HomeMy WebLinkAboutIR 10479 INFORMAL REPORT TO CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS No. 20-10479
To the Mayor and Members of the City Council
September 15, 2020
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* rrn SUBJECT: ALARM SYSTEM PERMITS AND RENEWAL NOTIFICATION
PROCESS
The purpose of this report is to address concerns regarding City notice for alarm permit renewals. Chapter
12 of the City Code addresses Emergency Reporting Equipment and Procedures, including the
requirements for alarm permits, alarm systems and alarm system companies.
Alarm systems can be either monitored or unmonitored. Unmonitored systems do not automatically
summon a Police response and do not require a permit. Monitored alarm systems provide either direct or
indirect reporting to the Police Department. Residential and most commercial alarm systems provide
indirect alarm reporting to the Police Department, meaning that the notification of an alarm goes through
an alarm company prior to notifying the Police Department of activity indicative of an emergency situation
that the alarm system is designed to detect. Property owners that install a monitored alarm system and
wish to have a Police response to an alarm activation must have an alarm permit issued by the
Development Services Department.
There are currently 16,974 active alarm system permit holders. Residential alarms make up 12,274 of
these permits with the remainder being commercial alarms. Alarm permits generated $1.8M in revenue in
FY19 from permitting and false alarm fees.
An alarm permit is valid for one year and has an annual cost of $50 for a residential alarm system permit
and $100 for a commercial alarm system permit. Until January 2020, renewal notices for expiring alarm
system permits were sent out the month prior to the permit expiration by mail, or by e-mail if the customer
provided an e-mail address. In the process of answering the City Council's concerns about alarm permit
renewals it was discovered that since January 2020 only the automated email renewal notices have been
sent. This failure to mail hard copy courtesy renewal notices occurred due to a poor transition of duties
between a retiring employee and the supervisor. Approximately 67% of residential alarm permit holders
and 56% of commercial alarm permit holders were still receiving the automated e-mail renewal
notifications. September and future renewal notifications will go out both by mail and email.
On April 7, 2020, the City Council approved M&C 20-0219 authorizing a contract with CentralSquare
Technologies to manage the City's alarm permitting process. City staff is currently working with
CentralSquare on the implementation of this project, which is on schedule for them to go live at the end of
September. The intent of outsourcing is to reduce false alarms, provide false alarm education, increase
fee and fine collections, and improve responder and citizen safety. CentralSquare will process alarm
permits, send out all renewal notices 30 to 45 days prior to alarm permit expiration and collect fees and
fines online. They will retain 12% of the alarm permit revenue. The City will continue to conduct hearing to
appeal the assessment of false alarm fees, revocation or refusal to issue or renew a permit and to process
walk in alarm permits requests in the Development Services Department.
For any questions on alarm system permitting, please contact Allison Gray, Assistant Development
Services Director, at 817-392-8030.
David Cooke
City Manager
ISSUED BY THE CITY MANAGER FORT WORTH, TEXAS