Russell Seelig v. Springfield, City of - Public Schools (SPR 20181782)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records December 10, 2018 SPRlS/1782 Anthony Wilson, Esq. City of Springfield 3 6 Court Streets Springfield, MA O1 103 Dear Attorney Wilson: I have received the petition of Russell Seelig appealing the response of the City of Springfield (City) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on June 16, 2018, Mr. Seelig requested "a viewing of the most recent available Tyler Technology English Language Description of the process and procedures that describe the mass appraisal software that used to value single family resident properties in Springfield." Mr. Seelig also states, "if such is not available within the City's documents either in paper or electronic form, then this is a request that same be obtained from its employee, Tyler Technology, and passed on to the requestor." Previous Appeals This request was the subject of previous appeals. See SPR18 /1232 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (August 27, 2018); SPR18/1339 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (September 26, 2018). I closed SPR18/1339 by ordering the City to provide Mr. Seelig with a supplemental response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with the order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten business days. In an email dated October 5, 2018, the City provided Mr. Seelig a supplemental response in accordance to SPR18/1339. In the October 5th letter, you state to Mr. Seelig that, "[p]ersonnel in the Assessor's Office have advised that it does not have any documents in addition to the ones that were provided to you in the City's September 11, 2018 response to your SOC appeal# SPR18-1232." You further write, "[i]n addition, Tyler Technologies, Inc. is an independent contractor. As such, the City does not have control or custody of any Tyler Technologies, Inc.'s manuals that describe the processes and procedures, in prose, being sought. Nor does the City's contractual relationship with Tyler Technologies, Inc. give the City access to Tyler's internal documents." Unsatisfied with the City's October 5th response, Mr. Seelig petitioned this office and SPR18/l 782 was opened as a result. 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

Attorney Wilson SPR18/1782 Page 2 December 10, 2018 Current Appeal In an letter to this office dated November 21, 2018, Mr. Seelig states, "the City has yet to produce the English Language Description of the processes and procedures that Tyler Tech uses for its mass appraisal for single family residences under contract with the City." Mr. Seelig also writes, "Li]ust to be clear, I am not seeking the algorithms themselves, the codes, only an English Language Description." No Duty to Create Records Please be advised, under the Public Records Law the City is not required to create a record in response to a public records request. See G. L. c. 66, §6A(d ). The duty to comply with requests for records extends to those records that exist and are in the possession, custody, or control of the custodian ofrecords at the time of the request. See G. L. c. 66, § 1O (a)(ii). Conclusion Whereas the City does not possess records responsive to Mr. Seelig's request and has no duty to create records responsive to the request, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records cc: Russell Seelig