Amy Kates v. Cotuit, Town of - Fire District (SPR 20171470)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords October 25, 2017 SPR17/1470 Charles Eager Clerk Cotuit Fire District 64 High Street Cotuit, MA 02635 Dear Mr. Eager: I have received the petition of Amy Kates appealing the response of the Cotuit Fire District (District) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 1O A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, Ms. Kates requested "invoices received from any attorneys retained by the Board of Fire Commissioners, to include the reasons for the requests for representation, for the period of 711/16 through 6/30/17." The District provided a fee estimate of $60 for the production of the records. Fee estimates A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10 ( d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. I d. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. G. L. c. 66, § 10 ( d)(i). Municipalities may not assess a fee for the first two 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, § 1O (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 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

Charles Eager SPR1711470 Page2 October 25, 2017 petition under G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iii); 950 CMR 32.06(4). 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. The District's October 1 ot!t fee estimate The District indicated in their October 10, 2017 response to Ms. Kates that the estimated cost of the request is $60, which is subject to change once the information has been collected. The District states that ifthe·estimate is agreeable they will have the Treasurer begin his search. In Ms. Kates appeal she is questioning the $60 fee provided by the District. She claims the records "should be easily retrievable from the District's database, since the Treasurer has received signed warrants and has paid those bills." Ms. Kates further states "the Cotuit Fire District employs an Assistant Treasurer at an hourly rate of pay of $22.068" and she questions whether "the requested records would be more than a few printed pages." I understand a Public Records Division staff member contacted you and you indicated the District would provide Ms. Kates a supplemental response to explain the basis of the $60 charge as well as a breakdown of the fee estimate. Conclusion Accordingly, I will consider this appeal closed with the proviso that the District provide Ms. Kates with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten 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. Sincerely, . ~~ Supervisor of Records cc: Amy Kates