(a)
Initiative. Any citizen or taxpayer of the Town 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 Section 1406(b), for adoption or rejection by the electors of the Town. The right of initiative 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 Town employees, 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 (2) years after the final disposition, including any failure to comply with the requirements of this Article XIV, of a previous initiative petition on that subject.
(b)
Referendum. Any citizen or taxpayer of the Town 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 Section
1406(b), for affirmation or repeal by the electors of the Town. 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 Town employees,
or zoning. Nor may the appeal of any ordinance impair any then existing
contract obligation of the Town.
(a)
Procedure. Any five (5) citizens or taxpayers of the Town may commence
initiative or referendum proceedings by filing with the Manager 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the proposed ordinance or cite the ordinance sought to be repealed.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 fifteen (15) days after
the publication of the ordinance sought to be repealed. Within five
(5) days after the affidavit of a petitioners' committee is filed,
the Manager shall issue the appropriate petition blanks to the committee.
(b)
Time for Filing of Petitions. An initiative or referendum petition
must be filed within forty-five (45) days after the issuance of the
blank petition forms to the petitioners' committee.
(a)
Number of Signatures. Initiative and referendum petitions must be
signed by at least eight hundred (800) qualified electors of the Town.
(b)
Form and Content. Each signature on a petition must be legibly executed
in ink or indelible pencil and must be followed by the date of the
signature and the address of of the person signing. The full text
of the ordinance proposed or sought to be repealed must be contained
within or attached to the petition throughout its circulation.
(c)
Affidavit. 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 or she personally circulated that petition, and knows
all of the signatures on that page to be the signatures of persons
whom he or she believes to be qualified electors of the Town, and
that each signer had an opportunity to read the full text attached
before signing the petition.
Within twenty (20) days after the petition is filed, the Manager
shall certify as to its sufficiency, specifying any deficiency in
detail and shall send a copy of the certificate to the petitioners'
committee by registered mail.
When a referendum petition is filed with the Manager, the effectiveness
of the ordinance sought to be repealed shall be suspended until:
(a)
Action by Council. When an initiative or referendum petition has
been finally determined sufficient, the 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 sixty (60) days or
fails to repeal the ordinance cited in the referendum petition within
thirty (30) days after the date the petition is determined and certified
by the Manager to be sufficient, it shall submit the matter to the
electors of the Town.
(b)
Submission to the Voters. The vote of the electors of the Town on
the proposed or cited ordinance shall be held at the next available
general or primary 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 ten
(10) days before the scheduled election and at the polls on election
day.
(c)
Withdrawal of Petitions. 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.
(a)
Initiative. 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.
(b)
Referendum. 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
(2) years any ordinance of like substance as that repealed by referendum.
