CITY LEGISLATION[1]
For Alaska Statute provisions requiring certain acts to be by ordinance, see AS 29.20.620 and AS 29.25.010; for provisions regulating ordinance form, procedure and emergency passages, see AS 29.25.020 and AS 29.25.030; for provisions regarding codes of regulations, see AS 29.25.040; and for provisions regarding codification of ordinances, see AS 29.25.050. Prior ordinance history: Ordinances: 1-100.1, 73-2 and 76-2.
Sections:
1.08.005 Ordinance required for certain City actions.
1.08.010 Form or ordinances.
1.08.020 Enactment procedures.
1.08.030 Effective date.
1.08.040 Emergency ordinances.
1.08.050 Codes of regulations.
1.08.060 Codification of ordinances; revisor authority.
1.08.005 Ordinance required for certain City actions. In addition to other actions which by this Code or State law may be required to be accomplished by ordinance, the City shall use an ordinance to:
1. set salaries of elected City officials;
2. establish, alter or abolish City departments;
3. provide for a fine or other penalty, or establish rules and regulations for violation of which a fine or other penalty is imposed;
4. provide for the levying of taxes;
5. make appropriations, including supplemental appropriations or transfer of appropriations;
6. grant, renew, or extend a franchise;
7. adopt, modify, or repeal the comprehensive plan, land use and subdivision regulations, building and housing codes, and the official map;
8. approve the transfer of a City power;
9. provide for the retention or sale of tax-foreclosed property;
10. exempt contractors from compliance with general requirements relating to payment and performance bonds in the construction or repair of City public works projects within the limitations set out in AS 36.25.025. (Ord. 90-37 §1, 1990)
1.08.010 Form of ordinances. a. Enacting Clause. All ordinances in this Code enacted by the City Council shall have the enacting clause, "The City of Homer Ordains." Ordinances presented by initiative action shall have the enacting clause, "The People of the City of Homer Ordain."
b. Nature of Ordinance. Each ordinance shall be identified on its face as either a general ordinance of a permanent nature or as a special, limited, or emergency ordinance, and shall so identify the limited scope of applicability and/or its temporary period of effectiveness.
c. Inclusion in the City Code. All ordinances of a general and permanent nature for inclusion in the City Code shall refer to the affected title, chapter and section of the City Code in accordance with 1.08.060 b. (Ord. 90-21 §3, 1990; prior code §2-100.1, §2-100.6)
1.08.020 Enactment procedures. The following procedure governs the enactment of all ordinances except emergency ordinances:
a. Introduction and First Reading. An ordinance may be introduced by a member or committee of the Council or by the Mayor or the City Manager. An introduction of an ordinance shall be considered the first reading of that ordinance, and that ordinance shall be set for hearing by the affirmative vote of the majority of the votes authorized on the question.
b. Publication and Posting. After hearing date is set a summary of the ordinance and its amendments is published together with a notice of time and place for the public hearing. The hearing follows publication by at least five days. Copies of the ordinance shall be posted in at least two public places, one of which is the office of the City Clerk.
c. Public Hearing and Final Reading. The Council shall hear all interested persons wishing to be heard on an ordinance. After the hearing or hearings the Council shall consider the ordinance on second reading and may adopt it with or without amendment. Second reading may occur at the same meeting as the public hearing immediately following public testimony. Final reading may occur at the public hearing or at a subsequent Council meeting. Council may postpone action on the ordinance to the next regular or special meeting. An additional public hearing or additional public hearings may be scheduled as the City Council deems necessary and shall be noticed according to section (b). Copies of the ordinance must be available to all persons present or the ordinance must be read in full. (Ord. 01-18, 2001; Prior code §2-100.2).
1.08.030 Effective date.
Ordinances take effect at 12:01 a.m. on the day immediately following passage, or as otherwise specified in the ordinance. (Prior code §2-100.3).
