a)
Initiative.
The qualified voters of the City shall have power to propose
ordinances to the City Council, except ordinances appropriating money
or levying of taxes, or applicable to zoning, not in conflict with
this Charter, the state Constitution, or the state laws; and, if the
City Council fails to adopt an ordinance so proposed, to adopt or
reject it at a City election.
b)
Referendum.
The qualified voters of the City shall have power to require
reconsideration by the City Council of any adopted ordinance and,
if the City Council fails to repeal an ordinance so reconsidered,
to approve or reject it at a City election, provided that such power
shall not extend to the budget or capital program or any emergency
ordinance or ordinance relating to appropriation of money or levy
of taxes, or applicable to zoning, or to bonds issued pursuant to
the authority of an election or elections theretofore held.
Any five (5) or more qualified voters of the City may commence
initiative or referendum proceedings by filing with the City Secretary
an affidavit stating that they will constitute the petitioners’
committee and be responsible for circulating the petition and filing
it in proper form, stating their names and addresses and specifying
the address(es) to which all notices to the committee are to be sent,
and setting out in full the proposed initiative ordinance or citing
the ordinance sought to be reconsidered.
Immediately after the affidavit of the petitioners’ committee
is filed, the person performing the duties of City Secretary shall
issue the appropriate petition blanks to the petitioners’ committee.
a)
Number
of Signatures.
Initiative and referendum petitions must
be signed by qualified voters of the City equal in number to at least
ten percent (10%) of the number of total qualified voters of the City
as currently certified to by the County Elections Administrator.
b)
Form
and Content.
All papers of a petition shall be uniform in size and style
and shall be assembled as one instrument for filing. Petitions shall
contain or have attached thereto throughout their circulation the
full text of the ordinance proposed or sought to be reconsidered.
A signature on a petition for initiative or referendum is valid
only if the petition includes the following information with respect
to each signer pursuant to Chapter 277 of the Texas Election Code:
c)
Affidavit
of Circulator.
When filed, each paper of a petition shall
have attached to it an affidavit executed by the circulator thereof
stating that he or she personally circulated the paper, the number
of signatures thereon, that all the signatures were affixed in the
circulator’s presence, that the circulator believes them to
be the genuine signatures of the persons whose names they purport
to be and that each signer had an opportunity before signing to read
the full text of the ordinance proposed or sought to be reconsidered.
d)
Time
for Filing Referendum Petitions.
Referendum petitions must be filed within forty-five (45) days after issuance of the appropriate blanks for reconsideration of any ordinance adopted by the City Council. Initiative petitions must be filed within forty-five (45) days after issuance of the appropriate blanks to the petitioners’ committee. Additional time as specified in Section 7.04 shall be allowed for amending petitions.
(Amended May 6, 2017; Amended May 1, 2021; Amended May 4, 2024)
a)
Certificate
of City Secretary.
Within fifteen (15) working days after
the petition is filed, the person performing the duties of City Secretary
shall complete a certificate as to its sufficiency, specifying, if
it is insufficient, the particulars wherein it is defective and shall
immediately upon completion of certification send a copy of the certificate
to each member of the petitioners’ committee by registered mail.
b)
Sufficient
Petition, Final Determination.
If the petition is certified
sufficient, the person performing the duties of City Secretary shall
present the certificate to the City Council by the next regular City
Council meeting and the certificate shall be a final determination
as to the sufficiency of the petition.
c)
Insufficient
Petition, Final Determination.
If a petition is certified insufficient, and the petitioners’ committee does not elect to amend or request City Council review under subsections (d) and (e) of this section within the time required, the City Secretary shall present a certificate to the City Council by the next regular City Council meeting which shall be a final determination of the insufficiency of the petition.
d)
Insufficient
Petition, Appeal.
If a petition has been certified insufficient and the petitioners’ committee does not file notice of intention to amend it as in Section 7.04(e), the committee may, within three (3) working days after receiving the copy of such certificate, file a request that it be reviewed by the City Council. The City Council shall review the certificate at its next regular meeting following the filing of such request and approve or disapprove it, and the City Council’s determination shall then be a final determination.
e)
Insufficient
Petition, Amending.
