1.1                          A bill for an act
  1.2             relating to local government; authorizing the 
  1.3             consolidation of cities and towns; proposing coding 
  1.4             for new law in Minnesota Statutes, chapter 414. 
  1.5   BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MINNESOTA: 
  1.6      Section 1.  [414.045] [CONSOLIDATION OF ONE OR MORE 
  1.7   MUNICIPALITIES AND TOWNSHIPS.] 
  1.8      Subdivision 1.  [INITIATING THE PROCEEDING.] (a) This 
  1.9   section provides a method of consolidating one or more 
  1.10  municipalities and one or more townships if at least one town or 
  1.11  municipality abuts at least one of the included towns or 
  1.12  municipalities.  The proceeding must be initiated in one of the 
  1.13  ways in clauses (1) to (3): 
  1.14     (1) submitting to the executive director a resolution of 
  1.15  each affected city council together with a resolution of each 
  1.16  affected township board; 
  1.17     (2) submitting to the executive director a petition signed 
  1.18  by five percent or more of the resident voters of one of the 
  1.19  municipalities or towns who voted for governor at the last 
  1.20  general election; or 
  1.21     (3) by the board on its own motion. 
  1.22     (b) The petition or resolution must set forth the 
  1.23  information in this paragraph about each included municipality 
  1.24  and town:  the name, the description of boundaries proposed for 
  1.25  consolidation, the reasons for requesting the consolidation, and 
  2.1   the names of all the parties entitled to mailed notice under 
  2.2   section 414.09.  The party initiating the proceeding shall serve 
  2.3   copies of the petition or resolution on all of the included 
  2.4   towns or municipalities. 
  2.5      Subd. 2.  [APPOINTMENT OF A CONSOLIDATION COMMISSION.] Upon 
  2.6   receipt of a petition or a resolution requesting consolidation, 
  2.7   or upon the board's own motion, the board shall appoint a 
  2.8   consolidation commission from a list of ten candidates submitted 
  2.9   by each affected city council or town board.  The commission 
  2.10  must be composed of not fewer than five members from each 
  2.11  affected municipality or township.  From a separate list of 
  2.12  three persons submitted by each affected town board or city 
  2.13  council, the municipal board shall appoint a commission chair 
  2.14  who is not a resident of an affected municipality or town but 
  2.15  who resides in an affected county.  A person is not disqualified 
  2.16  from serving on a consolidation commission by reason of holding 
  2.17  other elected or appointed office.  Consolidation commission 
  2.18  members hold office until a consolidation report has been issued 
  2.19  by the commission.  The municipal board shall fill vacancies on 
  2.20  the commission by appointment.  The consolidation commission 
  2.21  shall make rules with reference to its operation and procedures 
  2.22  including quorum requirements with reference to its operations 
  2.23  and procedures. 
  2.24     Subd. 3.  [COMMISSION'S HEARING AND REPORT.] (a) The 
  2.25  consolidation commission shall conduct hearings regarding the 
  2.26  proposed consolidation.  The hearings shall include, but are not 
  2.27  limited to, the subjects in clauses (1) to (3): 
  2.28     (1) the contents of any city charter for the proposed new 
  2.29  city or the form of government of the proposed consolidated 
  2.30  city; 
  2.31     (2) an analysis of whether a ward system shall be included 
  2.32  in the form of government of the proposed consolidated city; and 
  2.33     (3) each factor considered by the board under section 
  2.34  414.02, subdivision 3. 
  2.35     (b) Based on the factors in paragraph (a), clause (3), and 
  2.36  upon other matters which come before the consolidation 
  3.1   commission, the commission shall issue a report to the municipal 
  3.2   board with findings and recommendations within two years from 
  3.3   the date of the board's initial appointment of the commission. 
  3.4      Subd. 4.  [BOARD'S HEARING AND NOTICE.] Upon receipt of the 
  3.5   commission's report, the executive director shall designate a 
  3.6   time and a place for a hearing in accordance with section 414.09.
  3.7      Subd. 5.  [BOARD'S ORDER.] (a) In arriving at its decision, 
  3.8   the board shall consider the factors in section 414.02, 
  3.9   subdivision 3, including: 
  3.10     (1) adequacy of town government to protect the public 
  3.11  health, safety, and welfare of the town area; and 
  3.12     (2) plans and programs by the consolidating municipality or 
  3.13  municipalities to provide needed government services to the 
  3.14  consolidating town or towns. 
  3.15     (b) The board shall consider and may accept, amend, return 
  3.16  to the commission for amendment or further study, or reject the 
  3.17  commission's findings and recommendations based upon the board's 
  3.18  written determination of what is in the best interests of the 
  3.19  affected municipalities and towns. 
  3.20     (c) The board shall order the consolidation if it finds 
  3.21  that consolidation is in the best interests of the 
  3.22  municipalities and townships involved.  In all cases, the board 
  3.23  shall set forth the factors that are the basis for the decision. 
  3.24     (d) If the board orders consolidation, it shall provide for 
  3.25  election of new municipal officers in accordance with section 
  3.26  414.09.  If the most populous of the included municipalities is 
  3.27  a statutory city, the new municipality must be a statutory city 
  3.28  and the plan of government must be optional plan A.  An 
  3.29  alternate plan may be adopted according to section 412.551 at 
  3.30  any time.  If the most populous of the included municipalities 
  3.31  is a home rule charter city or organized under a statute other 
  3.32  than chapter 412, the new municipality is governed by its home 
  3.33  rule charter or the statutory form under which it is organized 
  3.34  except that any ward system for the election of council members 
  3.35  is inoperable. 
