On the Books: Alarm Ordinances That Can Affect You

North Naples, Fla.
False alarms in the North Naples Fire District will cost users up to $500 per instance following the passing of a new law in September, according to The (Fla.) News-Press. First offenses get off with a written warning. A second offense within a six-month period will earn a $100 fine. Third offenses will cost $250, and the fourth and latter offenses will be billed $500. The ordinance works on a six-month period, so after six months, the fee schedule resets itself back to the lower cost levels.

Plantation, Fla.
The city of Plantation, Fla., has passed a new alarm ordinance that requires alarm owners to have permits for their alarms at an initial cost of $25, with a $10 per year renewal fee which can be waived it the user had no false alarm in the previous year. Fees spelled out in the ordinance are implemented after the third false alarm, with the fourth false alarm response costing $150, with fifth costing $250, sixth costing $400 and each subsequent call costing $500. The ordinance also involves the licensing of alarm installation contractors.

Princeton Borough, N.J.
The Borough Council was set to decide upon an alarm ordinance at deadline for this article. This proposed ordinance is a little different than most in that it rolls the false alarm charges into the alarm registration cost. If the ordinance passes, it would charge $125 per year to register an alarm or $300 per year for systems that generated more than four false alarm calls in the previous year. For owners who were charged $300, the fee would drop back to $150 the next year if they had less than four calls in the year that they were permitted at the $300 rate. According to The Princeton (N.J.) Packet, the ordinance would raise $26,000 per year in revenue.

Springfield, Mass.
The city is considering an alarm ordinance that would charge fees for false alarms, with a schedule between $50 and $200 depending on number of offenses.

Tuscon, Ariz.
The Tuscon Police Department enacted legislation approximately one year ago and now sends out citations for false alarms. The schedule begins with a citation, and if decided by a court system, a fee of $265. The charge for the second false-alarm incident is $565, and according to local TV news station, KVOA-4, additional responses may cost over $1,000.