§ 5.01. Initiative and Referendum.

The electors of the parish shall have the power to propose to the Parish Council passage or repeal of ordinances and to vote on the question if the Council refuses action, according to the following procedure:

(1)

The person proposing the exercise of this power shall submit the proposal to the Council, which without delay shall specify a form of petition for circulation in one or multiple copies as the proposer may desire.

(2)

Within one month after the form of the petition shall have been specified, the person or persons circulating the petition shall obtain the signatures of at least ten percent of the total registered voters in the parish. There shall be noted after each signature on the petition the date signed and the address or district number of the signer. Each person circulating a copy of the petition shall attach a sworn affidavit to it, stating the number of signers and the fact that each signature was made in the presence of the circulator of the petition.

(3)

The signed petition shall be filed with the Council within 60 days of the specification of the form of the petition, and within 30 days the Council shall order a canvass of the signatures thereon to determine the sufficiency and authenticity of the signatures. The Council's canvass shall be completed within 30 days. If the number of signatures is insufficient or the petition is deficient as to form or compliance with this section, the Council shall notify the person filing the petition and allow 30 days for filing of additional petition papers, at the end of which time the sufficiency or insufficiency of the petition shall be determined finally.

(4)

Within 30 days after a petition shall have been certified as sufficient by the Council, the Council shall either:

(a)

Adopt the ordinance submitted in an initiatory petition or repeal the ordinance referred to by a referendary petition, or

(b)

Determine to submit the proposal to the electors.

(5)

If the Council adopts an ordinance following the submission of an initiatory petition as provided in Section 5.01(4)(a) above, it shall not amend or repeal the ordinance by its own action, following the submission of a referendary petition submitted within one year, but shall submit the referendary proposal to a vote of the electors.

(6)

The vote of the electors, if required, shall take place within 120 days after the date the petition is presented to the Council, preferably in an election already scheduled for other purposes, otherwise in a special election. The result shall be determined by a majority vote of the electors voting on the proposal.

(7)

An ordinance proposed by initiatory petition or the repeal of an ordinance by referendary petition shall be effective 10 days after the election, except that:

(a)

Any reduction or elimination of existing revenue or any expenditures not provided for by the current budget or existing bond issues shall not take effect until the beginning of the next succeeding fiscal year; and

(b)

Should two or more ordinances adopted at the same election have conflicting provisions, the one receiving the highest number of votes shall prevail as to those provisions.

(8)

An ordinance adopted by the electorate through initiatory proceedings shall not be amended or repealed by the Council for a period of one year after the election at which it was adopted, but thereafter it may be amended or repealed as any other ordinance.

(Ord. No. 19100, 6-8-94)