HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrdinance 13589ORDINANCE NO ~~~
AN ORDINANCE REVISING AND AMENDING SECTION 12-14 "SERVICE
FEE" OF CHAPTER 12 "EMERGENCY REPORTING EQUIPMENT AND
PROCEDURES" OF THE CODE OF THE CITY OF FORT WORTH, TEXAS
(1986), AS AMENDED, INCREASING THE SERVICE FEE FOR MORE THAN
FIVE FALSE ALARMS IN A TWELVE MONTH PERIOD FOR COMMERCIAL
AND RESIDENTIAL FALSE ALARMS, PROVIDING THAT THIS
ORDINANCE SHALL BE CUMULATIVE, PROVIDING FOR A
SEVERABILITY CLAUSE, AND PROVIDING AN EFFECTIVE DATE.
Be rt ordained by the Crty Council of the City of Fort Worth, Texas that:
SECTION 1
Section 12-14 "Service Fees" of Chapter 12 "Emergency Reporting Equipment and
Procedures" of the Code of the City of Fort Worth, Texas (1986), as amended, is hereby further
revised and amended, and after said amendment shall read as follows.
Sec. 12-14 Service fee.
(a) Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), (d), (e) and (f) of this section, the service fee for
each burglary alarm notification emitted from an alarm system that is in excess of five (5)
alarms within any twelve-month period shall be forty-one dollars ($41 00) for each
residential and commercial user The service fee for other than commercial or residential
shall be thirty dollars ($30 00) according to the above criteria. A service fee of sixty dollars
($60 00) shall be charged all users except as provided m the subsections listed above for
each robbery or other manually activated alarm notification emitted from such alarm system
that is m excess of two (2) alarms within any twelve-month period.
(b) If a person notifies the chief and applies for an alarm permit before a new alarm system is
put into service, no service fee will be assessed dunng the first thirty (30) days after the
system is put into service, and alarm notifications during that period will not be counted m
determining when a service fee will be assessed.
(c) If the responding police officer determines that an alarm notification was caused by
unauthorized intrusion, attempted unauthorized intrusion, robbery, attempted robbery or an
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attempt to take a person hostage, that notification will not be counted m determining when a
service fee v~nll be assessed.
(d) An alarm notification will not be counted m determining when a service fee will be assessed
if the permittee can prove that the alarm notification was the result of a severe weather
condition, such as a tornado, hurricane or earthquake or other weather condition that causes
physical damage to the alarm site, or the result of a malfunction m the operation of
telephone lines for the transmission of alarm signals, proof of the latter being documented
m the form of telephone company work orders or time stamped records from the alarm
company showing the penods of interrupted service.
(e) An alarm notification will not be counted m determining when a service fee v~nll be assessed
if more than thirty (30) minutes elapse between the time the police department's
communications division receives the notification and the time a responding officer arrives
at the location of the alarm notification.
(f) Except as provided in subsections (b), (c), (d) and (e) of this section, the holder of an alarm
permit issued under section 12-13(j) of this chapter, a "low income permit," shall pay a
service fee of fifteen dollars ($15 00) for each burglary alarm notification emitted from an
alarm system that is m excess of five (5) alarms within any twelve-month period and thirty
dollars ($30 00) for each robbery or other manually activated alarm notification emitted
from such alarm system that is m excess of two (2) alarms within any twelve-month penod
SECTION 2.
Tlus ordinance shall be cumulative of all provisions of ordinances and of the Code of the
City of Fort Worth, Texas (1986), as amended, except where the provisions of this ordinance are m `
direct conflict with the provisions of such ordinances and such Code, m which event conflicting
provisions of such ordinances and such Code are hereby repealed.
SECTION 3
It is hereby declared to be the intention of the City Council that the sections, paragraphs,
sentences, clauses and phrases of this ordinance are severable, and if any phrase, clause, sentence,
paragraph or section of this ordinance shall be declared void, ineffective or unconstitutional by the
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valid Judgment or decree of any court of competent Jurisdiction, such voidness, ineffectiveness or
unconstrtutionahty shall not effect any of the remaining phrases, clauses, sentences, paragraphs and
sections of tYus ordinance, since the same would have been enacted by the City Council without the
incorporation m this ordinance of any such void, ineffective or unconstitutional phrase, clause,
sentence, paragraph or section.
SECTION 4
This ordinance shall take effect and be in full force and effect 30 days after its passage, and rt is
so ordained.
APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY
•Z~"
~~ orney
Date• ~ ~ /
ADOPTED• -+~ -~~`
EFFECTIVE 0 ~'3~~ 9d
City of Fort Worth, Texas
M'Ayor And ~aanc;l CammunicAtion
DATE REFERENCE NUMBER LOG NAME PAGE
9/29/98 **G-12332 02ALARM 1 of 1
SUBJECT AMEND BURGLAR ALARM SERVICE FEE
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the City Council approve the attached ordinance amending Chapter 12,
"Emergency Reporting Equipment and Procedures", Section 12-14 of the City Code as follows
Approve the service fee for each burglar alarm notification emitted from an alarm system
that is in excess of five (5) false alarms within any twelve month period, to be forty-one
dollars ($41)
DISCUSSION
A review of burglar alarm service fees was conducted utilizing information provided in the April 1998
issue of the Municipal Fee Survey for North Central Texas prepared by the North Central Texas Council
of Governments In comparing the fees associated with the City of Fort Worth, it was found that the
City's service fee was below average for residential/commercial classes, which is $45 An increase of
$11 for false alarm notifications that are in excess of five within a twelve month period is being
recommended to the City Council to generate revenues to offset operating expenditures
There has been no other recommended increase in service fees for burglar false alarms, since
inception in 1986
FISCAL IMPACT -
Estimated Revenue From Revised/New Fees
• To support the service level improvement, it is proposed that the City Council
increase the burglar alarm service fee from $30 to $41 for commercial and
residential establishments. ,,
The estimated additional revenue of $120,000 is based on current re-estimates.
FISCAL INFORMATION/CERTIFICATION
The Police Department will be responsible for collecting and depositing all applicable fees
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Submitted for City Manager's FUND ACCOUNT CENTER AMOUNT CITY SECRETARY
Office by: (to)
GG01 462462 0353102 $120,000 00 ~~R~VE~
Charles Boswell 851 I CITY COUNCIL
Originating Department Head:
SEI' 29 ~ggg
Brudgette Garrett 8518 (from)
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Additional Information Contact: L l/`~
f the
t
ary ®
Citq Secre
City of Port Worth,'~exae
Bridgette Garrett 8518
~-dApted OI.d1C1~-1S~ ~o~