§ 1-19. Election approval process.

(a) In general.

The Authority shall not impose any taxes or charges until the approval process set forth below is completed and certified by the Board of Estimates.

(b) Assessable Base and Ownership Roll.

(1) The Board of Estimates shall obtain from the Director of Finance the "Assessable Base" of the District, which shall constitute a listing by property and a calculation of the sum of assessments on properties subject to the Supplemental Tax. The Assessable Base shall provide the total assessable value for purposes of calculating voting percentages by value.

(2) The Board of Estimates shall also obtain from the Director of Finance a list of all properties and their owners, each property thereby counting as 1 vote regardless of the number of owners (the "Ownership Roll"). The Ownership Roll shall be used to determine votes based on the number of property owners.

(3) In the event of dispute or uncertainty, the Board of Estimates shall determine, with finality, the Assessable Base and Ownership Roll upon which the procedures shall be based.

Notices shall be provided to each property affected by this subtitle regarding the passage of the subtitle and the rights of protest available hereunder.

(d) Protest period.

(1) Upon enactment of this subtitle, there shall ensue a 30-day period within which the Board of Estimates is directed to accept notarized petitions of protest (the "Protest Period").

(2) Such petitions shall be on any form which, to the satisfaction of the Board of Estimates, specifies the location of the property, the name of the owner and such additional information as would enable the Director of Finance to certify the current assessment of such property.

(e) Percentage opposition.

(1) If within the Protest Period, the Board of Estimates does not receive protests (the "Base Level Protests"), determined to be valid by the Board of Estimates, either

(i) representing property owners owning more than 40% of the Assessable Base, or

(ii) representing the same percentage of property owners from the Ownership Roll,

the Authority shall, at the conclusion of the Protest Period, be certified as approved for operations.

(2) In the event of a dispute as to ownership or representation, the Board shall disregard the protest unless satisfied as to the person properly authorized to act on behalf of the property owner.

(f) Referendum.

If protests in excess of the Base Level Protests are received, the Board of Estimates shall establish procedures it deems appropriate for a referendum of property owners within the District, to determine whether property owners of at least 50% of both the Assessable Base and the Ownership Roll are in support of the District. Such a referendum shall be conducted and completed within 30 days after the end of the Protest Period.