TO:	Honorable Dan Patrick, Lieutenant Governor, Senate Honorable Joe Straus, Speaker of the House, House of Representatives
FROM:	Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB2162 by Simmons (Relating to regulation of the use of alarm systems in certain municipalities; authorizing a municipal fee.), Conference Committee Report

The bill would amend the Local Government Code to permit certain municipalities to regulate burglar alarm systems. The bill would require a municipal ordinance to use permit fees for the general administration of the subchapter if the ordinance adopted required such fees. Under the provisions of the bill, a permit fee would not be permitted to exceed $50 for a residential location and $250 for other alarm system locations. The bill would prohibit a municipality from terminating a law enforcement response because of excess false alarms if the false alarm fees are paid in full. The bill would prohibit a municipality from refusing to issue an alarm system permit for a residential location solely because the location is an individual residential unit located in a multiunit housing facility. The bill establishes criteria for responding to alarms and penalties associated with false alarms. The bill specifies that a municipality that does not respond to an alarm is not liable for damages that may occur. The bill would permit a property owner or agent to elect to exclude the city from receiving an alarm signal by an alarm system located on the property owner's property.

Local Government Impact

No significant fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated.