Any citizen or taxpayer of the municipality may propose an ordinance to Council by an initiative petition. If Council fails to adopt the proposed ordinance without any change in substance, the ordinance shall be placed on the ballot at a general or primary election, as provided in § C-1207, for adoption or rejection by the electors of the municipality. The right of initiative shall not extend to the budget, capital program or to any ordinance relating to the appropriation of money, levying of taxes, fixing of tax rates, salaries of employees, land development, land use, subdivision regulation, building codes, safety codes, or zoning. A proposed initiative ordinance shall be limited to a single subject, which shall be clearly expressed in its title. An ordinance on the same subject may not be initiated until two years after the final disposition, including any failure to comply with the requirements of this article, of a previous initiative petition on that subject.
Any citizen or taxpayer of the municipality may propose, by petition, the repeal of any adopted ordinance. If Council fails to repeal the ordinance in response to that petition, the ordinance shall be placed on the ballot at a general or primary election, as provided in § C-1207, for affirmation or repeal by the electors of the municipality. The right to petition for repeal shall not extend to the budget or capital program or to any ordinance relating to the appropriation of money, levying of taxes, fixing of tax rates, salaries of employees, land development, land use, subdivision regulation, building codes, safety codes, or zoning. Nor may the repeal of any ordinance impair any then-existing contract obligations of the municipality.
1. 
Any five citizens or taxpayers who are qualified registered electors of the municipality may commence initiative or referendum proceedings by filing with the Municipal Secretary an affidavit stating that they are the petitioners' committee, their names and addresses, and the address to which all notices to the committee are to be sent. The affidavit also shall include the full text of the proposed ordinance or cite the ordinance sought to be repealed. The petitioners committee shall be responsible for circulating the petitions and filing them in proper form. An affidavit to commence a referendum proceeding must be filed within nine days after the publication of the ordinance sought to be repealed. Within five days after the affidavit of a petitioners committee is filed, the Municipal Secretary shall issue the appropriate petition blanks to the committee.
2. 
An initiative or referendum petition must be filed with the Municipal Secretary within 21 days after the issuance of the blank petition forms to the petitioners committee.
1. 
Initiative and referendum petitions must be signed by a number of qualified registered electors of the municipality equal to at least 15% of the number registered and eligible to vote at the last general or municipal election.
2. 
Each signature on a petition must be legibly executed in ink or indelible pencil, followed by the street address and occupation of the signator and the date of the signature. The signature and all of the accompanying information shall be written personally by the individual whose name is on the petition. The full text of the ordinance proposed or sought to be repealed must be contained within or attached to the petition, or each page thereof, throughout its circulation.
3. 
Each page of the petition shall have attached to it when it is filed an affidavit of a member of the petitioners committee, stating that he personally circulated that petition, and knows all of the signatures on that page to be the signatures of persons whom he believes to be qualified electors of the municipality, and that each signer had an opportunity to read the full text attached before signing the petition.
Within 21 days after the petition is filed, the Municipal Secretary shall certify as to its sufficiency, specifying any deficiency in detail, and shall send a copy of the certificate to the petitioners committee by mail.
When a referendum petition is filed with the Municipal Secretary, the effectiveness of the ordinance sought to be repealed shall be suspended until:
1. 
The final determination of the insufficiency of the petition;
2. 
The petitioners' committee withdraws the petition;
3. 
The Council repeals the ordinance; or
4. 
The certification of the election results.
1. 
When an initiative or referendum petition has been finally determined sufficient, Council promptly shall consider the proposed initiative ordinance in the same manner as other ordinances, or reconsider the ordinance cited in the referendum petition by voting its repeal. If the Council fails to adopt the proposed initiative ordinance without any change in substance within 60 days or fails to repeal the ordinance cited in the referendum petition within 30 days after the date the petition is determined and certified by the Municipal Secretary to be sufficient, it shall submit the matter to the electors of the municipality.
2. 
The vote of the electors of the municipality on the proposed or cited ordinance shall be held at the next available primary or general election after final Council action. Copies of the proposed or cited ordinance shall be available to the public at the municipal building during reasonable business hours at least 10 days before the scheduled election and at the polls on election day.
3. 
An initiative or referendum petition may be withdrawn at any time, subject to the applicable provisions of the election laws, by a written request signed by a majority of the members of the petitioners' committee.
1. 
If a majority of the qualified electors voting on the question vote in favor of the proposed initiative ordinance, the ordinance shall be considered adopted upon certification of the election results and shall be treated in all respects as if it had been duly adopted by Council. If conflicting ordinances are approved at the same election, the one receiving the greatest number of affirmative votes shall prevail.
2. 
If a majority of the qualified electors voting on the question vote in favor of repeal of the ordinance cited in the referendum petition, the ordinance shall be considered repealed upon certification of the election results. Council shall not enact for a period of two years any ordinance of like substance as that repealed by referendum. If a majority of the qualified electors reject repeal of the ordinance, the suspension of the ordinance shall be terminated upon certification of the election results and the ordinance shall be treated in all respects, including the date it takes effect, as if it had never been the subject of referendum action.