A petition certified insufficient for lack of required number of valid signatures may be amended once if the petitioners’ committee files a notice of intention to amend it with the City Secretary within three (3) working days after receiving the copy of such certificate, and files a complimentary petition with additional names within ten (10) working days after receiving the copy of such certificate. Such supplementary petition shall comply with the requirements of Sections 7.03(b) and (c). Within five (5) working days after the amended petition is filed, the person performing the duties of City Secretary shall complete a certificate as to the sufficiency of the petition as amended and shall before the end of the next business day send a copy of such certificate to each member of the petitioners’ committee by registered mail as in the case of an original petition. The final determination as to the sufficiency of an amended petition shall be determined in the same manner as prescribed for original petitions in Sections 7.04(b), (c), and (d), except that no petition, once amended, may be amended again.
f)
Court
Review: New Petition.
A final determination as to the
sufficiency of a petition shall be subject to review in a court of
competent jurisdiction. A final determination of insufficiency, even
if sustained upon court review, shall not prejudice the filing of
a new petition for the same purpose.
(Amended May 1, 2021)
When a referendum petition is determined to be sufficient, the
ordinance sought to be reconsidered shall be suspended, and such suspension
shall continue until the City Council repeals the ordinance or the
ordinance is upheld by election.
a)
Action
by City Council.
Within thirty (30) days after the date
the initiative or referendum petition has been finally determined
sufficient, the City Council shall:
b)
Submission
to Voters.
The election on a proposed or referred ordinance
shall be held on the next available uniform election date as required
by state law. Said called election may coincide with a regular City
election should such City election fall within the specified period.
Special elections on initiated or referred ordinances shall not be
held more frequently than once each six (6) months, and no ordinance
substantially the same as an initiated ordinance which has been defeated
or on substantially the same as a referred ordinance which has been
approved at any election may be initiated by the voters within two
(2) years from the date of such election. Copies of the proposed or
referred ordinance shall be made available at the polls.
c)
Publication
of Proposed and Referred Ordinance.
The person performing
the duties of City Secretary shall publish at least once in the official
newspaper of the City the proposed or referred ordinance within fifteen
(15) working days of the election, and shall give such other notices
and do such other things relative to such election as are required
in general municipal elections or by the ordinance calling said election.
d)
Withdrawal
of Petition.
An initiative or referendum petition may
be withdrawn at any time prior to the time the petition has been determined
to be sufficient by filing with the City Secretary a request for withdrawal
signed by at least eighty percent (80%) of the members of the petitioners’
committee. Upon filing of such request, the petition shall have no
further force or effect and all proceedings thereon shall be terminated.
(Amended May 1, 2021)
The ballots used when voting upon such proposed and referred
ordinances shall also set forth their nature sufficiently to identify
them and shall set forth upon separate lines the words:
“FOR THE ORDINANCE,” and “AGAINST THE ORDINANCE.”
a)
Initiative.
If a majority of the qualified voters voting on a proposed initiative
ordinance vote in its favor, it shall be considered adopted upon certification
of the election results and shall be treated in all respects in the
same manner as ordinances of the same kind adopted by the City Council.
If conflicting ordinances are approved at the same election, the one
receiving the greatest number of affirmative votes shall prevail.
b)
Repeal
or Amendment of an Initiated Ordinance.
An ordinance
adopted by initiative may be repealed or amended at any time after
the expiration of two (2) years by the affirmative vote of five (5)
or more of the City Council members.
c)
Referendum.
If a majority of the qualified voters voting on a referred ordinance
vote against the ordinance, it shall be considered repealed upon certification
of the election results. If a majority of the qualified voters voting
on a referred ordinance vote for the ordinance, it shall be considered
in effect and petition shall become void.
d)
Adoption
of an Ordinance Repealed by Referendum.
An ordinance
repealed by referendum may be re enacted at any time after the expiration
of two (2) years by the affirmative vote of five (5) or more of the
City Council members.
(Amended May 6, 2017; Amended May 1, 2021)
