Form revised August 4, 2003
FISCAL NOTE FOR NON-CAPITAL PROJECTS
|
Department: |
Contact
Person/Phone: |
DOF Analyst/Phone: |
|
Executive Administration |
Mel McDonald / 3-0071 |
Karl Stickel / 4-8085 |
Summary of the Legislation:
This proposed ordinance creates burglar and fire alarm
fees to raise revenue and help defray the costs of responding by both the
Seattle Police Department (SPD) and Seattle Fire Department (SFD) to false or
unintentional alarms. The legislation
also amends SMC 10.08 by repealing sections dealing with fire alarms that are
out of date and superceded. The
legislation amends certain sections to reflect the new procedures concerning
SPD false burglar alarms.
Background: (Include brief description of the purpose
and context of legislation and include record of previous legislation and
funding history, if applicable):
The proposed alarm fees will help to fund the activities of the Police and Fire departments as they pertain to false alarms and alarm responses. The false and unintentional alarms for both police and fire create expenses that have been historically borne by the public through the general subfund. The number of alarm systems in the City continues to grow and an increasing number of alarm systems results in increased expenses to respond to such alarms.
To offset these increasing costs and to discourage false or unintentional alarms, the proposed ordinance seeks to levy a license fee for both burglar alarms and fire alarms. The legislation will also levy a false alarm fee on behalf of the SPD that will replace the false alarm citation previously handled by the Municipal Court. The new fees will be administered by the Department of Executive Administration (DEA) under their regulatory and revenue licensing responsibilities. Under the new ordinance, the annual license fees and false alarm fees will be the responsibility of, and billed to, the alarm monitoring companies rather than to individual alarm system subscribers.
SFD will also institute an alarm license fee under this ordinance. For fire alarms, there are two main classifications—alarms required by the Seattle Fire Code and Seattle Building Code, and alarms that are monitored because one or two family residences request to be monitored (non required systems under the fire and building codes).
·
Please check one
of the following:
_____ This legislation does not have any financial implications. (Stop here and delete the remainder of this document prior to saving and printing.)
__X _ This
legislation has financial implications. (Please complete all relevant sections that
follow.)
Increase in Expenses. Due to the administration of the fee, it’s recommended that an additional half time license and enforcement position be approved in DEA to administer the billing of the alarm monitoring companies and also conduct audits to insure the proper amount is being reported and paid. Total cost is $39,000 in 2004.
In support of SPD’s increased role, it’s recommended that an Administrative Specialist II be added to SPD’s budget, at an annual cost of $60,000, to assist in the tracking of false alarms, maintaining SPD related databases, and coordinating the information with DEA. The position will also assist the False Alarms Administrator with false alarm correspondence and assist in the preparation of the alarm education class.
There will be no increase in the SFD budget.
Decrease in Expenses. Currently, the Seattle Municipal Court (SMC) schedules and manages the hearings for false alarm violations. As such, the SMC would realize a small savings in the Magistrate’s time spent on these hearings, as well as other administrative areas. Further, with the new legislation, false alarm collections will no longer exist within SMC, which could result in future savings yet to be determined. At this time, the preliminary savings are estimated to be nominal.
Increase in Revenues. The City estimates that there will be an increase in revenues with the implementation of the legislation. The burglar alarm license fee at $40 should raise approximately $1,163,000. This estimate is based on national alarm industry estimates for comparable cities, modified by the experience of Tacoma, which has recently adopted a regulatory system similar to the one proposed here. The number of burglar alarms within the City could be higher, but there is presently no way of determining an accurate count. Upon obtaining the data from the alarm monitoring companies within the first year, this number will be adjusted accordingly.
Fire alarm monitored license fee revenue is estimated at $403,000 with the required alarm license fee at $320 per year and the non-required alarm license fee at $80 per year.
Appropriations: (Please only reflect the dollar amount
actually appropriated by this legislation.)
|
Fund Name and
Number |
Department |
Budget Control Level* |
2003 Appropriation |
2004 Anticipated Appropriation |
General Subfund (00100)
|
DEA |
Revenue & Consumer Affairs |
$0 |
$39,000 |
General Subfund (00100)
|
SPD |
D/C Administration |
$0 |
$60,000 |
TOTAL |
|
|
$0 |
$99,000 |
* This is line of business for operating budgets, and program or project for capital improvements
Notes: These appropriations will be made within the 2004 Proposed Budget.
Anticipated Revenue/Reimbursement
Resulting From This Legislation:
|
Fund Name and
Number |
Department |
Revenue Source |
2003 Revenue |
2004 Revenue |
|
General Subfund (00100) |
DEA |
Alarm License Fees |
$0 |
$1,566,000 |
|
TOTAL |
|
|
$0 |
$1,566,000 |
Notes: Approximately $340,000 was assumed for 2004 false alarm fee collections in the SMC, and that revenue estimate is being transferred to DEA with the workload shift.
Total Regular Positions Created Or Abrogated Through This Legislation,
Including FTE Impact:
|
Position Title* |
Part-Time/ Full Time |
2003 Positions |
2003 FTE |
2004 Positions** |
2004 FTE** |
|
Licenses and Standards Inspector |
Part-Time (DEA) |
|
|
0.5 FTE |
0.5 FTE |
|
Admin Spec II |
Full time (SPD) |
|
|
1 FTE |
1 FTE |
|
TOTAL |
|
None |
None |
1.5 FTE |
1.5 FTE |
· Fund Name and Number: General Fund_00100__________________________
·
Department:
DEA and SPD, respectively_
______________________________
* List each position
separately
** 2004 positions and FTE are total 2004 position changes resulting from this legislation, not incremental changes from 2003.
· Do positions sunset in the future? (If yes, identify sunset date):
No
Spending/Cash Flow: (Please complete this section only in those
cases where part or all of the funds will be spent in a different year than
when they were appropriated (e.g., as in the case of certain grants and capital
projects.)
|
Fund Name and
Number |
Department |
Budget Control Level* |
2003 Expenditures |
2004 Anticipated Expenditures |
|
N/A |
|
|
|
|
|
TOTAL |
|
|
|
|
* This is line of business for operating budgets, and program or project for capital improvements
Notes:
·
What is the
financial cost of not implementing the legislation? (Estimate the costs to the City of not
implementing the legislation, including estimated costs to maintain or expand
an existing facility or the cost avoidance due to replacement of an existing
facility, potential conflicts with regulatory requirements, or other potential
costs if the legislation is not implemented.)
None.
·
What are the
possible alternatives to the legislation that could achieve the same or similar
objectives? (Include any
potential alternatives to the proposed legislation, such as reducing
fee-supported activities, identifying outside funding sources for fee-supported
activities, etc.)
None.
·
Is the
legislation subject to public hearing requirements: (If
yes, what public hearings have been held to date, and/or what plans are in
place to hold a public hearing(s) in the future.)
No.
·
Other Issues
(including long-term implications of the
legislation):
With the implementation of the new legislation, there may be opposition from the alarm monitoring companies, and related market segments, with respect to the new processes involved in paying the license fee and tracking false alarms through their customer base.