Bellevue home and business owners will soon be facing penalties from police responding to false alarm activations in the city, under a new program that also comes with an annual fee for tracking their devices.

The Bellevue Police Department approached the council last March with a proposal to correct an issue of faulty residential and commercial burglary alarm systems, by imposing fines to incentivize better maintenance of equipment and fewer tripped alarms.

The city council on May 4 approved a four-year contract with AOT Public Safety Corporation to manage Bellevue’s program, which requires alarm owners to pay an annual $25 registration fee and a $100 fine for a false alarm. Under a false alarm ordinance adopted by the council in December, an alarm awareness class may be taken to avoid the first fine. Panic, silent, robbery, burglary and duress false alarm calls will result in a $200 fine.

This biennial budget assumes false alarm revenue of $75,000 this year, and $70,000 in 2016, estimated to go down due to alarm owners taking corrective actions. Because the program can’t be implemented until the last quarter of the year, 2015 revenue will fall short of its budget projection.

The city will receive 71 percent of the first $75,000 in revenue from fines, alarm registrations and renewals in the first and second years of the program, and 81 percent after that. The remaining percentage goes to PSC for management of the program, using its proprietary CryWolf software. PSC is based in Waldorf, Md.

Bellevue Deputy Police Chief Mike Johnson stated last March about 98 percent of burglary alarms were either caused by faulty electronics or being set off accidentally. The city reports an annual average of 3,300 false alarm calls and 3,871 in 2014.