An alarm user may file a written request for a service charge review by the Police Chief or designee. The request for service charge review must be received by the Police Chief not later than the delinquent date for the payment of the assessment for which the review is being sought. Requests received after the delinquent date shall be deemed untimely and the rights of service charge review and hearing shall be deemed waived as to those assessments.
(A) The service charge review request shall include a statement of the reason or reasons that the alarm user believes justify reduction or waiver of the service charge. The alarm user shall describe, if applicable, what actions have been taken to discover and eliminate such alarm activations in the future.
(B) Grounds for alarm service charge reduction or waiver are an Act of God or a valid alarm activation where a crime report is prepared by the Police Department.
(C) An alarm user may present evidence that a series of concurrent alarm activations were caused by a common cause which could not have been reasonably corrected before subsequent activations occurred, in which case, the activations occurring within a 48-hour period, commencing with the first commonly caused activation, provided that the responsible alarm business has documented, to the Police Chief or designee, the action taken to rectify the cause and there are no additional activations of the alarm system from the documented cause within 30 days from the documented cause.
(D) The alarm user shall be notified, in writing, within 30 days of the findings of the Police Chief or designee. In the event that good cause for relief has been shown, the service charge will be reduced or waived. In the event that good cause for relief is not shown, the alarm user will be advised that the service charge or service charges, as applicable, are due and payable on receipt of notice.
(Res. 1776, passed 4-24-03)