TN: New rules and fees to come to home, business alarm system …

New rules and fees to come to home, business alarm system owners. … Starting in January, it will cost $30 to register your home alarm with the Metro Alarm Office, $60 to get a new permit for a commercial business, $10 to renew a home alarm permit and $25 to renew the business permit.

New rules and fees are on the way if you use an alarm system to protect your home or business in the City of Memphis.

The City of Memphis is sending out flyers as a reminder that change is coming. Starting Jan. 1, 2020 the alarm permitting process and penalties for false alarms are changing.

Ninety-nine percent of the alarms that Memphis Police and firefighters respond to are false. A single alarm ties up emergency responders for an average of 30 minutes. City leaders say it’s costing Memphis taxpayers more than $1 million each year.

So city council beefed up the permitting process and hiked up the fines for false alarms. Starting in January, it will cost $30 to register your home alarm with the Metro Alarm Office, $60 to get a new permit for a commercial business, $10 to renew a home alarm permit and $25 to renew the business permit.

An alarm customer with a permit is allowed one free false alarm. After that, it’s A $50 fine plus the cost of service.

You get no free false alarm if you don’t have a permit. And tack on an additional $20 to the fine, plus the permit fee and the service cost.

The service cost is how much it cost MPD of MFD to show up at your house or business, which can range from $90 to $250!

The city can revoke your permit and order you to mandatory online alarm class if you fail to pay your fines. The other big change coming: you must register your alarm with the Metro Alarm Office now as opposed to your alarm company taking care of it.