§ 705 — Hearing

§ 705. Hearing. 1. Such governing boards shall meet at the time and\nplace specified in such notice or amended and republished notice. The\nmembers of the participating boards shall agree on the selection of one\nof their members to preside at such meeting and in the event no such\nagreement is reached, he shall be chosen by lot. Such governing boards\nshall hear any testimony and receive evidence and information which may\nbe presented concerning the petition and the question of whether the\nannexation is in the over-all public interest, including but not limited\nto testimony, evidence and information concerning the following:\n a. That a person signing the petition is not qualified therefor, or\n b. With respect to a petition, other than one purporting to be signed\nby owners of a majority of the assessed valuation of real property, that\nthe persons signing such petition do not constitute twenty per centum of\nthe persons residing within such territory qualified to vote for\nofficers of the city, town or village, as the case may be, in which the\nterritory is situated, or\n c. With respect to a petition, other than one purporting to be signed\nby at least twenty per centum of persons qualified to vote for local\nofficers, that the persons signing such petition do not represent the\nowners of a majority in assessed valuation of the real property in such\nterritory assessed upon the last preceding assessment roll of, or\nutilized by, the local government or governments in which the territory\nis situated, or\n d. That the petition does not otherwise substantially comply in form\nor content with the provisions of this article, or\n e. That the proposed annexation is or is not in the over-all public\ninterest (1) of the territory proposed to be annexed, or (2) of the\nlocal government or governments to which the territory is proposed to be\nannexed, or (3) of the remaining area of the local government or\ngovernments in which such territory is situated, or (4) of any school\ndistrict, fire district or other district corporation, public benefit\ncorporation, fire protection district, fire alarm district or town or\ncounty improvement district, situated wholly or partly in the territory\nproposed to be annexed.\n 2. Objections based on any of the grounds set forth in paragraphs a,\nb, c or d of subdivision one of this section shall, in addition to the\npresentation of any oral testimony thereon, be submitted in writing and\nplaced on file with the boards holding such hearing and made a part of\nthe record thereof. Any oral testimony presented at such hearing\nrelating to the grounds set forth in paragraph e of subdivision one of\nthis section shall be reduced to writing and shall be a part of the\nrecord of such hearing. The hearing may be adjourned, but must be\nconcluded within ten days after the date fixed in the notice. The cost\nof providing such record shall be shared by the affected local\ngovernments equally or on the basis of any equitable method or formula\nagreed upon by their governing boards.\n 3. In the event that the governing board of an affected local\ngovernment does not participate in such hearing, the governing board or\nboards of the other affected local government or governments shall have\npower to conduct such hearing without the participation of such former\ngoverning board.\n