22. a. The joint municipal consolidation study commission shall publish and file its final report and recommendations within ten calendar months from the date all of its members are elected or appointed. A copy of such final report signed by the chairman of the commission shall be filed with the Secretary of State, the department, the county clerk and with the municipal clerk of each participating municipality. Included in such final report shall be: a statement, if any, by any member of the commission dissenting from the findings and recommendations set forth in the final report; and the department’s findings on the fiscal aspects of the proposed consolidation. The municipal clerks shall deliver a copy of such final report to each member of the governing body of their respective municipalities. The commission shall cause a reasonable number of copies of the final report to be printed and made available to the general public upon request.

b. If the commission recommends consolidation, it shall prepare an “official abstract” of its report and recommendations and plan of consolidation consisting of a concise statement, which shall be objective in content and presentation, and shall be descriptive of the substance of the plan. At the time the commission publishes and files its final report, and again on a date not less than 30 days preceding the date fixed for the election, the commission shall cause the official abstract to be published at least once in a newspaper of general circulation in the participating municipalities, together with notice of:

(1) The time, place and purpose of the election;

(2) The manner in which copies of the commission’s final report and recommendations may be obtained;

(3) (Deleted by amendment, P.L.1999, c.58.)

(4) The fact that if the voters favor the consolidation by a majority vote in each of the participating municipalities, the consolidation plan shall become binding and legally enforceable between or among such municipalities.

L.1977,c.435,s.22; amended 1999, c.58, s.8.