The people of the City reserve the power of direct legislation by initiative, and in the exercise of such power may propose any ordinance, not in conflict with this Charter, the state constitution, or the state laws except an ordinance appropriating money or authorizing the levy of taxes. Any initiated ordinance may be submitted to the council by a petition signed by qualified voters of the city equal in number to at least ten (10) percent of the qualified voters of the city.
The people of the City reserve the power to approve or reject at the polls any Council legislation which is subject to the initiative process under this Charter, except that ordinances authorizing the issuance of either tax or revenue bonds, whether original or refunding bonds, shall not be subject to referendum. The people may by petition require voter approval of an ad valorem tax increase as provided by the laws of the State of Texas. The people may request that an existing ordinance be repealed by filing a petition with the City Secretary, which petition shall be signed by at least ten percent of the qualified voters of the City and shall otherwise satisfy the requirements set forth in this Charter. When such a petition has been certified as sufficient by the City Secretary, all action authorized by the specified ordinance shall be suspended until said ordinance has been approved by the voters as herein provided.
Initiative petition papers shall contain the full text of the proposed ordinance, including a descriptive caption. Referendum petition papers shall contain a sufficient description of the referred ordinance to identify it, or if the ordinance has been passed by the Council, the full text of said ordinance. The signatures to the initiative or referendum petitions need not all be appended to one paper, but each set of petition papers must set forth the initiated or referred ordinance as detailed above, and to each separate set of petition papers there shall be attached the affidavit of the circulator thereof as provided for in this Section. Each signer’s name shall be printed and signed in ink and shall be accompanied by such information as may be required by the election laws of the State of Texas. The City Secretary shall, upon request, provide a petition form identifying the information to be included with respect to each petition signer and the manner in which it is to be set out. A petition which includes all the information identified in the form provided by the City Secretary shall not be rejected or deemed insufficient as to form with respect to the signatures.
No signature shall be counted if it is a duplication of either a name or the handwriting used in any other signature on the petition, or if the signer is not a qualified voter of the City, or if the signature fails to comply with the requirements of the Texas Election Code for the validity of petition signatures, or if the City Secretary is in possession of a document that credibly and reasonably establishes that the signature is not that of the person purported to have signed the petition. Before the signatures on any petition paper may be counted, the circulator of that petition paper, or set of petition papers, shall make an affidavit before the City Secretary or other office authorized to administer oaths, that the statements made in the affidavit are true, that each signature to the page or pages appended thereto is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be, and that such signatures were made in the affiant’s presence. The City Secretary shall, upon request, provide a form specifying the language of the affidavit. A petition paper, or set of petition papers, which has attached to it an affidavit in the form prescribed by the City shall not be rejected as to form.
(Amnd. by Ordinance 2010-04-19-03 at an election held on May 2010, prop. 6; Amnd. by Ordinance 2018-01-16-03 at an election held on May 5, 2018, prop. D)
All petition papers comprising an initiative or referendum petition shall be assembled and filed with the City Secretary as one instrument. One person shall be designated as the one who has filed the petition, and that person’s name, address and phone number shall be recorded by the City Secretary at the time of filing.
Within thirty days after a petition is filed, the City Secretary shall determine whether each paper or set of papers of the petition have been properly verified and whether the petition has been properly signed by the requisite number of qualified voters. The City Secretary shall declare void any petition paper or set of papers which does not have an affidavit attached thereto as required in Section 6.03 of this Article.
In examining the petition, the City Secretary shall indicate the names of any signers found not qualified or for whom insufficient information was provided. The City Secretary shall certify the results of the petition examination to the Council at its next regular meeting. If the certificate of the City Secretary shows an initiative or referendum petition to be insufficient, the City Secretary shall notify the person filing the petition, and it may be amended within fifteen days from the date of such notice by the filing of a supplemental petition upon additional papers signed and filed as prescribed for an original petition. Within fifteen days after the amendment is filed, the City Secretary shall examine the amended petition and certify as to its sufficiency. If the amended petition is then found to be insufficient, no further proceedings shall be required. The finding of the insufficiency shall not, however, prejudice the filing of a new petition for the same purpose.
