The Dexter City Council voted May 11 to set a June 22 public hearing on a proposed amendment to the city’s false alarm ordinance that would allow the city to recover costs for false fire alarms.
City officials said the change is being considered after a recent increase in false fire alarm calls that have added to the city’s fire service costs.
In a memorandum to council, City Manager Justin Breyer explained, “The City has a False Alarm Ordinance, which was last updated in 2006. In the existing version of the Ordinance, the City is able to charge for false alarms resulting in a police response, but not a false alarm resulting in a fire response.”
Councilmember Joe Semifero noted that the city’s fire department recently had a string of 13 false alarms that cost the city approximately $39,000.
Mayor Shawn Keough said the city is trying to address growing fire service costs while ensuring legitimate emergencies are not penalized.
“We’re struggling with the cost of fire, and one of the things that’s contributing to this is that we have a number of runs that are false alarms,” Keough said. “If there’s a false alarm because somebody did something to trigger it unnecessarily, it affects the cost of the service that we provide.”
The proposed ordinance also would update legal references in the city code and establish a process for collecting unpaid charges. However, Breyer said the city is still researching the best enforcement mechanism.
Council members emphasized the ordinance language is still being refined before the June 22 hearing.
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