4.
Council Work Session
- Meeting Date:
- 07/01/2019
- TITLE
- Ballot Timelines and Costs
- Department:
- Legal
Presentation:
Yes
PROBLEM/ISSUE STATEMENT
The Council is considering an amendment to the City Charter which would increase the number of dedicated mills in City Charter Section 1.05 for Police, Fire and other related public safety services. To amend the Charter by way of Council action, the Council must approve an ordinance as required by Section 7-3-103(2)(b), Montana Code Annotated (MCA) which provides:
(2) An amendment to a self-government charter or an adopted alternative form of government may be proposed by:
The ordinance would be similar in format to the 2014 ordinance attached to this memorandum as Exhibit A. That ordinance is the most recent past proposed Charter amendment for public safety which was presented to the voters in 2014 but failed to achieve voter approval.
The proposed Charter amendment must also have ballot language submitted through a Council Resolution to the County Elections Administrator specifying the language to be placed on the ballot. An example of such a Resolution is attached to this memorandum as Exhibit B. This Resolution relates to Exhibit A and provided the ballot language for the proposed but failed public safety mill levy increase in 2014.
Bret Rutherford, Yellowstone County Elections Administrator has provided additional important information as to the time deadline and costs for such an election should the Council wish to proceed this calendar year with a Charter amendment included on the November 5, 2019, Municipal General Election.
The ordinance amending the Charter must be passed at least 85 days before election day.Therefore November 5 ballot items must be submitted to the Yellowstone County Election Office no later than August 12, 2019. An ordinance to amend the Charter requires one public hearing and approval at two readings no less than 12 days apart. In order to meet that timetable within its current meeting schedule, the Council needs to decide what information is contained in the Ordinance, conduct a public hearing and approve the First Reading ordinance on July 22, 2019. The second reading approval of the Ordinance and approval of the companion resolution that establishes the ballot language would need to be approved on August 12, 2019.
If the City wishes to conduct a special election at some other time in the future the same 85 day pre-election deadline would apply.
As to costs for the election, Mr, Rutherford's estimate is always $1 per registered voter for a special stand alone mail ballot election and there are currently 65,370 registered voters in the City. Mr. Rutherford has also advised that If the city desires to include a Charter amendment as part of another election ballot in the future, the cost would be proportionally shared with the other political subdivisions involved in that election.
(2) An amendment to a self-government charter or an adopted alternative form of government may be proposed by:
(a) petition as provided in 7-3-125;
(b) the local government by ordinance; or
(c) a study commission recommendation pursuant to 7-3-192.
The ordinance would be similar in format to the 2014 ordinance attached to this memorandum as Exhibit A. That ordinance is the most recent past proposed Charter amendment for public safety which was presented to the voters in 2014 but failed to achieve voter approval.
The proposed Charter amendment must also have ballot language submitted through a Council Resolution to the County Elections Administrator specifying the language to be placed on the ballot. An example of such a Resolution is attached to this memorandum as Exhibit B. This Resolution relates to Exhibit A and provided the ballot language for the proposed but failed public safety mill levy increase in 2014.
Bret Rutherford, Yellowstone County Elections Administrator has provided additional important information as to the time deadline and costs for such an election should the Council wish to proceed this calendar year with a Charter amendment included on the November 5, 2019, Municipal General Election.
The ordinance amending the Charter must be passed at least 85 days before election day.Therefore November 5 ballot items must be submitted to the Yellowstone County Election Office no later than August 12, 2019. An ordinance to amend the Charter requires one public hearing and approval at two readings no less than 12 days apart. In order to meet that timetable within its current meeting schedule, the Council needs to decide what information is contained in the Ordinance, conduct a public hearing and approve the First Reading ordinance on July 22, 2019. The second reading approval of the Ordinance and approval of the companion resolution that establishes the ballot language would need to be approved on August 12, 2019.
If the City wishes to conduct a special election at some other time in the future the same 85 day pre-election deadline would apply.
As to costs for the election, Mr, Rutherford's estimate is always $1 per registered voter for a special stand alone mail ballot election and there are currently 65,370 registered voters in the City. Mr. Rutherford has also advised that If the city desires to include a Charter amendment as part of another election ballot in the future, the cost would be proportionally shared with the other political subdivisions involved in that election.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Council determine if it desires to proceed with an ordinance and resolution as discussed above providing for a Charter amendment increasing the mills for public safety. If so,direction to staff is needed on when such a Charter amendment will be presented to the voters for approval-either on November 5, 2019, or sometime in 2020.