10. Ordinance 1311 - Amending False Alarm Fees - 2nd ReadingThe Kalispell
0:iMi�,gi1�C��i
FROM:
SUBJECT:
MEETING DATE:
13 May 1999
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
FRANK GARNER, CHIEF OF POLICE
CHRIS A. KUKULSKI, CITY MANAGER
ALARM FEES
MAY 17, 1999
Department
BACKGROUND: The Police Department responds to over five hundred (500)
false alarms a year. That requires a significant dedication of our
resources as each alarm requires we respond as if the alarm was, in fact,
valid. In the past, the city has charged a fee for that response. The
current policy provided for four (4) free alarm responses followed by a
fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for each subsequent alarm response.
The proposed fee schedule would reduce the number of free alarm responses
to one and then graduate the alarm fee from twenty dollars ($20.00) on the
second alarm response to fifty dollars ($50.00) on the fourth alarm and
any subsequent alarm response. See attached alarm schedule. This
increase should discourage false alarms while not discouraging reporting.
This fee schedule mirrors that of the City of Helena and is appropriate
when compared to other cities in the region. This fee schedule was last
updated over ten years ago.
RECOMENDATIONS: It is recommended the City Council adopt the new alarm
ordinance on second reading.
FISCAL EFFECTS: There will be a slight increase in revenue as a result.
The estimated annual increase is approximately three thousand dollars
($3, 000. 00) .
ALTERNATIVES: As suggested by the City Council.
Respectfully submitted
/J7 � � /�)
Frank Garner
Chief of Police
Chris Kukulski
City Manager
Report compiled on
May 11, 1999
Q0
¢�'yq
Frank Garner, Chief of Police • Jim Brown, Asst. Chief of Police • KPD phone (406) 758-7780, FAX (406) 758-7799
300 1st Ave. East, Kalispell, MT 59901 _M
2
ORDINANCE NO. 1311
AN ORDINANCE AMENDING ORDINANCE NO. 1094, BY REVISING THE FEE
SCHEDULE FOR MONITORING BURGLAR AND FIRE ALARMS BY THE POLICE AND
FIRE DEPARTMENTS AND IMPOSING A PENALTY FOR FALSE ALARMS, AND
ESTABLISHING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
WHEREAS, the City of Kalispell established the fees for monitoring
burglar and fire alarms by the police and fire
departments and imposed a penalty for false alarms
through Ordinance No. 1094 on March 2, 1987; and
WHEREAS, the police and fire departments have determined that the
rates established in Ordinance No. 1094 are in need of
updating.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF KALISPELL,
MONTANA AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION I. That the fees charged by the City of Kalispell
police and fire department for responding to a
false alarm as set forth in §III, Ordinance
No. 1094 are hereby amended as follows:
(A) The first false alarm in the calendar
year is free;
(B)
The second
false alarm in
the same
calendar year
is $20.00;
(C)
The third false alarm in
the same
calendar year
is $30.00;
(D)
The fourth
false alarm in
the same
calendar year
is $40.00; and
(E)
The fifth and
any subsequent
false alarm
in the same calendar
year is
$50.00.
SECTION II. All parts and portions of this Ordinance not
amended hereby shall remain the same.
SECTION III. This Ordinance shall take effect thirty (30)
days from and after its passage by the City
Council.