(2) Not later than the 10th day after the chief elections officer has delivered the certified copies of the abstracts under subsection (1) of this section, the governing bodies of each of the cities to be included in the proposed city shall meet in joint convention at the usual place of meeting of the governing body of the city with the largest population as shown by the last federal census.

(3) The joint convention shall determine from the abstracts the results of the election on the question. The joint convention shall make an order proclaiming creation of the consolidated city and shall enter the order upon the joint convention’s minutes if a majority of the votes cast in the most populous city and a majority of the votes cast in another city or an unincorporated area proposed to be included in the proposed city favor creation of the city.

(4) Except as provided in ORS 222.210 (2), the consolidated city shall consist of the most populous city proposed to be included therein, each other city whose electors vote in favor of creating the consolidated city and each unincorporated area whose electors so vote. Its charter shall be the charter prepared by the charter commission and its permanent rate limit for operating taxes shall be the rate limit submitted to the electors at the election held under ORS 222.250 and 222.260.

(5) The officer performing the duties of clerk of the joint convention shall deliver to the Secretary of State a certified copy of the order proclaiming the election results and a certified copy of the charter adopted as the charter for the proposed city.

(6) If a consolidated city is created under subsection (3) of this section, the consolidated city shall pay the total cost of the election. If a consolidated city is not so created:

(a) Each city that would have been included in the proposed city shall pay a part of the total cost of holding the election on the proposed consolidation equal to the proportion that the number of persons registered to vote in the city holds to the number of persons registered to vote in all cities and unincorporated areas that would have been included in the proposed city; and

(b) Each county in which lies an unincorporated area that would have been included in the proposed city shall pay a part of the total cost of the election equal to the proportion that the number of persons registered to vote in the unincorporated area holds to the number of persons registered to vote in the total area that would have been included in the proposed city. [Amended by 1971 c.761 §7; 1981 c.173 §9; 1983 c.350 §42; 1985 c.702 §25; 1989 c.92 §37; 1997 c.541 §358]