(a) Right to Initiative. Any proposed ordinance or resolution on matters that the city is authorized by law to control by legislative action may be submitted to council by a petition signed by registered voters of the city equal in number to at least 5 percent of the total votes cast for the office of mayor at the last regular municipal election at which a mayor was elected.
(b) Form of Initiative Petition. Petitions submitting proposed legislation to council shall be filed with the clerk of council. Signatures to a petition need not all be appended to one paper, but all petition papers circulated regarding any proposed legislation shall be uniform in character and shall contain the proposed legislation in full. There shall appear on the petition the names and addresses of at least five registered voters of the city who shall be officially regarded as filing the petition and shall constitute a committee of the petitioners for the purposes set forth in this section.
(c) Signatures to Initiative Petition. Each signer of an initiative petition shall sign his or her name in ink, and shall place his or her residence address on the petition paper after his or her name. To each petition paper there shall be attached an affidavit by the circulator of the petition stating the number of signers to that part of the petition and that each signature appended to the paper is the genuine signature of the person whose name it purports to be, and was made in the presence of the circulator.
(d) Filing of Initiative Petition. All papers constituting an initiative petition shall be assembled and filed with the clerk of council as one instrument. Within 10 days of the filing of a petition the clerk shall transmit all the papers constituting the petition with a certified copy of the text of the proposed legislation to the county board of elections. The board shall examine all signatures on the petition to determine the number of registered voters of the city who signed the petition. The board shall return the petition to the clerk within 10 days after receiving it, together with a statement attesting to the number of registered voters of the city who signed the petition. Upon receipt of the statement from the board of elections, the clerk shall endorse upon the petition a certificate of the result by showing the number of signatures required and the number of registered voters the board of elections has determined signed the petition.
(e) Additional Initiative Signatures. If the clerk's certificate shows that the petition contains insufficient valid signatures in its support, the clerk shall at once notify each member of the committee described in Section 9.2(b) by depositing the notice in the United States mail with postage prepaid and by sending to an email address indicated to be sufficient for notice by the member of the committee. The committee shall have 15 days after the notice of insufficient valid signatures is sent to file petitions containing additional signatures with the clerk. Within 10 days after the filing of these additional signatures, the clerk shall transmit all the additional petitions to the county board of elections. The board shall examine all signatures on the additional petitions to determine the number of registered voters of the city who signed the additional petitions. The board shall return the additional petitions to the clerk within 10 days after receiving them, together with a statement attesting to the number of registered voters of the city who signed the additional petitions. If the signatures are still insufficient, or if no further petitions have been filed, the clerk shall file the petition in the clerk's office and shall notify, in the manner specified above, each member of the committee of that fact. The final finding of the insufficiency of a petition shall not prejudice the filing of a new petition for the same purpose.
(f) Hearing by Council Committee. When the certificate of the clerk shows the petition and supplemental petition, if any, to be sufficient, the clerk shall submit the proposed ordinance or resolution to council at its next regular meeting and council shall at once read and refer the legislation to an appropriate committee. There shall be at least one public hearing on the proposed legislation before the committee to which it is referred. The committee shall then report the proposed legislation to council with its recommendation, not later than the third regular meeting of council following that at which the proposed legislation was submitted to council by the clerk.
(g) Action by Council. Upon receiving the proposed legislation from the committee council shall at once proceed to consider it and shall take final action on the legislation within 30 days from the date of the committee report.
(h) Power of Council and Committee. If council rejects the proposed legislation or passes it in a form different from that set forth in the petition, the committee of the petitioners may, as provided in this section, require that it be submitted to a vote of the registered voters in its original form, or that it be submitted to a vote of the registered voters with any proposed change, addition or amendment, which was presented in writing either at a public hearing before the committee to which the proposed legislation was referred, or during the consideration of the legislation by council.
(i) Certification; Supplemental Initiative Petition. When legislation proposed by petition is to be submitted to a vote of the registered voters, the committee of the petitioners shall certify that fact and the proposed legislation to the clerk of council within 30 days after council's final action on the proposed legislation and shall also file with the clerk a supplemental petition asking that the proposed legislation be submitted to popular vote. In the event the proposed legislation is in its original form, the supplemental petition must be signed by the number of registered voters of the city whose signatures, added to the number of signatures of those who signed the original petition submitted pursuant to this section, equal 10 percent of the total votes cast for the office of mayor at the last regular municipal election at which a mayor was elected. In the event the proposed legislation is different from its original form, the supplemental petition must contain the proposed legislation in full and be signed by at least the number of registered voters of the city who equal 10 percent of the total votes cast for the office of mayor at the last regular municipal election at which a mayor was elected. In all other respects, supplemental petitions shall be in the form, signed in the same manner and verified by the circulator all as required of original petitions. The sufficiency of any supplemental petition shall be determined, and it may be further supported, in the manner provided for original petitions for proposing legislation to council.
(j) Submission to Registered Voters. When the certificate of the clerk shows the petition and supplemental petition, if any, to be sufficient, the clerk shall certify the fact to council at its next regular meeting. If a primary, special, regular municipal or other general election is to be held not more than six months after the receipt of the clerk's certificate by council, provided the deadline imposed by the county board of elections for filing ballot issues has not passed, the proposed legislation shall then be submitted to a vote of the registered voters. If no election is to be held within that time, council may provide for submitting the proposed legislation to the registered voters at a special election not sooner than 60 days after the receipt of the clerk's certificate by council and not later than the next primary, regular municipal or other general election, whichever of these elections comes first. If no other provision is made as to the time of submitting proposed legislation to a vote of the registered voters, it shall be submitted at the next primary, regular municipal or other general election.
If a majority of the registered voters voting on any legislation proposed under this section shall vote in favor of the proposal, it shall become an ordinance or resolution of the city. If the provisions of two or more pieces of legislation adopted or approved at the same election conflict, the provisions of the legislation receiving the highest number of affirmative votes shall prevail.
(k) Ballot Form. The ballots used when voting upon any legislation proposed under this section shall state the title of the legislation and be in a form created by the county board of elections in accordance with general law in order to determine whether the registered voters are for the legislation or against the legislation.
(l) Repealing Ordinances. Proposed legislation for repealing any existing legislation in whole or in part may be submitted to council as provided in this section.
(m) Publication, Amendment or Repeal. Ordinances or resolutions adopted as provided in this section shall be published and may be amended or repealed by council as in the case of other ordinances and resolutions.