Title 29 — Municipal Government

Article 2. Annexation and Detachment. (a) A municipality may change its official name by adopting an ordinance for the purpose that is ratified by the voters and filing the ordinance with the office of the lieutenant governor. Upon receipt of an ordinance ratified by the voters, …

(a) The Local Boundary Commission may consider any proposed municipal boundary change. The commission may amend the proposed change and may impose conditions on the proposed change. If the commission determines that the proposed change, as amended or conditioned if appropriate, m…

A military reservation may be annexed to a municipality in the same manner as prescribed for other territory under AS 29.06.040. If a city in a borough annexes a military reservation under this section, the area encompassing the military reservation automatically is annexed to th…

(a) Unless the annexation takes effect on January 1, the annexing municipality may not levy property taxes in an annexed area before January 1 of the year immediately following the year in which the annexation takes effect. However, notwithstanding other provisions of law, the mu…

Article 3. Merger and Consolidation. AS 29.06.040 — 29.06.060 apply to home rule and general law municipalities.

(a) Two or more municipalities may merge or consolidate to form a single general law or home rule municipality, except a third class borough may not be formed through merger or consolidation. (b) Two methods may be used to initiate merger or consolidation of municipalities: (1) p…

(a) Residents of two or more municipalities may file a merger or consolidation petition with the department. The petition must be signed by a number of voters of each existing municipality equal to at least 25 percent of the number of votes cast in each municipality's last regula…

(a) The department shall review a merger or consolidation petition for content and signatures and shall return a deficient petition for correction or completion. (b) If the petition contains the required information and signatures, the department shall investigate the proposal. (…

After receipt of the report by the department on a merger or consolidation petition, the Local Boundary Commission shall hold at least one public hearing in each of the existing municipalities included in the petition, unless officials of the municipalities agree to a single hear…

(a) The Local Boundary Commission may amend the petition and may impose conditions for the merger or consolidation. If the commission determines that the merger or consolidation, as amended or conditioned if appropriate, meets applicable standards under the state constitution and…

(a) The Local Boundary Commission shall immediately notify the director of elections of its acceptance of a merger or consolidation petition. Within 30 days after notification, the director of elections shall order an election in the area to be included in the new municipality to…

(a) When two or more municipalities merge, one succeeds to the rights, powers, duties, assets, and liabilities of the others. (b) When two or more municipalities consolidate, the newly incorporated municipality succeeds to the rights, powers, duties, assets, and liabilities of th…

After merger or consolidation, the ordinances, resolutions, regulations, procedures, and orders of the former municipalities remain in force in their respective territories until superseded by the action of the new municipality.

Article 4. Unification of Municipalities. AS 29.06.090 — 29.06.170 apply to home rule and general law municipalities.

(a) A borough and all cities in the borough may unite to form a single unit of home rule government by complying with AS 29.06.190 — 29.06.410. (b) An area that is not incorporated as a borough, including any cities in the area, may incorporate as a unified municipality under AS …

(a) Formation of a charter commission to prepare a unification charter shall be proposed by resolution of the assembly or by petition. The question of formation of a charter commission may be submitted to the voters not more often than once every 24 months. (b) An assembly, a cou…

(a) A unification petition shall read: “PETITION FOR ELECTION OF CHARTER COMMISSION TO PROPOSE UNIFICATION CHARTER. We, the undersigned, qualified voters of the borough do hereby petition that the following proposition be placed before the voters as provided by law: 'Shall a char…

The assembly shall review a unification petition within 15 days to determine whether it complies with AS 29.06.210. If the petition does not meet the designated requirements, it shall be immediately returned to the person who initiated the petition with a statement indicating whi…

The charter commission shall prepare, adopt, and submit to the voters for approval or rejection a proposed home rule charter for the area to be unified.

The charter commission shall consist of 11 voters, three of whom are residents elected at large from the borough and eight of whom, proportionate to the population as determined by the department, are (1) residents of and elected from the area outside all home rule and first clas…

(a) If the assembly determines that a unification petition meets the requirements of AS 29.06.210, or the assembly by its resolution proposes an election on formation of a charter commission, the assembly shall issue a call for the nomination of commission candidates, specifying …

A person is eligible to be nominated as a candidate for the charter commission if that person is a voter of the area from which election is sought and has been a voter of the area for at least one year immediately preceding the date the nomination petition is filed.

