§ 7-15. Appeals.

A. 

If the Alarm Administrator assesses a service fee, fine or denies the issuance, renewal or reinstatement of an alarm permit, the Alarm Administrator shall send written notice of the action and a statement of the right to appeal to the Village Court to the appropriate affected applicant, alarm user, alarm installation company or monitoring company.

B. 

The alarm user, alarm installation company or monitoring company may appeal to the Village court an assessment of a service fee, fine, the suspension of an alarm permit, the denial of an alarm permit, or suspension of response by setting forth in writing the reasons for the appeal within 15 business days after notice of the action of the Alarm Administrator.

C. 

The alarm user or the alarm installation company or monitoring company may appeal to the Village Court the decision of the Alarm Administrator to the Village Court as follows:

(1) 

The applicant, alarm user, alarm installation company or the monitoring company may file a written request for appeal and by paying a fee of $25, setting forth the reasons for the appeal within 20 business days after the date of notification of the decision from the Alarm Administrator.

(2) 

The Village Court shall conduct a hearing of the appeal within 30 days of the receipt of the request and consider the evidence presented by the individual filing the appeal or any interested parties. The Village Court shall render its decision on the basis of the preponderance of evidence presented at the hearing. The Village Court will render a decision within 15 days after the date of the hearing.

D. 

Filing of a request for appeal shall stay the action by the Alarm Administrator suspending the payment of a fee or fine, the suspension of an alarm permit, the denial of an alarm permit or suspension of response until the Village Court has rendered its decision. If a request for appeal is not made within the twenty-business-day period, the action of the Alarm Administrator shall be final and not subject to further review.

E. 

Adjustment of number of false alarms.

(1) 

The Alarm Administrator or Village Court, within their absolute discretion, may adjust the count of false alarms based on:

(a) 

Evidence that a false alarm was caused by action of a communications services provider (i.e., telephone, cellular, cable company);

(b) 

Evidence that a false alarm was caused by a power outage lasting longer than four hours or severe weather such as a tornado or earthquake;

(c) 

Evidence that the alarm dispatch request was not a false alarm;

(d) 

Evidence of documented work orders showing reasonable and timely attempts to repair the alarm system prior to additional false alarms; or

(e) 

Any other circumstances that demonstrate, by a preponderance of the evidence, that it was not a false alarm.

(2) 

In determining the number of false alarms, multiple alarms occurring in any twenty-four-hour period may, but need not, be counted as one false alarm to allow the alarm user time to take corrective action, provided the false alarms are directly caused by the alarm user.