40:43-66.40 - Petition for formation of joint municipal consolidation study commission; certification of sufficiency; transmittal - New Jersey Statutes

40:43-66.40.  Petition for formation of joint municipal consolidation study  commission;  certification of sufficiency;  transmittal
    The registered voters of any municipality may, by petition, propose the formation of a joint municipal consolidation study commission.  The petition, or each petition paper, as the case may be, shall state the purpose of the petition, and shall name the municipalities for which a consolidation study is proposed.  The petition to be sufficient shall be signed by the registered and qualified voters of the municipality in a number at least equal to 10% of the total votes cast in the municipality at the last preceding general election at which members of the General Assembly were elected.  The petition shall be filed with the clerk of the municipality who shall, upon said filing, forthwith  ascertain and certify the number and validity of the signatures affixed  thereto.  If the petition is determined to be insufficient, the person  designated in the petition for such purpose shall have 10 days from the  notification of insufficiency to file a supplementary petition designed to  rectify such insufficiency, which shall be in the same form and shall be filed  in the same manner as the original petition.  If no supplementary petition is  filed within 10 days after such notification of insufficiency, or if the clerk  shall, within 5 days after such a supplementary petition is filed, examine it  and determine it to be still insufficient, the clerk shall file his certificate  of insufficiency in his office and notify such person of the insufficiency.  A finding of insufficiency shall not prejudice the filing of a new petition for  the same purpose, provided that such new petition otherwise conforms to the  requirements of this act.

    If the petition is determined to be sufficient, the clerk of the municipality shall so certify, and shall forthwith transmit a certified copy to  the governing body of the municipality, to the municipal clerk of each of the  other municipalities named in the petition, and to the clerk of the county in  which such municipalities are located.

     L.1977, c. 435, s. 6, eff. March 1, 1978.