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• f 26 MEMORANDUM DATE: . .October 16, 2000 TO: Mike Mornson, City Manager FROM: Roger Larson, Finance Director ITEM: ALARM PERMITS Section #540 of the Ordinance pertains to security alarms that are intended to protect public safety and to avoid misuse, careless or negligent operation of security alarms. To cover the costs of Police services in identifying and responding to these alarms an annual permit is charged ($25.00 for business, $10.00 residential). In addition to the annual permit fee, there is a progressive fee charged for responses to false alarms. The first two false alarms are free; the third is $75.00 and continues to increase $25.00 with each false alarm. Currently, there are over 200 alarms registered in St. Anthony. Most owners of security systems diligently respond to registering and paying their annual permit fee. However, there is a small amount of business and residential security alarm owners who do not pay the fee on a timely basis. The first notice of renewal is sent on June 1" with a due date of July ls`. Second and third notices are sent as time progresses. To date there are approximately 25 security alarm system owners who have yet to pay their annual permit fee. To alleviate the amount of staff time dedicated to the collection of unpaid security alarm permits, staff is recommending a change in the ordinance to assign unpaid security alarm permits to the quarterly utility bills. The same procedure is in place for false alarm responses and significantly contributes to the success of collecting the charges for false alarms. Recommendation: Council amend ordinance #540.06 Subd. 2. Add (a): If the annual permit is not paid to the City in accordance to the annual fee stated in Section #615.06, the annual fee will be added to the alarm users utility bill.