Committee approves Executive Regulation 12‑25, raising alarm fees and adding a 30‑minute silencing standard

The Montgomery County Public Safety work session on July 7 approved Executive Regulation 12‑25, which raises alarm registration fees and adds a technical standard for alarm systems; the committee approved the regulation by acclamation.

Council staff explained the regulation would replace the current code language, increase the biannual alarm-user renewal fee from $10 to $20 and raise the commercial alarm-user registration fee from $30 to $60. The regulation also adds a technical adjustment: any audible alarm must automatically silence the annunciator within 30 minutes after activation. The regulation was advertised in the April register and drew no public comments during advertising, staff said.

Council staff said the fees have not been updated since 1995 and that inflation and administrative costs justify the increase. The fiscal-impact statement transmitted with the regulation projects a county revenue increase of about $260,000 if the regulation is approved and estimates total alarm-program revenues at roughly $1.6 million for fiscal 2026.

Committee members discussed the rationale and operational implications. Assistant Chief Darren Frank and budget director Dale Phillips described work by the county’s false-alarm unit to reduce repeated false calls and to work with businesses that generate frequent alarms; the team also assists unregistered locations to bring systems into compliance. Frank said registration creates an accountability mechanism (including escalating fines) that reduces repeat false alarms and frees officers to answer verified 911 incidents. Phillips said county staff proactively visits frequent-false‑alarm locations to help owners correct issues and obtain proper registration.

Council members sought assurance that genuinely verified in-progress burglaries would still generate responses even where an alarm is unregistered. Frank said active reports from residents or camera-verified suspicious events are handled as distinct calls for service and will be dispatched; the registration program and fines address non‑verified or repeat false alarms that consume resources.

The work session chair called for approval by acclamation; council staff recorded the regulation as adopted. The department and council staff said they will continue outreach to increase registration and maintain the false-alarm reduction unit to limit unnecessary dispatches.