TO:	Honorable Eddie Lucio Jr., Chair, Senate Committee on Intergovernmental Relations
FROM:	Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board
IN RE:	HB2162 by Simmons (Relating to municipal regulation of the use of alarm systems; authorizing a municipal fee.), Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted

The bill would amend the Local Government Code to permit a municipality to impose a permit fee of up to $250 a year for alarm system locations. The bill would permit a municipality to refuse to respond to a location if the location has had more than eight other false alarms during the preceding 12 months. The bill provides penalties for a person who uses an alarm system for a report of a false alarm by an alarm system monitor if at least three other false alarms have occurred at the location within the last year. The bill would prohibit a municipality from imposing a penalty under certain conditions. Under the provisions of the bill, a municipality that adopts an ordinance requiring a permit before using an alarm system in the municipality could impose a penalty of up to $250 for the false report by an alarm systems monitor on a person who has not complied with ordinance requirements. The bill would permit a fine of up to $250 for the report of a false alarm on a person not licensed under Chapter 1702, Occupation Code and would prohibit a fine on a person licensed under Chapter 1702, Occupation Code. A property owner or an agent of the property owner may elect to exclude a city from receiving an alarm signal located on the owner's property. Under the provisions of the bill, a municipality would be permitted to adopt an ordinance that specifies the requirements a property owner must satisfy to elect to exclude the municipality from receiving the alarm signal.

Local Government Impact

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