9.30.030 Alarm permits required – Terms – Fees and fee collection.
A. An alarm user shall not operate, or cause to be operated, any alarm system without a valid alarm permit. A separate alarm permit is required for each alarm site having a distinct address or business name. No alarm system shall be activated until a permit fee and a completed alarm permit application for that alarm system has been received and approved by the alarm administrator.
B. Owners of local alarm systems are required to adhere to all sections of this chapter and are subject to all fees, service fees, suspensions, penalties or other requirements that are applicable.
C. The fee for a new initial alarm permit shall be collected by the alarm installation company and an alarm permit renewal fee shall be collected by the alarm agreement holding company and remitted to the city.
D. Existing Security Alarm Systems.
1. Any security alarm system which has been installed before the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter shall be registered and a permit fee collected by the alarm agreement holding company within 60 days after such effective date. Ninety days prior to the effective date of this chapter, each alarm company with monitored accounts shall provide the alarm administrator with a complete list of active customers in the city of Auburn to assist the alarm administrator with creating and maintaining tracking data. The customer data shall be provided electronically in a format acceptable to the alarm administrator and shall include the customer name, alarm site address, billing address, and phone number. Addresses must be in a coding accuracy support system (CASS) certified format.
2. The alarm agreement holding company may through a mutual written agreement have another alarm company provide the alarm user’s list and collect the permit fee.
3. Failure to comply within 30 days after being notified in writing from the alarm administrator will result in a fee of $50.00 per business day until the alarm agreement holding company complies with this requirement. Failure to comply after 10 business days will result in the suspension of the company’s security alarm license. The city shall assess a reinstatement fee of $100.00 and an additional fee of $10.00 per permitted alarm user, if users have been notified of the suspension in accordance with ACC 9.30.090 and 9.30.120.
E. New Security Alarm Systems.
1. Any alarm installation company that installs a security alarm system on premises located within the city limits of Auburn shall notify the alarm administrator that a security alarm system has been installed and send the alarm administrator the required information as listed in the alarm permit application pursuant to ACC 9.30.040, including the appropriate registration permit fee collected from the alarm user.
2. Failure of an alarm installation company to notify the alarm administrator of a new security alarm system installation prior to the system’s activation shall result in a $100.00 fine to the alarm installation company.
3. The initial alarm permit registration fee must be submitted to the alarm administrator at the same time as the registration application or an alarm system takeover.
4. It shall be the responsibility of the alarm installation company to forward to the alarm administrator the application completed by the alarm user, the notice of a new system and the appropriate permit fees within seven days of installation.
F. Alarm Registration, Permit and Renewal Fees.
1. An alarm registration shall expire one year from the date of issuance, and must be renewed annually by the alarm agreement holding company by submitting an updated application and a registration permit renewal fee to the alarm administrator. The alarm administrator shall notify the alarm agreement holding company of the need to renew their registered customers within a reasonable timeframe, as determined by the alarm administrator, prior to the expiration of the registration on a monthly basis. It is the responsibility of the alarm agreement holding company to submit the updated information and renewal fees prior to the registration expiration date. Failure to renew shall be classified as use of a nonregistered security alarm system and subject the alarm site to a suspension and late fees.
2. Registration permit fees shall be collected annually based on a one-year permit period. Annual permit and renewal fees required are as follows:
|
Residential |
$24.00 |
|
Commercial |
$24.00 |
|
Residential Low Income Senior Citizen/Disabled Citizen |
$12.00 |
3. In order to qualify for the residential low income senior citizen/disabled citizen rate, applicants shall meet the criteria called for to qualify for the city’s low income senior citizen/disabled citizen utility discount, per ACC 13.24.010, be listed as the property owner or lessee, and shall have the alarm agreement in their name. This residential low income senior citizen/disabled citizen rate option applies only to residential alarm sites.
G. Late Fee. Alarm agreement holding companies who fail to make payment for an alarm permit prior to the registration expiration date will be assessed a late fee in the amount of $25.00.
H. Refunds. No refund of a permit or permit renewal fee will be made.
I. Any alarm installation company that installs or activates an alarm system on premises within the city after the effective date of the ordinance codified in this chapter shall have the alarm user complete a customer false alarm prevention checklist and the installer shall complete an alarm installer checklist. The alarm installation company shall keep on file the completed checklist for up to one year after the activation of the alarm system. Failure to complete the required checklists shall result in a $100.00 administrative fee per incident against the alarm installation company.
J. Upon receipt of a completed alarm permit application form and the alarm permit fee, the alarm administrator shall issue a permit or permit renewal to the applicant unless:
1. The applicant has failed to pay any fee assessed under this chapter; or
2. An alarm permit for the alarm site has been suspended, and the condition causing the suspension has not been corrected; or
3. The alarm installation company and/or the monitoring company listed on the permit application do not have a current valid security alarm license issued by the police department.
4. Any false statement of a material fact made by an applicant for the purpose of obtaining an alarm registration shall be sufficient cause for refusal to issue a registration alarm permit.
K. Upon receipt of the permit application form and fee, the alarm administrator shall issue a permit and permit number to the alarm user and their monitoring company which is valid one year. Renewal permits are valid for a one-year period.
L. Permit Number. A valid permit number for the alarm site is required for each request for a burglar alarm dispatch. A burglar alarm request without a valid permit number shall not be accepted for a police dispatch.
M. Exceptions.
1. Government entities, including but not necessarily limited to the city of Auburn, county, state, federal and school district entities, must obtain permits for all alarm systems on property under their control within the corporate boundaries of the city of Auburn, but are exempt from payment of permit and renewal fees.
2. All permit fee exempted alarm sites are required to obtain and maintain a valid alarm permit for police response and are subjected to all other fees and suspension enforcements. (Ord. 6216 § 1, 2009; Ord. 5716 § 1, 2002; Ord. 5682 § 1, 2002.)