COUNTY OF SAN MATEO

Inter-Departmental Correspondence

San Mateo County Fire Department

DATE:

June 8, 2011

BOARD MEETING DATE:

June 28, 2011

SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:

Ten days/Public Hearing

VOTE REQUIRED:

Majority

TO:

Honorable Board of Supervisors

FROM:

Peggy Jensen, Deputy County Manager

SUBJECT:

Resolution Amending the Fire Marshal Service Fee Schedule to Include Fees for Response to False Fire Alarms

RECOMMENDATION:

Adopt a resolution amending the Fire Marshall Service Fee Schedule to include fees for response to false fire alarms.

BACKGROUND:

County Fire provides fire protection services to the unincorporated area of the County through an agreement with the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (Cal Fire). In December of 2010, at the recommendation of the County Fire Chief, your Board adopted local amendments to align the County Fire Code with the 2010 California Fire Code. The local amendments included language in Sections 3.84.280 and 3.84.290 that allowed County Fire to charge property owners for false alarms.

Responding to false fire alarms requires significant County Fire staff time. It also negatively affects the overall safety of the community by diverting fire department personnel and resources from actual emergencies. In 2010, County Fire responded to 109 fire alarms, of which 34 were false alarms. The majority of the false alarms, 24, were responses by the Pescadero Station. The Skylonda and Cordilleras stations each had 3 false alarms in 2010 and the Tower Road station had 4. It is hoped that this fee will reduce the number of false alarms and the associated responses by County Fire.

DISCUSSION:

The proposed County Fire false alarm fee is $177.53. The fee is based on the County Fire response costs.

County Fire proposes imposing fees only on the third and subsequent responses to a false alarm in a calendar year. No fees would be charged for the first and second responses. After the first false alarm, County Fire will send a written notice to the owner of the property. The notice will advise the property owner that County Fire responded to a false fire alarm at the premises and that the false alarm may be due to either a malfunction or improper maintenance of the fire alarm system. The notice will also recommend actions to correct the problem and will outline the potential consequences for additional responses to false fire alarms, including the fees associated with additional responses during the same calendar year.

The proposed fee schedule has exemptions for false alarms emanating from a fire alarm system that has been installed within the 45 days prior to the false alarm and during any County of San Mateo Declared Disaster area or area wide power interruption which is out of the control of the property owner.

The City of San Francisco and the Menlo Park and Coastside Fire Protection Districts all have false alarm ordinances and fees. The fee proposed by County Fire is almost the same as the $172.85 charged by Coastside. Menlo Park and San Francisco both have higher fees, $570.00 and $250.00 due to their higher operating costs. All of these agencies allow two false alarms a year before imposing the fees. After the fifth false alarm, the San Francisco fee increases to $500.00.

County Counsel has approved the resolution as to form.

Approval of this action contributes to the Shared Vision 2025 outcome of a Healthy Community by ensuring that fire protection services are not diverted from actual emergencies through unnecessary false fire alarms.

Performance Measure(s):

Measure

FY 2009-10
Actual

FY 2010-11
Projected

Number of calls responded to:

-Fire Related Incidents

-Other Incidents

399

760

175

730

FISCAL IMPACT:

There will be minimal impact to residents and businesses, as fees will only be assessed for repeated false fire alarms. There would be a small increase in funds recovered for activities of the San Mateo County Fire Department.