Ohio newspaper the Mount Vernon News reported last week that the city is seeing a drop in false alarms since implementing an increased fine structure in 2005.
The fees went up from $25 per false alarm to $50 (first false alarm), $100 (second), $250 (third and fourth false alarms).
The numbers dropped from 92 in 2004 to just 67 in 2005. No numbers were yet reported for 2006.