§ 172-c. Alteration of boundaries of fire protection district. The town board of a town in which any fire protection district has been established, or if established in two or more towns, the town boards of such towns acting jointly by a majority vote of the members of each of such town boards, upon petition and after a public hearing, or upon the motion of such town board or town boards after a public hearing, may alter the boundaries of such fire protection district in accordance with such petition or motion and exclude from the district territory previously located therein. Such petition, if any, shall be signed by resident taxpayers owning taxable real property aggregating at least one-half of the assessed valuation of all the taxable real property owned by resident taxpayers in the territory to be excluded and at least one-half of the assessed valuation of all the taxable real property owned by resident taxpayers in the remaining territory of the district. The assessed valuations in either case shall be the assessed valuations of the taxable real property as shown by the latest completed assessment-roll of the town. Such petition, if any, shall be signed, and acknowledged or proved in the same manner as a deed to be recorded, or authenticated in the manner provided by the election law for the authentication of nominating petitions. Notice of such hearing shall be given and such hearing held and the subject matter thereof determined in the manner provided herein for hearings upon the establishment of fire protection districts, except that the notice of hearing shall state in general terms the purposes of the hearing and the manner in which it is proposed to alter the boundaries of the district. Any resolution altering the boundaries of such fire protection district made upon motion of the town board or town boards without a petition shall be subject to a permissive referendum as provided in article seven of this chapter. For the purposes of this section, the boundaries of such fire protection district shall be deemed to be altered pursuant to petition of resident taxpayers and the territory described in the notice excluded, upon the adoption by the town board or town boards of the resolution providing therefor, unless such resolution shall specify some other date for such purpose, in which case such boundaries shall be deemed to be altered and such territory excluded on the date so specified, and such alteration of boundaries upon motion of the town board or town boards without a petition shall become effective as provided in section ninety-one of this chapter. Unless renegotiated, any existing contract for the supplying of fire protection to any such fire protection district shall be carried out in the same manner as if such boundaries had not been altered or territory excluded from the district.
