Amy Kates v. Cotuit, Town of - Fire District (SPR 20171566)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records November 14,201 7 SPR1711566 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, 5 10A; 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 7/1/16 through 6130117." The District provided a fee estimate of $49.94 for the production of the records. Fee estimates A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, 5 10(d). The fees must Id. reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a public record. G. L. c. 66, 5 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, 5 lO(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, Id. redact or reproduce a record requested, but the fee shall not be more than $25 per hour. 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, 5 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 One Ashburton Place, Room 1719 , Boston, Massachusetts 0210 8 (617 ) 727-2832. Fax: (617 ) 727-59 14 sec.state.ma.us/pre pre@sec.state.ma.us

Charles Eager Page 2 November 14,201 7 petition under G. L. c. 66, 5 10(d)(iv). G. L. c. 66, 5 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 at http://www.sec.state.ma.us/pre/prepdf/guide.pdPf.u blic 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 28" fee estimate In response to SPR17/1470, the District provided Ms. Kates with a revised fee estimate of $48.19 including "[two hours] for research, collecting invoice, reviewing for any possible redaction" plus copying costs. In Ms. Kates' appeal, she is questioning the $48.19 fee provided by the District to research, collect, and review the invoices. She claims since the District informed her "that my request would consist of 35 pages, that the parties have the documents easily available in order to have stated the exact number of 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 $48.19, specifically, why it will take the District more than two hours to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the records. G. L. c. 66, 5 1O (d)(iii). Please note, since the District has not petitioned the Supervisor of Records to charge a fee for segregation and redaction, a fee shall not be assessed for segregation or redaction unless it is required by law. G. L. c. 66, 5 1O (d)(iv); see G. L. c. 66, 5 lO(d)(iii); 950 CMR 32.06(4). 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 *withinf ive business days. A copy of any such response must be provided to this office. It is preferabre to send an electronic copy of this response to this office at pre@,sec.state.ma.us. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Amy Kates