N.Y. Vill. Law § 2-202

§ 2-202 Petition for incorporation. 1. A proceeding for the\nincorporation of such territory as a village shall commence with a\npetition. The requirements for such petition are as follows:\n a. Petitioners. Either one or both of the following two groups of\npersons may petition for such incorporation:\n (1) At least twenty per cent of the residents of such territory\nqualified to vote for town officers in a town in which all or part of\nsuch territory is located.\n (2) The owners of more than fifty percent in assessed valuation of the\nreal property in such territory assessed upon the last completed\nassessment roll of the town in which such territory is located. However,\nif such territory is located in more than one town it shall be required\nin computing such percentage to equalize the assessed valuations for\neach town; furthermore, in such case, the petition must be signed by the\nowners of more than fifty percent in full valuation of the real property\nin each part of each town in such territory and computed separately for\neach such part, and assessed upon the last completed assessment rolls of\nthe towns in which any part of such territory is located. Full valuation\nshall be determined by applying the appropriate equalization rate to\nsuch assessed valuations. If real property in such territory is owned by\ntenants in common, joint tenants or tenants by the entirety, each such\ntenant, as a signer of such petition shall, for the purpose of\nascertaining the percentage of the assessed valuation upon which the\npetition is based, be considered as the owner of an interest in such\nreal property equal to the result reached by dividing the assessed\nvaluation by the number of owners thereof and shall be credited to that\nextent with part of the total assessed valuation thereof. In the event\nsuch real property is part of a parcel of land partially situated within\nsuch territory, the town assessor or assessors shall, for the purposes\nof this section make an apportionment of the assessed value of such part\nas is in such territory. In such a case, only the apportioned value\nattributed to such part shall be considered.\n b. Contents of petition. The petition shall contain the following\ninformation:\n (1) An allegation of the basis on which the petition is signed.\n (2) The name of the proposed village.\n (3) An allegation that such territory contains a population of at\nleast five hundred regular inhabitants.\n (4) The manner in which the area requirements of section 2-200 of this\narticle are satisfied.\n (5) A designation of at least one but no more than three persons,\ngiving full names and addresses, on whom and at which addresses all\npapers required to be served in connection with the proceeding for\nincorporation, shall be served. A majority of such designees must reside\nin such territory.\n (6) Each page of the petition and all exhibits and certifications\nshall be securely fastened together.\n c. Exhibits and certifications. Each copy of the petition shall have\nattached thereto prior to the signature pages:\n (1) A description of such territory sufficient to identify the\nlocation and extent of such territory with common certainty and which\nshall be in one of the following forms or a combination thereof: (a) a\nmetes and bounds description; (b) a description made with reference to\nexisting streets and navigable waters or a combination of same; or (c) a\nmap showing existing streets and navigable waters or a combination of\nsame forming boundaries or metes and bounds or the entire boundaries of\none or more districts of an entire town.\n (2) A list of the names and address of the regular inhabitants of such\nterritory.\n d. If the petition is alleged to be signed by the owners of more than\nfifty per cent in assessed or full valuation, as the case may be, of the\nreal property in such territory, there shall be attached to the petition\nfollowing the signatures of the petitioners an affidavit or affidavits\ncertifying as follows:\n (1) If such territory is located entirely in one town, a certification\nby an assessor thereof certifying to the total assessed valuation of\nsuch territory and the correct total amount thereof owned by the signers\nof the petition, or\n (2) If such territory is located in more than one town, separate\ncertifications by an assessor of each town certifying to the total full\nvaluation of that portion of such territory located in such town and the\ncorrect total amount of full valuation of real property in such\nterritory and town owned by the signers of the petition, as specified in\nsubparagraph two of paragraph a of subdivision one of this section.\n e. Execution of petition. (1) The signatures to a petition shall be\nsubscribed on a separate page or pages following the exhibits.\n (2) Prefatory statement. Each signature page shall be prefaced by a\nstatement of the basis on which the petition is signed and of the\npetitioners' familiarity with the contents and purpose thereof and the\nboundaries of the territory sought to be incorporated.\n (3) Additional information. Following each signature there shall be\nset forth, not necessarily by the signer, the signer's address\nconsisting of street name and number, if any, and town; and, if the\npetition is based on the ownership of more than fifty per cent in\nassessed or full valuation, as the case may be, of the real property\nlocated in such territory, the amount of assessed valuation of real\nproperty owned by the signer as credited to him in accordance with\nsubparagraph two of paragraph a of subdivision one of this section.\n (4) Authentication. There shall be set forth at the bottom of each\npage of signatures an authenticating affidavit of a witness to the\nsigning thereof which shall be in substantially the following form:\nSTATE OF NEW YORK\nCOUNTY OF ss.:\n....................................................... being duly sworn,\n(name of witness)\nsays:\nI reside at ..................................................... in the\n (street name and number)\n................................. of ....................................\n(town, city or village) (name of municipality)\n............................................... in the State of New York:\nI know each of the persons whose names are subscribed to the above sheet\nhaving .................................... signatures; and each of them\n (number)\nsubscribed the same in my presence.\n ...................................\n (signature of witness)\nSworn to before me\nThis .................. day of .................., ....................\n (day) (month) (year)\n ...............................\n (official title of officer)\n f. Filing and deposit. (1) Filing. The original petition shall be\nfiled with a supervisor of the town in which all or the greatest part of\nsuch territory is located. Duplicate originals, photocopies or other\nsimilar reproductions of the original petition shall be filed with a\nsupervisor of each other town in which any portion of such territory is\nlocated.\n (2) Deposit. At the time of filing of the petition there shall be\ndeposited with each supervisor with whom the original or a copy of the\noriginal is filed, the sum of six thousand dollars to pay the cost of\nposting, publishing and serving required notices, stenographic services\nand services of inspectors of election in the event incorporation is not\neffected.\n