Homes and businesses whose alarms bring repeated false calls would pay on a steeper, tiered scale under fee schedule changes the Princeton City Council takes up Monday, Oct. 26.
The ordinance, presented by Development Services Director Shai Roos, amends the Development Services and Fire Department fee schedule the council adopted July 27. It is on the regular agenda for the 6:30 p.m. meeting at the Princeton Municipal Center.
False alarm fees
Today the schedule charges $100 per false alarm after three in a calendar year and $175 for each one once there have been five or more, according to the version attached to the agenda.
The proposal counts alarms over any 12-month period and keeps the first three free for everyone. After that it splits property owners into two groups:
- Residential: $75 each for the fourth and fifth false alarms, $250 each for the sixth and seventh, and $500 for the eighth and every one after.
- Commercial: $150 each for the fourth and fifth, $500 each for the sixth and seventh, and $1,000 for the eighth and beyond.
Under the new scale, a homeowner's fourth or fifth false alarm in a year would cost less than the current $100, while repeat calls beyond that would cost more.
Home additions
The permit fee for a residential addition or alteration, now a flat $400, would become 68 cents per square foot under roof with a $200 minimum. At that rate, a project would have to top roughly 590 square feet before it cost more than the current fee.
