posted on Tuesday, July 22, 2008 7:54 AM
by
klehan
Arcadia, CA, Gets Tough on False Alarms with Fees and Fines
Alarm system users
in Arcadia, CA, will be required to pay a $40 annual permit fee and face stricter fines for false alarms.
The new fees are designed to discourage false alarms.
The City Council voted 3-2 to set the annual fee. Council members also reduced the grace period from three to two false alarms per year and raised penalties for all
subsequent false alarms.
The city now will charge $100 for a third false burglar alarm in a 365-day period, $200
for a fourth, and $300 thereafter.
"I don't think anyone disagreed with upping penalties for chronic abusers," said Mayor
Robert Harbicht, who voted for the resolution.
But since the City Council first mulled the idea in May, a point of greater contention
has been the annual permit fee.
"It's essentially a cost-recovery mechanism," Harbicht said, defending the fee. "Police
resources are being taken away from the rest of the community. Those who have alarms are
the ones who are causing this to happen. I just felt like an annual fee is appropriate."
Council members Peter Amundson and John Wuo, who voted against the resolution, do not
believe the permit fee is fair.
"If a small percentage of people have false alarms, and everybody pays the annual $40
fee, to me it is not right to the residents," Wuo said. "I just have difficulty charging
people ... when they didn't do anything wrong."
The permit fee also pays for false alarm tracking and billing services, including the
creation of a database of the city's estimated 4,000 to 5,000 alarm users. The council
separately approved a contract with Public Safety Corporation for such services at last
week's meeting.
"It shouldn't cost that kind of money to monitor who has alarms in our city," Amundson
said. "The alarm fees should not be looked at as a revenue source. We have a right to
recoup our costs, but $40 is excessive."
According to City Manager Don Penman, the city still needs to execute its contract with
PSC, which in turn must first build the database of alarm users before billing can begin.
"The fee hikes would go into effect at the same time," Penman said. "It could be a couple
months."