1.08.040 Emergency ordinances.
a. To meet a public emergency the Council may adopt ordinances effective on adoption. Every emergency ordinance must contain a finding by the Council that an emergency exists and a statement of the facts upon which the finding is based. The ordinance may be adopted, amended and adopted, or rejected at the meeting at which it is introduced. The affirmative vote of all members present, or the affirmative vote of three-fourths of the total membership, whichever is less is required for adoption. The Council must print and make available copies of adopted emergency ordinances.
b. An emergency ordinance may not be used to levy taxes, to grant, renew or extend a franchise, or to regulate the rate charged by a public utility for its services.
c. Emergency ordinances are effective for sixty days. (Ord. 90-37 §2, 1990; Prior code §2-100.4)
1.08.050 Codes of regulations. a. The Council may in a single ordinance adopt or amend by reference provisions of a standard published code of regulations. The regular ordinance procedure applies except that neither the ordinance nor its amendments need be distributed to the public or read in full at the hearings.
b. For a period of fifteen days before adoption at least five copies of the Code must be made available for public inspection at a time and place set out in the hearing notice Only the adopting ordinance need be printed after adoption. The Council shall provide for the adopted Code to be sold to the public at no more than cost. (Ord. 90-37 §3, 1990; Prior code §2-100.5)
1.08.060 Codification of ordinances; revisor authority.
a. Subject to general policies which may be promulgated by the Council for the preparation and publication of periodic cumulative supplements to the Homer City Code, the City Clerk, subject to review by the City Attorney, shall provide for the inclusion in the City Code of all ordinances of a general and permanent nature. The City Clerk shall also maintain a permanent record of all ordinances of a temporary or special nature enacted by the Council.
b. All ordinances included in the City Code shall be assigned three-factor decimal section numbers as appropriate. The first number shall identify the title and shall be followed by a period; the second number, consisting of two digits, shall identify the chapter and shall be followed by a period; the third number, consisting of three digits, shall identify the numerical sequence of the section within the chapter.
c. The City Clerk is designated as the revisor of ordinances. The revisor, subject to review by the City Attorney, may edit and revise ordinances for consolidation in the City Code as follows, provided that such edits and revisions do not change the meaning or legislative intent of any ordinance:
1. Number or renumber sections, parts of sections, articles, chapters and titles;
2. Change the wording of sections or subsections catchlines, or delete subsections catchlines, and change or provide new titles for articles, chapters, and titles;
3. Change capitalization for the purpose of uniformity.
4. Substitute the proper designation for the terms "the preceding section", "this ordinance", and like terms;
5. Substitute the proper calendar date for "effective date of this ordinance", "date of passage of this ordinance", and other phrases of similar import;
6. Strike out figures if they are merely a repetition of written works or vice versa, or substitute figures for written words of vice versa for the purpose of uniformity;
7. Correct manifest errors which are clerical, typographical, or errors in spelling, or errors by way of additions or omissions;
8. Correct manifest errors in reference to laws, ordinances or other sections of the Code;
(Homer 01/91)
9. Rearrange sections, combine sections or parts of sections with other sections or parts of sections, divide long sections into two or more sections, and rearrange the order of sections to conform to a logical arrangement of subject matter as may most generally be followed in the Code;
10. Change all sections, when possible, to read in the present tense, indicative mood, active voice, third person, and singular number, or any other necessary grammatical change in the manner generally followed in the Code;
11. Delete or change sections or parts of sections if a deletion change is necessary because of other ordinance amendments which did not specifically amend or repeal them;
12. Omit all temporary ordinances, all titles to ordinances, all enacting and repealing clauses, all declarations of emergency and all purpose, validity, and construction clauses unless, from their nature, it may be necessary to retain some of them to preserve the full meaning and intent of the ordinance; and
13. Edit pronoun usage so as to avoid references to masculine or feminine genders
d. The revisor shall make recommendations to the Council concerning deficiencies, conflicts or obsolete provisions in the Code and, at the direction of the Council, the Clerk or Attorney shall draft ordinances for consideration by the Council to correct and remove deficiencies, conflicts or obsolete provisions in City Ordinances. (Ord. 90-21 §2, 1990.)
(Homer 10/90)
[1] For Alaska Statute provisions requiring certain acts to be by ordinance, see AS 29.20.620 and AS 29.25.010; for provisions regulating ordinance form, procedure and emergency passages, see AS 29.25.020 and AS 29.25.030; for provisions regarding codes of regulations, see AS 29.25.040; and for provisions regarding codification of ordinances, see AS 29.25.050. Prior ordinance history: Ordinances: 1-100.1, 73-2 and 76-2.