  3.36     (e) If the commission's findings and recommendations 
  4.1   include a proposed home rule charter for the new municipality, 
  4.2   the board may in its order combine the issue of the adoption of 
  4.3   the charter and the vote on approval of the order for 
  4.4   consolidation into one question on the ballot, and shall submit 
  4.5   it in a special or general election as provided in section 
  4.6   410.10.  The ordinances of all of the included municipalities 
  4.7   and towns continue in effect within their former boundaries 
  4.8   until repealed by the governing body of the new municipality. 
  4.9      (f) Notwithstanding other law to the contrary, the board 
  4.10  may in its order establish a ward system in the new 
  4.11  municipality.  In so doing, the municipal board must establish 
  4.12  not less than three nor more than seven wards, from each of 
  4.13  which one council member must be elected.  When more than two 
  4.14  years have elapsed after consolidation, the governing body may, 
  4.15  by a four-fifths vote, abolish the ward system. 
  4.16     (g) The new municipality shall assume the name of the most 
  4.17  populous municipality or town unless before the election another 
  4.18  name is chosen by joint resolution of a majority of the included 
  4.19  jurisdictions or by the consolidation commission. 
  4.20     (h) The number of license privileges existing in the 
  4.21  included municipalities and towns before consolidation and 
  4.22  pursuant to state law is not diminished as a result of the 
  4.23  consolidation. 
  4.24     (i) If the consolidation is denied or defeated in a 
  4.25  referendum, a proceeding for the consolidation of the same 
  4.26  municipalities and towns may not be initiated within two years 
  4.27  from the date of the board's order unless authorized by the 
  4.28  board. 
  4.29     Subd. 6.  [FINAL APPROVAL OF THE CONSOLIDATION.] (a) If the 
  4.30  consolidation was initiated by a petition of resident voters of 
  4.31  a township or municipality, the board's order for consolidation 
  4.32  is final upon approval by resolution of the city councils and 
  4.33  town boards in each of the included jurisdictions unless ten 
  4.34  percent of the number of resident voters of an included 
  4.35  jurisdiction who voted for governor at the last general election 
  4.36  petition the city council or town board for a referendum on the 
  5.1   consolidation.  The petition must be submitted within 90 days of 
  5.2   the final date of the board's order or the date of final 
  5.3   approval of the board's order by the city council or town board 
  5.4   whichever is later.  Upon receipt and verification of the 
  5.5   petition, the board shall order the included jurisdictions to 
  5.6   conduct separate referenda at a general or special election in 
  5.7   each included jurisdiction on the same day, and the referenda 
  5.8   must be held within six months of the receipt of the petition.  
  5.9   Costs of the respective referenda must be borne by the 
  5.10  respective jurisdictions.  A majority of those voting in each 
  5.11  city or town must approve the proposed consolidation.  The 
  5.12  results of the referenda must be certified to the executive 
  5.13  director of the municipal board by the chief election judge 
  5.14  within ten days after the referenda.  The executive director 
  5.15  shall upon receipt of the certificate notify all parties of the 
  5.16  election results. 
  5.17     (b) If the consolidation was initiated by a city council or 
  5.18  town board resolution of each affected municipality or town, the 
  5.19  board's order for consolidation is final unless ten percent or 
  5.20  more of the number of resident voters of an affected 
  5.21  municipality or town who voted for governor at the last general 
  5.22  election petition for a referendum as provided in paragraph (a). 
  5.23     (c) If the consolidation was initiated by the board's own 
  5.24  motion, a consolidation order of the board involving existing 
  5.25  municipalities and towns is not effective unless adopted by the 
  5.26  council of each affected municipality and the board of each 
  5.27  affected town by a majority vote and unless the consolidation 
  5.28  order of the board is approved by the qualified voters of the 
  5.29  affected municipalities or towns at a general or special 
  5.30  election set according to law.  The form of the ballot must be 
  5.31  fixed by the board, and if a majority of the votes cast on the 
  5.32  question in each municipality and town are in favor of its 
  5.33  adoption, the order of the board is effective. 
  5.34     (d) Notwithstanding a disapproval of the board's order for 
  5.35  consolidation by a city council or town board of an affected 
  5.36  municipality or town required to approve the board's order in 
  6.1   paragraph (a) or (c), the board's order for consolidation is 
  6.2   considered approved by that city council or town board if ten 
  6.3   percent or more of the number of resident voters of that 
  6.4   municipality or town who voted for governor in the last general 
  6.5   election petition the city council or the town board for a 
  6.6   referendum on the consolidation as provided in paragraph (a), 
  6.7   and a majority of those voting in that municipality approve the 
  6.8   board's order for consolidation. 
  6.9      Subd. 7.  [DIFFERENTIAL TAXATION.] If at the time of 
  6.10  consolidation a former separate municipality or town receives 
  6.11  substantially fewer municipal services than the rest of the new 
  6.12  municipality, the board may provide that the tax rate of the 
  6.13  territory of the former municipality or town be increased in 
  6.14  substantially equal proportions over a period of not more than 
  6.15  five years to equality with the tax rate in the rest of the new 
  6.16  municipality.  The period must be determined by the board on the 
  6.17  basis of the period reasonably required to provide substantially 
  6.18  equal municipal services. 
  6.19     Subd. 8.  [EFFECTIVE DATE.] The consolidation is effective 
  6.20  upon the election and qualification of new municipal officers, 
  6.21  or at a later date as set by the board in its order.