with the Borough
Manager, the petition shall be without effect and all proceedings
thereon shall be terminated.
A.
Initiative. If a majority of voters voting upon the proposal shall
vote in its favor, it shall take effect upon certification of the
election results and shall have the force of a duly enacted ordinance.
In the event conflicting ordinances are approved at the same election,
the one receiving the greatest number of affirmative votes shall prevail.
B.
An ordinance which has been enacted by initiative may not be repealed
within two years of such voter action without a 3/4 vote of Council
to repeal said ordinance.
C.
Referendum. If a majority of voters voting upon the referred ordinance
vote in favor of its repeal, it shall be considered repealed upon
certification of the election results.
D.
An ordinance which has been repealed by referendum may not be reenacted
within two years of such voter action without a 3/4 vote of Council
to reenact said ordinance.
E.
Upon defeat of an initiative or referendum ballot question, the same
subject matter may not be resubmitted for initiative or referendum
within two years of said voter action.
