Shira Schoenberg v. Department of Revenue (SPR 20191429)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records August 1, 2019 SPR19/1429 Naysa Woomer Department of Revenue i 11 100 Cambridge Street, Floor Boston, MA 02114-2582 Dear Ms. Woomer: I have received the petition of Shira Schoenberg of The Springfield Republican appealing the response of the Department of Revenue (Department) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Specifically, on July 12, 2019, Ms. Schoenberg requested" ... the latest marijuana tax distribution numbers." The Depa1iment provided a response on July 12, 2019, denying access to portions of the responsive records. Unsatisfied with the Department's response, Ms. Schoenberg petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR19/1429, was opened as a result. The Public Records Law The Public Records Law strongly favors disclosure by creating a presumption that all govermnental records are public records. G. L. c. 66, § lOA(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.03(4). "Public records" is broadly defined to include all documentary materials or data, regardless of physical form or characteristics, made or received by any officer or employee of any town of the Commonwealth, unless falling within a statutory exemption. G. L. c. 4, § 7(26). It is the burden of the records custodian to demonstrate the application of an exemption in order to withhold a requested record. G. L. c. 66, § lO(b)(iv); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(3); see also Dist. Attorney for the Norfolk Dist. v. Flatley, 419 Mass. 507, 511 (1995) (custodian has the burden of establishing the applicability of an exemption). To meet the specificity requirement a custodian must not only cite an exemption, but must also state why the exemption applies to the withheld or redacted pmiion of the responsive record. If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must' be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 1O (b )(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. 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

Naysa Woomer SPR19/1429 Page 2 August 1, 2019 The Department's July Ji" response In its July 12, 2019 response, the Department indicates that "[m]onthly tax collections from recreational marijuana are included in [the Department's] monthly Blue Book reports. FYl 9 year-to-date collections from marijuana sales tax, excise tax, and local option tax can be found in Table B from the May FYl 9 report, reflecting sales through April 30. The June bluebook, including preliminary totals for FYl 9, will be released later this month." The Department further indicates that "[t]he latest quarterly distributions to communities for the marijuana local option tax were made on Friday, June 28. However, because of taxpayer confidentiality, [the Department] is unable to disclose the amount of data by community unless a community has at least three facilities." Subsequent to the opening of this appeal, I learned that the Department provided Ms. Schoenberg a response dated July 25, 2019 to her request. Accordingly, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Ms. Schoenberg may appeal the substantive nature of the Depaiiment's response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). In her appeal petition Ms. Schoenberg references a request made on April 4th to which she received a response from the Department on April 10, 2019. Please note that the Public Records Access Regulations, which govern the procedural aspects of all appeals, require that an appeal to this office be filed within ninety days of the date of the request letter, or within ninety . days of the date of a written response from the record custodian. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08 (l)(d); 950 C.M.R. 32.08 (l)(e). Conclusion Accordingly, I will now consider this administrative appeal closed. Sincerely, ~ r a ~ Supervisor of Records cc: Shira Schoenberg