Request By:
Mr. Daniel R. Braun
Assistant City Solicitor
Department of Law
City of Newport
Fourth and York Streets
Newport, Kentucky 41071
Opinion
Opinion By: Steven L. Beshear, Attorney General; Walter C. Herdman, Asst. Deputy Attorney General
This is in response to your letter of July 29 in which you relate the following facts and question:
"There is no doubt that a city may permit various security companies the right to sell and install alarm systems, including electrical burglar alarms, in private homes and businesses within that city. As an obvious aid in the further protection of life and property, often times these companies will install systems which are wired or 'tapped' into central police headquarters and monitored by the city police department who in turn will respond to a given residence or place of business at times when a certain alarm may be triggered. Obviously in the spirit of competition several companies have developed several different devices and types of alarm systems, but all having a common purpose.
The question then which I wish to present for an opinion from this office is whether or not under general police or municipal power, a city or its police department, such as in the City of Newport (second class), may charge businesses and/or residents a nominal monthly fee for the ability to tie their alarm system protecting their building or premise into the city police department. With numerous types of alarms and different signaling devices, the city would like to know if it could charge such a fee for the purpose of purchasing, maintaining, operating and monitoring a 'uniform board' for the channeling of these various signals. Obviously such fee would be used to defer the cost and maintenance of this venture.
In essence, what we would like to know is can a city impose an additional fee for this type of police protection?"
Our response to your question would be in the affirmative. We believe that a reasonable service charge imposed by the city for monitoring electronic devices including burglar alarms that are installed in various businesses and homes by private security companies and channeled to the police department would be a valid exercise of the city's police power in order to cover the anticipated expense of monitoring the system, so long as the fee is uniform in application and nondiscriminatory. It should be in the form of a license or permit. We refer you to the home rule power statute governing all cities, namely KRS 82.082.
We also refer you to McQuillin, Mun. Corp., Vol. 9, § 26.36 relating to the municipal costs of policing activities involving licensing and permits from which we quote the following:
"Compensation for the services of officers and incidental expenses incurred in police inspection or superintendence properly may be considered and included in the license charges."
Of course any fee or charge imposed by the city for the above mentioned purpose must be initiated by ordinance in accordance with the terms of the 1980 Municipal Code, Ch. 82A KRS. See KRS 83A.010(10), 83A.060 ad 83A.130.