Section 62.1 - Village officers; council; ordinance providing for election and terms of office; adoption; filing petition to delay effect of ordinance; ballot question. - Michigan Statutes

THE GENERAL LAW VILLAGE ACT (EXCERPT)
Act 3 of 1895

62.1 Village officers; council; ordinance providing for election and terms of office; adoption; filing petition to delay effect of ordinance; ballot question.

Sec. 1.

(1) Except as provided in subsections (2) and (3), in each village, the following officers shall be elected: a president, 6 trustees, 1 clerk, and 1 treasurer. The president and trustees constitute the council. In all votes for which not less than a majority vote of council is required, the calculation of the number of votes required shall be based on the maximum number that constitutes council.

(2) The council by a vote of 2/3 of the members of council may provide by ordinance for the reduction in the number of trustees to 4 or for the election of all trustees at the same election for 2-year terms at the first possible election after 2004 who with the president shall constitute the council, and may provide by ordinance for the method of changing from 2-year staggered terms to 4-year staggered terms. If village trustees are elected biennially for staggered 4-year terms, the ordinance shall as nearly as possible maintain staggered terms and provide for an equal number of seats to be filled at each election. The ordinance may extend but shall not shorten the term of an incumbent trustee. The ordinance may extend a prospective term. The ordinance shall not shorten or eliminate a prospective term unless the nomination deadline for that term is not less than 30 days after the effective date of the ordinance. An ordinance adopted under this subsection shall satisfy both of the following conditions:

(a) The ordinance shall be voted on and adopted at a meeting that occurs not less than 10 days after the initial meeting or public hearing at which the ordinance was considered.

(b) Notice of each meeting at which the ordinance is considered indicating that an ordinance reducing the size of the council or to change the time of election of the trustees comprising the council will be 1 of the subjects of the meeting shall be published not less than 10 days before the meeting in a newspaper of general circulation in the village.

(3) The council by a vote of 2/3 of the members of council may provide by ordinance for the nomination by the president and the appointment by the council of the clerk or the treasurer or both for such a term as the ordinance may provide. The ordinance shall apply beginning with the first term the nomination deadline for which would have been not less than 30 days after the effective date of the ordinance or shall apply when the office is vacated, whichever occurs first.

(4) The council shall provide that an ordinance adopted under subsection (2) or (3) takes effect 45 days after the date of adoption unless a petition signed by not less than 10% of the registered electors of the village is filed with the village clerk within the 45-day period, in which case the ordinance takes effect upon approval at an election held on the question. Notice of the delayed effect of the ordinance and the right of petition under this subsection shall be published separately at the same time, and in the same manner, as the ordinance is published pursuant to section 4 of chapter VI. The village clerk shall verify the signatures on the petitions. If a petition bearing the required number of valid signatures of electors is filed, the question of adoption of the ordinance shall be submitted at the next general or special election. The ballot language for the question shall be prepared by the village clerk, unless the question concerns the appointment of the clerk under subsection (2), in which case the ballot language shall be prepared by the village council.

(5) A village that has adopted an ordinance reducing the number of trustees to 4 or providing for the appointment by the council of the clerk or treasurer may increase the number of trustees to 6 or provide for the election of the clerk or treasurer by the same process as provided in subsection (2) or (3), respectively, and in subsection (4).

History: 1895, Act 3, Imd. Eff. Feb. 19, 1895 ;-- CL 1897, 2699 ;-- CL 1915, 2569 ;-- CL 1929, 1479 ;-- CL 1948, 62.1 ;-- Am. 1998, Act 255, Imd. Eff. July 13, 1998 ;-- Am. 2003, Act 305, Eff. Jan. 1, 2005 ;-- Am. 2004, Act 300, Imd. Eff. July 23, 2004