If consolidation is authorized, the costs of such election and the public meetings shall be borne by the city formed by such consolidation. If the consolidation is not authorized, the costs of election and the public meetings shall be borne proportionately by each city affected, in that ratio in which the number of inhabitants residing in the total area in which the election was held, as shown by the figures released at the most recent state or federal census or by a determination of the office of financial management.
[ 1985 c 281 § 13.]