(a) Any premises located within the Village may be equipped with an emergency alarm consisting of equipment, mechanical or electrical, arranged to signal the occurrence of an unauthorized entry or other activity requiring urgent attention to which the Police Department and/or the Fire Department is expected to respond.
(b) As used in this section, "false alarm" means an emergency alarm, activated by inadvertence, negligence or unintentional acts, including, but not limited to, malfunction of the alarm system, to which the Police Department and/or Fire Department responds. The definition excludes false alarms caused by: testing or repairing of telephone equipment or lines; testing or repairing of the normal power supply source for alarms installed on residential subdivisions; acts of God, such as earthquake, flood, windstorm, thunder, hail, or lightning; an attempted illegal entry of which there is visible evidence; or the user acting under a sincere belief that a need exists to call the Police Department and/or Fire Department. Multiple alarms received by the Communications Center before the system can be deactivated within a reasonable period of time shall be considered a single alarm.
(c) False alarm charges shall be made to the person in control of the property on which an emergency alarm is installed as follows, unless waived, in writing for good cause by the Police Department. Annually means per calendar year (January 1 through December 31).
(1) Residential users. A warning shall be issued and no charge shall be made for the first three false alarms annually. A charge of twenty five dollars ($25.00) shall be for the fourth false alarm annually and all subsequent alarms during said calendar year.
(2) Business users. A warning shall be issued and no charge shall be made for the first three false alarms annually. A charge of fifty dollars ($50.00) shall be for the fourth false alarm annually and all subsequent alarms during said calendar year.
(d) Notwithstanding the fee to be assessed, as set forth in division (c) hereof, no charge shall be made for the first, second or third false alarm; nor shall there be any charge for a false alarm to which there is no response by the Police or Fire Departments, nor when it has been established to the satisfaction of the Police Chief or Fire Chief that the owner or operator of the business or residence could not have prevented it with the exercise of ordinary care.
(e) If there is a response by the Police Department or Fire Department to a false alarm resulting from improper equipment, installation, neglect and/or servicing by the alarm company, business and/or agent, the alarm business (company) may be charged a civil penalty of one hundred dollars ($100.00) per false alarm by the Safety Director or his or her designee.
(f) A grace period of 30 days from the date of installation shall be granted for newly installed alarm systems. During this period, no false alarms shall be counted towards the three allowable false alarms before charges are assessed.
(g) A grace period of 30 days from the effective date of this section shall not be included in the charges set forth in this section.
(h) Residential and business false alarm charges shall apply whether the alarm is received from an automatic device or from an alarm monitoring service under this chapter. Any charge for a false alarm remaining unpaid 30 days after the date of the mailing of the invoice for same shall be determined to be delinquent, will result in a certified letter sent from the Police Chief’s office to pay the amount due within ten days or it will be added to their property tax bill with a penalty of 10%. If the amount due is not paid by then, the Director of Finance shall certify the amount due to the County Auditor for collection on the owner's property tax bill.
(Ord. 2012-1. Passed 2-21-12.)