(A) For the purposes of this article, "special purpose district" or "district" means any district, including a public service district, created by or pursuant to an act of the General Assembly before March 7, 1973, and to which has been committed before March 7, 1973, any governmental function, including those districts created by special legislation and those districts created by referenda held pursuant to general legislation. This article applies only to those special purpose districts, the governing bodies of which were not, as of January 1, 1997, elected directly by the qualified electors residing in the district. This article does not apply to (1) any special purpose district, the boundaries of which include areas within more than one county, or (2) any special purpose district which, as of April 1, 1998, pursuant to written contract provided one or more of its authorized services to areas outside the State. The referendum authorized in this article must be held on the date of the general election held on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November in even-numbered years.

(B) The qualified electors residing in a special purpose district may by petition request a referendum on the question of electing the governing body of such district by popular vote of the qualified electors in the district. The petition must contain the referendum question and the names, signatures, addresses, voter registration numbers, and dates of signature of at least fifteen percent of the qualified electors of the district. The petition must contain a geographical description of the boundaries of the district and a map clearly setting out the lines of the district in a county, which must be supplied by the district within thirty days of a request of any elector residing in the district.

(C) The original petition must be delivered to the county board of voter registration in the county in which the special purpose district is located. The board must review each name on the petition to determine if each signature is that of a qualified elector in the district and must verify the number of valid signatures of registered electors contained on the petition submitted and the number of qualified electors in the district. Signatures dated more than one hundred eighty calendar days prior to the date of the submission of the petition shall be disregarded and shall not be counted toward the fifteen percent requirement pursuant to this section. The board shall notify the clerk of the county governing body and the governing body of the special purpose district of the result of the verification process. A copy of the text of the petition which indicates the date the petition was received by the board must be delivered to the clerk of the county governing body and the governing body of the special purpose district.

(D) The petition must be submitted to the board before August first of an even-numbered general election year to be considered for inclusion on the ballot in that year. Upon receipt of a petition, the board must review and verify or reject the petition by twelve o’clock noon September first. If the petition is verified as complete, the question must be placed on the general election ballot in November of that same year. The costs associated with any referendum held pursuant to this article must be paid by the special purpose district.