(25 NEWS) – At Tuesday’s Peoria City Council meeting, the council voted unanimously to budget money which would go towards Ring security camera discounts.
The decision comes weeks after 4th district councilman, Jim Montellongo, proposed the idea.
Tuesday night, the city agreed to spend $50,000 on a subsidy program with Ring LLC. Ring is known for their doorbell cameras, but the company offers a variety of security camera devices designed to send alerts to your smartphone.
Ring devices use a WiFi connection so users can see their front door through a built-in camera. The devices allow you to see outside your home from anywhere in the world.
Now that the deal is done, City of Peoria residents will get a chance to buy certain Ring products at a $100 discount. Half the discount is paid by the city; the other half is paid by Ring. Each household will only be eligible for one discount.
During Tuesday’s meeting, 1st district councilwoman, Denise Moore, expressed concern before voting in favor of the deal. She questioned whether residents from each district would have an equal opportunity to capitalize on the deal.
“One or two districts can really rush in there and all the money’s gone in a short period of time,” said Moore.
Moore asked if council members would be open to equally distributing a portion of the discounts among the districts, and leave a little left over for city residents at-large.
In the written proposal, it states the security cameras would most likely be sold at an event hosted by Ring in Peoria.
Mayor Jim Ardis said he would hope the potential event would be well-publicized to give people an equal opportunity to attend.
At the meeting, it was not decided how the discount program would be implemented and no timeline was given as to when it would happen.
