It's the only kind of government people living in Montgomery County have ever known. But voters showed Tuesday that they're ready for a change. As YNN's Maria Valvanis explains, residents there have okayed the charter.

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MONTGOMERY COUNTY, N.Y. -- John Thayer, Chairman of the Montgomery County board of supervisors, said, "The people in Montgomery County said we are not satisfied or just desire to have a different form of government."

And that's exactly what they'll be getting. The new charter racked up a 7,964 to 4,984 majority vote on election night.

"We need a government that's focused on the counties issues, that's looking forward on what the county can be," said Dustin Swanger, Chairman of the Charter Commission.

The county currently has a 15 member board of supervisors, made up of elected town and city officials. The new nine member form of government will essentially separate those two jobs.

"I believe that the town supervisors were able to differentiate their roles between the town supervisors and a town supervisor sitting on the county board of supervisor," said Thayer.

Swanger said, "This is not a referendum on the people in those positions. It's a referendum on the system and we need to modify the system so that it looks towards the future."

The new form of government won't actually take effect until January of 2014, giving the county plenty of time for a smooth transition.

Thayer said, "The Montgomery County board of supervisors will be establishing the budget for the legislature in 2013 for the calendar year of 2014."

"Many many counties across New York State have changed from a board of supervisors to a legislature," Swanger said.

A county executive will be hired under the new form of government to run the day to day operations.