When the Council receives an authorized initiative petition certified by the City Secretary to be sufficient, the Council shall:
(a) 
Pass the initiated ordinance without amendment within thirty days after date of the certification to the Council; or
(b) 
Submit the initiated ordinance without amendment to a vote of the qualified voters of the City at an election to be as soon thereafter as permitted by the laws of the State of Texas; or
(c) 
At such election, submit the initiated ordinance without amendment and an alternative ordinance proposed by the Council to a vote of the qualified voters of the City. The ballot shall state the captions of the initiated ordinance and the alternative ordinance, clearly designating them “Ordinance No. 1” and “Ordinance No. 2,” respectively, and shall set forth below the captions on separate lines the words “For Ordinance No. 1,” “For Ordinance No. 2” and “Against Both Ordinances.” Each voter shall vote “For” only one ordinance, or “Against Both Ordinances,” and a vote for one ordinance shall be counted as a vote against the other ordinance.
(Amnd. by Ordinance 2014-08-18-01 at an election held on November 4, 2014, prop. 6; Amnd. by Ordinance 2018-01-16-03 at an election held on May 5, 2018, prop. G)
When the Council receives an authorized referendum petition certified by the City Secretary to be sufficient, the City Council shall:
(a) 
Repeal the referred ordinance within thirty days after the date of certification to the Council; or
(b) 
Submit the referred ordinance to a vote of the qualified voters of the City at an election to be held as soon thereafter as permitted by the laws of the State of Texas.
(Amnd. by Ordinance 2014-08-18-01 at an election held on November 4, 2014, prop. 7)
Any number of ordinances may be voted on at the same election in accordance with the provisions of this Article. If a majority of the legal votes cast are in favor of an initiated ordinance, it shall thereupon be an ordinance of the City. An ordinance thus adopted may not be repealed or amended until after the expiration of two years and then only by the affirmative vote of the majority of the Members of the Council present.
A referred ordinance which is rejected by a majority of the legal votes cast in a referendum election shall be thereby repealed.
An ordinance thus rejected may not be re-enacted until after the expiration of two years and then only by the affirmative vote of the majority of the Members of the Council present. No ordinance on the same subject as an initiated ordinance which has been defeated at an election or which as a referred ordinance has been approved at an election may be initiated by the voters within one year from the date of such election.
If the provisions of two or more proposed ordinances approved at the same election are inconsistent, the ordinance receiving the greatest number of votes shall prevail.
The people of the City reserve the power to recall any elected City official, whether elected to office by popular vote or appointed by the Council to fill a vacancy, by filing a petition with the City Secretary demanding the removal from office of said official. A separate petition shall be required for each official whose recall is sought, and each such petition shall state the name of the official and a clear and concise statement of the grounds for removal. The petition shall be signed by at least ten percent of the qualified voters of the City, and shall otherwise meet the signature and verification requirements set forth in Section 6.03 for Initiative and Referendum petitions.
The provisions of Section 6.04 regulating the filing, examination, and amendment of initiative and referendum petitions shall apply to recall petitions, except that within thirty days after a recall petition is filed, the City Secretary shall determine whether the petition papers have been properly verified and signed by the requisite number of qualified voters.
The City Secretary shall certify the results of the petition examination to the Council at its next regular meeting, and shall, immediately after such certification notify, in writing, the officer sought to be removed. If such officer does not resign within five (5) days after receipt of the notice, the Council shall hold a special recall election as soon thereafter as permitted by the laws of the State of Texas.
(Amnd. by Ordinance 2014-08-18-01 at an election held on November 4, 2014, prop. 8)
If a majority of the votes cast at a recall election are against removal of the officer named on the ballot, the officer shall continue in office. If a majority of the votes cast at a recall election approve the recall of the officer named on the ballot, the Council shall immediately declare the office vacant, which vacancy shall be filled in accordance with the provisions of this Charter.
No recall petition shall be filed against an elected City officer within six months after taking office, and no officer shall be subjected to more than one recall election during each term of office.
Should the Council fail or refuse to order any of the elections as provided for in this Article, when all the requirements for such elections have been complied with by the petitioning electors, then the Mayor or the petitioners may request the District Judge of Travis County, Texas to discharge any such duties herein provided to be discharged by the person performing the duties of City Secretary or by the Council.