"It's worth it to be paying 75% of the Town's total budget to the police department. Look at all they do for the residents. Free alarm monitoring! If you don't support this, you've go ta big problem!".

Next step: parcel tax fails.

Now: "Chief Steve McCulley has recommended that residents start paying an annual alarm registration fee."

Time to OUTSOURCE these jokers.

"Chief Steve McCulley has recommended that residents start paying an annual alarm registration fee and a $200 fine for all false alarms beyond the first each year. "

The fine is...er...fine. I get that there's a non-zero cost to false alarms.

An alarm registration fee is a non-starter. I refuse to pay for the right to secure my own home!!!! What next, a fee for locking my front door?

I'm pro-Atherton PD, but proposals like this will kill off the PD and make it easy to make the case for contracting out to the sheriff.

Since the Town actually monitors my alarm I would have NO problem paying afee for that service.

Why should some Atherton residents get a free service that in most other communities is either not available or is charged for?

The logic the town has had in the past is that monitoring all alarms at no charge to the homeowner allows quick response to a break in rather than have an outside alarm company monitor the alarm. There has been a charge to the homeowner for multiple false alarms. That seems fair.
Charging for alarm monitoring increases response time when outside alarm companies have to report.
The town can well afford to offer this to its residents.

How can you tell when a politicians is lying? Their lips are moving.
Any tax the town tries implement goes against their promise last June to not increase or add any new taxes. The logic that this tax will not be paid by the residents, but instead, by the businesses is short sighted. The cost of all expenses doing business is always passed on the the customers, the residents. We will be paying any increase in business taxes. You can count on it.
This tax will definitely be opposed if placed on the ballot but the real estate industry and the residents who opposed the parcel tax.

"Why should some Atherton residents get a free service that in most other communities is either not available or is charged for?"

Because we've been repeatedly told our property tax (and prior parcel taxes) that are very high support a very expensive police department, but we are getting the value in service from that.

It's definitely not "free".

The "added service" APD provides could easily be provided by a private guard service. The town should outsource the police work to the Sheriff. The private security company could monitor alarms, take in newspapers, keep homeowners keys, water their lawns and whatever other NON-POLICE duties APD handles. Having a police department for that stuff is a ridiculous waste of money.

The Sheriff can provide equal levels of POLICE services for half the cost. A security company could handle the rest for significantly less than half the cost of what APD costs. Won't need a new gym for the PD then either.

Menlo Voter.
Your proposed solution makes way too much sense and logic. This is politics, remember.

If the cost of responding to about 5,000 alarms is $135,000, why is the proposal not simply a fee of $27/alarm which roughly offsets the cost? Doe the PD need to mark it up over 700% for some reason? Sounds like a good business. Are they planning an IPO soon?

I pay $48/month for alarm monitoring for our home in El Dorado County - why should my alarm monitoring in Atherton be free?

@awatkins – They need the extra money to funnel to the town center and to make up for the parcel tax.

@Peter – because the PD promised this in return for not considering outsourcing.

Please go ahead and charge something for monitoring; it clearly should not be a free service. For once, I agree with Mr. Carpenter.