72.420.  Consolidation of multiple municipalities and unincorporated areas, must be contiguous — procedure, petition content — costs of election — ballot form — effective when — transition committee, how selected, duties. — 1.  The provisions of this section shall apply to the consolidation of two or more cities, towns, villages, unincorporated areas, or any combination thereof, in any county with a charter form of government where fifty or more cities, towns and villages have been incorporated.  If a boundary commission has been established pursuant to section 72.400, such proposal shall be submitted to the commission, but if no such commission has been established, consolidation of such areas shall be accomplished pursuant to this section.  All municipalities and unincorporated areas which may be consolidated under the procedures established in this section must be contiguous to each other, so that if the consolidation is approved by the voters pursuant to subsections 7 to 9 of this section, there will be one municipality with all parts contiguous to at least one other portion of the new municipality.

  2.  Whenever a petition for consolidation containing the signatures of at least fifteen percent of the qualified voters of each municipality or unincorporated area, determined on the basis of the number of votes cast for governor at the last gubernatorial election held prior to the filing of the petition, is received by the governing body of the county, the governing body of the county shall submit the question of consolidation to the qualified voters of each municipality and unincorporated area named in the petition at the next state or county primary, general or special election.  The petition need not contain signatures of qualified voters of a municipality if the governing body of such municipality adopts an ordinance approving the proposed consolidation which meets the requirements of subsection 5 of this section, and sends a copy of the ordinance to the governing body of the county in conjunction with the petition prescribed by this subsection.

  3.  A petition for consolidation shall contain the following:

  (1)  The names of the municipalities and a description of any unincorporated area to be consolidated;

  (2)  The proposed effective date of consolidation;

  (3)  The number of votes cast in the last election in each municipality and unincorporated area; and

  (4)  A statement that all signers are registered voters in the affected municipalities or unincorporated areas.

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The petition may contain the form of government, the name of the municipality as consolidated and the details of transition, such as which officers will serve, which employees shall be retained, what taxes will be collected, what ordinances will be in effect and similar matters for the operation of the consolidated municipality until the new governing body provides otherwise.

  4.  All persons signing the petition for consolidation shall designate their address opposite their signatures, and such signatures shall be affixed before a person who shall certify, by affidavit acknowledged before a notary public, that such signatures were affixed in his presence.

  5.  Any ordinance approving a proposed consolidation shall contain the following:

  (1)  The names of the municipalities and a description of any unincorporated area to be consolidated;

  (2)  The proposed effective date of the consolidation;

  (3)  The number of votes cast in the last election in that municipality.

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The ordinance may contain the form of government, the name of the municipality as consolidated, and the details of transition prescribed in subsection 3 of this section.

  6.  The costs of an election held under this section shall be assessed proportionately to each municipality; however, when a voting jurisdiction is composed of unincorporated territory or territories, all costs of the election in such voting jurisdictions shall be paid proportionally by each municipality in the proposed consolidation.  Proportional election costs paid under this section shall be assessed by charging each municipality the same percentage of the total cost of the election as the number of registered voters of the municipality on the day of the election is to the total number of registered voters on the day of the election, derived by adding together the number of registered voters in each municipality.

  7.  The question shall be submitted separately, but on the same date, to each municipality and unincorporated area described in the petition or ordinances filed pursuant to subsections 2 to 5 of this section.  The question shall be submitted in substantially the following form:

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The consolidation shall only become effective if a separate majority of the votes cast on the proposal in each municipality and unincorporated area affected by such proposal are in favor of the consolidation.  If the voters of any municipality or unincorporated area vote against such proposal, the consolidation shall not take effect, even if the voters of all other municipalities and unincorporated areas vote in favor of the proposal.

  8.  If a consolidation is approved by the voters, such proposal shall be effective six months following the date of the election or the date specified in such proposal, whichever date is later.  Immediately following the certification of the election, the governing body of each affected municipality shall select two members and the governing body of the county in which each unincorporated territory is situated shall select two members from each affected unincorporated territory to meet with similar members appointed from other affected municipalities and unincorporated territories in order to determine the details of the transition.

  9.  If the consolidation is approved, it shall create a new municipality, and the governing body of the county shall declare such municipality, designating in such order the metes and bounds thereof, and henceforth the inhabitants within such bounds shall be a body politic and incorporate, by the name and style of "the city of ______".