C.J. Ferry v. Fall River, City of - Office of the Corporation Counsel (SPR 20170646)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords May 19, 2017 SPR17/646 Allison Bouchard City of Fall River - City Clerk One Government Center Fall River, MA 02722 Dear Ms. Bouchard: I have received the petition of CJ Ferry appealing the response of the City of Fall River (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66 § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Mr. Ferry requested a number ofrecords pertaining to the "Great Feast of the Holy Ghost." Corporation Counsel, Joseph Macy, initially responded to Mr. Ferry with a fee estimate on May 9, 2017. Mr. Ferry, claiming this fee estimate to be excessive, petitioned this office. Mr. Ferry requested three Categories of records from the City: 1) "Any all application filed by the Great Feast of the Holy Ghost for the years 2014, 2015, and 2016 for all division covered under Inspectional services, including but not limited to Building inspector, Health Department, Police Department, Fire Department, Water Department, et al ... " 2) "Copies of all accounting for receipts received from and charged by the above referenced Inspectional Services departments and divisions to the Great Feast of the Holy Ghost and its agents, officers, and authorized representatives for the years 2014, 2015, and 2016." 3) "Copies of all accounting for salaries, overtime and other expenditures Department and Divisions for provision of services and inspections to the Great Feast of the Holy Ghost." On May 91 h, the City provided a response to Mr. Ferry's request for public records, including a written fee estimate of $658.25 for "researching, compiling, and reproducing" the responsive records. For records responsive to Category 1), Corporation Counsel Macy estimated that it will take an employee, whose wage is $19.80 per hour, a total of 16 hours to "research and locate" the records and then to archive them again. For records responsive to Category 2), the time needed will be 7 hours at $19.80 per hour. For records responsive to Category 3), the time needed will be 10 hours at $19 .80 per hour. The total cost of compiling One Ashburton Place, Room 1719, Boston, Massachusetts 02108 • (617) 727-2832• Fax: (617) 727-5914 sec.state.ma.us/pre• pre@sec.state.ma.us

Allison Bouchard SPRl 7/646 Page 2 May 19, 2017 all responsive records was estimated by the City to be $653.40. Additionally, the City will be charging a copying fee of $4.75, thus bringing the total fee estimate amount to $658.15. Fee estimates A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d ). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(i). Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first (two) 2 hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the record or records requested unless the municipality has 20,000 people or less. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d )(iii). Where appropriate, municipalities may include as part of the fee an hourly rate equal to or less than the hourly rate attributed to the lowest paid employee who has the necessary skill required to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 per hour. Id. However, municipalities may charge more than $25 per hour if such rate is approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv). A fee shall not be assessed for time spent segregating or redacting records unless such segregation or redaction is required by law or approved by the Supervisor of Records under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iii); 950 CMR 32.06(4). Order I find the City has not met its burden explaining how the May 9th fee estimate is reasonable in accordance with the Public Records Law and its Regulations. Accordingly, the City is hereby ordered to provide Mr. Ferry with a revised response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (10) business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferable to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us. To assist in requesting and responding to requests for public records please refer to our publication, A Guide to the Massachusetts Public Records Law. This document is available on the Internet, free of charge, at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdf. Public Records Division attorneys are available during regular business hours to answer general questions regarding the Public Records Law. In addition, Public Records Division staff will visit a records custodian in person to conduct training workshops on the Public Records Law upon request. Please contact the Public Records Division directly at the telephone number provided in this determination for further information.

Allison Bouchard SPR17/646 Page 3 May 19, 2017 Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: CJ Ferry