(a) After receipt of a valid unification petition or adoption of an assembly resolution to propose formation of a charter commission, the assembly shall submit to the voters the question of whether a charter commission shall be formed to prepare a proposed unification charter. Th…

(a) The votes on the question of formation of a charter commission shall be tabulated in separate classifications. If the question is approved by majority vote in each home rule and first class city in the borough and by a majority vote in the area of the borough outside of all h…

(a) The charter commission shall hold its first meeting within 30 days after certification of its election. The commission shall elect from among its members a chairman and a deputy chairman. (b) A majority of the total membership of the charter commission constitutes a quorum. A…

(a) Vacancies on the charter commission shall be filled by a majority vote of the commission, except the assembly shall appoint members to fill vacancies if, after a proposed charter is rejected by the voters, more than one-half of the members resign. (b) A person who fills a vac…

The assembly may grant a per diem allowance to members of the charter commission and may reimburse the members for travel expenses incurred in carrying out the duties prescribed by AS 29.06.190 — 29.06.410. Costs, fees, and other expenses incurred by the commission are a debt of …

The charter must include (1) provision for (A) the adjustment of existing bonded indebtedness and other obligations in a manner that will assure a fair and equitable burden of taxation for debt service, subject to AS 29.06.380; (B) the establishment of service areas; (C) if elect…

Both before and after drafting the proposed home rule charter, the charter commission shall hold a public hearing in each area represented on the assembly. Other public hearings may be held by the commission as it considers necessary.

Upon the adoption of a proposed home rule charter by the charter commission, the charter shall be signed by at least a majority of the total membership of the commission and shall be filed with the borough clerk. A copy of the charter with signatures affixed shall also be filed w…

Within 10 days after filing the proposed home rule charter, the borough clerk shall have it published. In addition, the clerk shall have a copy of the proposed charter posted in at least three public places in each city and each unincorporated community in the borough. Copies of …

(a) The proposed home rule charter adopted by the charter commission shall be submitted to the voters at a borough election held within 60 days of the date of publication and posting of the proposed charter. The borough clerk shall prepare the ballots for use in the election and …

Upon ratification, the home rule charter of a unified municipality operates to dissolve all municipalities in the area unified in accordance with the charter.

A unified municipality shall succeed to all the assets and liabilities of the municipalities it unified. A bonded indebtedness or other debt incurred before unification remains the tax obligation of the area that contracted the debt, except that by ordinance the tax obligation ma…

Within two years after ratification of the home rule charter, the unified municipality shall revise, repeal, or reaffirm all municipal ordinances, resolutions, and orders in effect in the area of the unified municipality on the date of unification. Each ordinance, resolution, reg…

All provisions of law authorizing aid from the state or federal government to a former municipality that was in the area of a unified municipality remain in effect after unification.

A municipality unified under AS 29.06.190 — 29.06.410 has all powers (1) not prohibited by law or charter; and (2) granted to a home rule borough.

Article 5. Dissolution. AS 29.06.190 — 29.06.420 apply to home rule and general law municipalities.

(a) Two petition methods may be used to initiate dissolution of a municipality: (1) petition to the Local Boundary Commission under regulations adopted by the commission; or (2) the local option method specified in AS 29.06.460 — 29.06.510. (b) The department shall investigate a …

(a) Voters of a municipality may file a dissolution petition with the department in the form prescribed by the department. The petition must be signed by a number of voters equal to at least 25 percent of the number of votes cast in the last regular election in that municipality.…

(a) Except as provided in (b) of this section, voters of a municipality may petition for dissolution when the municipality is free of debt, or, if in debt, each of its creditors is satisfied with a method of repayment and (1) the municipality no longer meets the minimum standards…

(a) The department shall review a dissolution petition for content and signatures, and shall return a deficient petition for correction or completion. (b) If the petition contains the required information and signatures, the department shall investigate the proposal.

(a) The department shall report its findings to the Local Boundary Commission with its recommendation regarding the dissolution of a municipality. (b) The Local Boundary Commission shall hold at least one public hearing in the municipality proposed to be dissolved.

(a) The Local Boundary Commission may amend the petition and may impose conditions for the dissolution. If the commission determines that the dissolution, as amended or conditioned if appropriate, meets applicable standards under the state constitution and commission regulations,…

(a) The Local Boundary Commission shall immediately notify the director of elections of its acceptance of a dissolution petition. Within 30 days after notification, the director of elections shall order an election in the municipality to determine whether the voters desire dissol…

A municipality succeeding to a dissolved municipality succeeds to all rights, powers, duties, assets, and liabilities of the dissolved municipality. Otherwise, the state succeeds to those rights, powers, duties, assets, and liabilities. If the state succeeds to a dissolved munici…

[Repealed or reserved.]