Description
2011 Revenue Ordinance
ARTICLE M. POLICE SERVICE FEES
Section 2. ALARM SYSTEM SERVICE FEES.
A. Fees Established. Pursuant to City of Savannah Code Sections 6-2685 thru 6-2690,
the following service fees are hereby established to discourage excessive false
alarms at any single location, enhance the safety of officers of the Savannah Police
and Fire Departments, protect the lives and property of the citizens of Savannah,
reduce unnecessary use of public safety resources, and produce revenues to defray
a portion of the costs of responses to false alarms.
B. Alarm users registration fee. Each alarm system business, as defined in Section 6-
2685(c) of the City Code must provide the Alarm System Coordinator with a listing of
locations that are using an alarm system monitored by said business. This listing
must be in computerized format specified by the Alarm System Coordinator. All
locations on this listing will be considered registered alarm users. Each alarm
system business will be responsible for supplying the Alarm System Coordinator
with any changes to its list of registered alarm users.
An annual registration fee of $12.00 per residential alarm user and $24.00 per commercial alarm user will be
collected and remitted at the time of initial registration by the alarm system business
and renewed by April 1 each subsequent year.
Any household headed by a person age 65 or older who has applied for and
determined to be eligible for the Utility Services Senior Citizens Discount, as
provided for in Article U, Section 11 of the Revenue Ordinance, is eligible for a
rebate of the annual alarm registration fee.
C. False alarm fees for registered alarm users. Excessive false alarms for registered
alarm users are considered to be any number in excess of three (3) false alarms
during the 12-month billing cycle; except in the case of a household determined to
be a Senior Citizen Household as described above in which case the number shall
be four (4) false alarms. Upon the fourth false alarm, an alarm user will be assessed
and billed a fee of $100 for the excessive alarm and notified of suspension as a
registered alarm user. Notice of the false alarm will also be sent to the alarm system
company advising of the false alarm fee and advising that the alarm user has been
suspended from the list of registered alarm users. Alarm users suspended from the
alarm registry will be considered to be unregistered alarm users for purpose of billing
false alarms.
D. False alarm fees for unregistered alarm users. All false alarm responses to
unregistered locations will be billed to the alarm system user. The first through third
false alarms at a single location within the 12-month billing cycle will be billed at a
False Alarm Reduction and Billing Services
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rate of $100 per false alarm. The fourth through tenth false alarms at a single
location during the same time period will be billed at $150 per false alarm. The
eleventh and all subsequent false alarms during the same time period will be billed
at $200 per false alarm.
E. Notices, billing and payment of Fees. A notice will be sent to the alarm user and
alarm system company advising of each occurrence of a false alarm. Statements will
be mailed monthly detailing the date of each false alarm and the fees due. Payment
shall be made to the City within thirty (30) days of the invoice date. In the event of
non-payment by a registered user, the Alarm Systems Coordinator will provide
written notification to the alarm system company and the alarm system user advising
that the user has been removed from the alarm system users registry, possible loss
of police response for alarm calls, and/or the reduction in fire services to a one
engine response. To avoid loss of police response, all false alarm fees must be paid
and a statement must be provided by the alarm system company that the alarm
system has been inspected and that the user has been properly trained on the use
of the system. Households determined to be eligible as a Senior Citizen Household
for the purposes of this ordinance are considered high-risk households and will not
be subject to loss of police response unless the household is determined to be a
nuisance as provided in paragraph (f) below.
All fees for excessive false alarms at unregistered locations shall be billed at least
monthly to the property owner.
All fees for false alarm responses caused by failure of an alarm system business to
notify the police or fire department in advance of performing maintenance to an
alarm system will be billed to the alarm system business. All such false alarms will
be billed at a rate of $100 per false alarm at least monthly.
F. Excessive false alarms deemed to be a nuisance. False alarms in excess of ten in a
billing cycle will be deemed a nuisance and shall subject the offender to penalties as
provided in Section 1-1013 of the City Code.
Additional information
| Monitoring Class | Commercial, Residential |
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