| ARTICLE VII. REFERENDUM Sec. 1. Power of referendum. The voters shall have power to approve or reject at the polls any ordinance passed by the commission, or submitted by the commission to a vote of the voters, except an appropriation ordinance or an ordinance making the annual tax levy, such power being known as the referendum. Ordinances submitted to the commission by initiative petition and passed by the commission without change, or passed in an amended form and not required by the committee of the petitioners to be submitted to a vote of the voters, shall be subject to the referendum in the same manner as other ordinances. Sec. 2. Referendum petition. After the final passage by the commission of any ordinance which is subject to referendum, a petition signed by the voters of the city equal in number to at least twenty percent of those who voted at the last preceding regular municipal election, in no case less than one hundred fifty voters, may be filed with the city secretary requesting that any such ordinance, or any specified part thereof, be either repealed or submitted to a vote of the voters. Sec. 3. Consideration of referred ordinance by commission--Referendum election. If a referendum petition or amended petition as defined in Article VIII, Section 3, be found sufficient by the city secretary the city secretary shall certify that fact to the commission at the next regular meeting and the ordinance or part thereof specified in the petition shall not go into effect, or further action thereunder shall be suspended if it shall have gone into effect, until and unless approved by the voters, as hereinafter provided. Upon receipt of the secretary's certificate, the commission shall proceed to reconsider the ordinance or part thereof and its final vote upon such consideration shall be upon the question "Shall the ordinance (or part of the ordinance) specified in the referendum petition be repealed"; if upon such reconsideration the ordinance, or part thereof, be not repealed it shall be submitted to the voters at the next election date authorized by state law. If when submitted separately to the voters any ordinance or part thereof be not approved by a majority of those voting thereon, it shall be deemed repealed. Sec. 4. Form of ballot for initiated and referred ordinances. Ordinances, or parts thereof, submitted to vote of the voters in accordance with the initiative and referendum provisions of this Charter shall be submitted by ballot title which shall be prepared in all cases by the city attorney or as directed by the commission. The ballot title may be distinct from the legal title of any such initiated or referred ordinance and shall be a clear, concise statement, without argument or prejudice, descriptive of the substance of such ordinance or part thereof. The ballot used in the voting upon any ordinance, or part thereof, shall have below the ballot title the following propositions, one above the other, in the order indicated: "FOR THE ORDINANCE" "AGAINST THE ORDINANCE" Any number of ordinances, or parts thereof, may be voted on at the same election and may be submitted on the same ballot, but the ballot used for voting thereon shall be for that purpose only. Sec. 5. Preliminary action under referred ordinances. In case a petition be filed requiring that an ordinance passed by the commission involving the expenditure of money, a bond issue or a public improvement be submitted to a vote of the voters, all steps preliminary to such actual expenditure, actual issuance of bonds, or actual execution of the contract for such improvement, may be taken prior to the election; provided, that the provisions of this article shall not apply to any ordinance which comes within the provisions of the bond and warrant laws of the State of Texas, nor shall the same apply to any ordinance authorizing the issuance of tax or revenue bonds which have been previously authorized by a vote of the people. Sec. 6. Referendum on ordinances. Any ordinance which, in accordance with the provisions of Article III, Section 7, of this Charter, shall have gone into effect prior to the filing of a referendum petition thereon shall be subject to referendum as in the case of other ordinances, and further action thereunder shall be suspended from the date of the secretary's certification to the commission that a sufficient referendum petition has been filed. If, when submitted to a vote of the voters, any such ordinance be not approved by a majority of those voting thereon it shall be considered repealed and all rights and privileges conferred by it shall be null and void except that any ordinance so repealed shall be deemed sufficient authority for any payments made or expenses incurred in accordance therewith prior to the date of the secretary's certification to the commission that a sufficient referendum petition has been filed, provided that the repeal of any such ordinance by referendum shall not affect any bona fide contract previously entered into by the city under authority of such ordinance prior to the date of said certification. Sec. 7. Publicity for ordinances and amendments. At any election at which any ordinance or charter amendment is to be submitted to the voters the form of the notice shall be in accordance with applicable state law. The city secretary shall cause to be published one time, at least fourteen days before any such election, the arguments for or against such ordinances or charter amendments which may have been filed with the city secretary not less than twenty days before such election. Such arguments shall be signed by the person, persons, or officers of organizations who shall deposit with the city secretary at the time of filing a sum of money sufficient to cover the proportionate cost of publishing for the space taken by the arguments. The text of every ordinance or charter amendment shall also be displayed at the polling place in such election; but the validity of an ordinance or charter amendment approved by the voters shall not be questioned because of errors or irregularities in publication or display. Sec. 8. Conflict of ordinances adopted and approved. If two or more ordinances adopted or approved at the same election conflict in respect of any of their provisions, they shall go into effect in respect of such of their provisions as are not in conflict and the one receiving the highest affirmative vote shall prevail insofar as their provisions conflict. |
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