Cynthia B. Gardner v. Cotuit, Town of - Fire District (SPR 20181432)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor ofR ecords October 9, 2018 SPRlS/1432 Ray Pirrone Cotuit Fire District 64 High Street Cotuit, MA 0263 5 Dear Ray Pirrone: I have received the petition of Cynthia Gardner appealing the response of the Cotuit Fire District (District) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1 ). Specifically, on July 17, 2018, Ms. Gardner requested records showing whether the Fire Chief worked on and received compensation for identified holidays. Ms. Gardner also requested that the May and June 2018 budgets be posted to the District's website. Fees 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, § 10(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). G. L. c. 66, § lO(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). 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

Ray Pirrone SPR18/1432 Page 2 October 9, 2018 Previous Appeal This appeal is the subject of previous appeals. See SPR18/1088 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (August 6, 2018). See SPR18/1285 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (September 7, 2018). I closed SPR18/1285 by ordering the District to provide Ms. Gardner with a revised fee estimate in a manner consistent with the order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (10) business days. Current Appeal In a letter to this office dated September 21, 2018, Ms. Gardner expressed that she paid the District's fee estimate on September 24, 2018. She then writes, "I request that you find in my favor and order the Cotuit Fire District to reimburse me the eight dollars, since they did not provide me a written response." Please be advised, G. L. c. 66, § 10( e) provides that, "[a] records access officer shall not charge a fee for a public record unless the records access officer responded to the requestor within 10 business." Although the District provided Ms. Gardner a revised fee estimate in a letter dated September 21, 2018, it is unclear whether the District complied with G. L. c. 66, § lO(e) by providing a response to Ms. Gardner's request within 10 business days under G. L. c. 66, §lO(b). Therefore, I find the District may not assess a fee unless it demonstrates that it responded to Ms. Gardner's July 1J 1h request in compliance with G. L. c. 66, § lO(e). Conclusion Accordingly, the District is ordered to provide a response to Ms. Gardner in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within 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. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Cynthia Gardner