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Dexter council debates false-alarm ordinance and delays action to Aug. 10
Summary
Council reviewed proposed changes to the city's false-alarm ordinance, including recovering unpaid false-alarm fees via a single-lot assessment and a draft fee tied to department costs; concerns about swatting, registration, and enforcement led the council to postpone further action to Aug. 10 for more information.
Dexter — The City Council opened a public hearing on proposed amendments to the General Code of Ordinances, section 50, article 3 (false alarms), but postponed further action to Aug. 10 to collect more information on implementation and enforcement.
Justin (City Manager) reviewed revisions recommended by staff and outside reviewer Scott Monzel, telling the council his “recommendation was to instead of, uh, attempting to roll it over to taxes to do essentially what's a single lot assessment. Um, and so if somebody incurs a false alarm fee, um, we would bill them as a as a single lot assessment against the property.” The change would allow the city to bill property owners for unpaid false-alarm fees and, if unpaid, ultimately place the charge on property tax rolls.
The council probed specifics: whether false alarms would be charged per incident or by property, how the fire department would determine what counts as a false alarm, and whether certain responses (for example, public-assist medical calls) would be exempt. Councilors also raised concerns about criminal ‘swatting’ incidents and whether a perpetrator — not the property owner — should be liable. One councilor asked whether language could explicitly account for criminal acts; staff said the draft relies on the appeal process for cases where the property owner is not at fault.
Councilors requested comparative information about other municipalities' approaches and the process used by Ann Arbor and East Grand Rapids, and asked staff to report back on whether single-lot assessments have been effective in those jurisdictions. Justin said the draft fee schedule ties fees to department costs and cited an example calculation drawn from the Dexter Fire Department 2026 cost data.
Popoff moved to postpone additional action until Aug. 10 so staff could provide details about alarm registration, the effectiveness of single-lot assessments, and how the fire department communicates with property owners; the motion carried on a roll call vote.
Next steps: staff will gather the requested information and return the amended ordinance language and supporting data on Aug. 10 for additional council consideration.
