Legislature Considering Removal Of Alarm Program Renewal Fee

Suffolk Legis. Kate Browning, above, is pushing a change that would eliminate renewal fees for people who have registered their residential building in the county’s false alarm program.

By Janee Law

jlaw@longislandergroup.com

The Suffolk County Legislature is considering the elimination of registration renewal fees for residential buildings registered in its false alarm program.

Legislator Kate Browning (WFP-Shirley) proposed the change, which would ultimately eliminate the $50 renewal fee for residents. The $100 fee to renew permits for non-residential buildings would remain, however, and both residents and business owners would still have to pay an initial registration fee, which is $50 for residents ($25 for residents ages 70 and older) and $100 for business owners.

The legislature scheduled a hearing on the change for Tuesday, but Browning was unable to attend and a recess to April was approved.

The county’s false alarm program, which began in April 2016, issues fines to residents and business owners whose burglar alarm systems are falsely triggered and responded to by police.

Although Browning said she also wanted to eliminate renewal fees for businesses, she compromised that businesses can write off the registration cost in their taxes as a business expense. That’s not the case for homeowners, she added.

“I think it’s unfair to the homeowner,” she said in an interview Wednesday. “You’re paying for an alarm system, you’re paying for a service through an alarm company and then you now have to register with the police department. It’s just another tax.”

Browning said the bi-annual registration renewal fee is still unfair, adding that a one-time registration fee is enough and that registration renewals should be at no cost.

The false alarm program was previously amended in November 2016, when the legislature passed a bill to lower the cost of fines issued through it to both businesses and residents.

The public hearing on Browning’s proposal is slated for 4 p.m., April 25 at the William H. Rogers Legislature Building (725 Veterans Memorial Highway, Hauppauge).