Stanley Mazurczyk v. Chelmsford, Town of - Town Manager (SPR 20211706)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records July 23, 2021 SPR21/1706 Patricia Dzuris Town Clerk Town of Chelmsford 50 Billerica Road Chelmsford, MA 01824 Dear Ms. Dzuris: I have received the petition of Stanley Mazurczyk appealing the response of the Town of Chelmsford (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On March 3, 2021, Mr. Mazurczyk requested records of “two Verizon accounts and devices” along with the “latest unredacted invoices of these Verizon accounts.” Previous appeal This request was the subject of previous appeals. See SPR21/0795 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (April 13, 2021); SPR21/1112 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (May 14, 2021). The Town provided a responsive to Mr. Mazurczyk on May 17, 2021. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Mr. Mazurczyk petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR21/1706, was opened as a result. Fee estimate – municipalities 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, 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

Patricia Dzuris SPR21/1706 Page 2 July 23, 2021 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, § 10(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, § 10(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The Town’s May 17th response On May 17, 2021, the Town responded to Mr. Mazurczyk by providing him with a fee estimate stating, “[t]his estimate is provided based on your appeal SPR21/1112 to the Public Records Division.” The Town explained, “[t]he estimate below was derived from the cost to ascertain the exact case and the nature of each call and then to re-redact accordingly minus the first two hours of labor.” The Town explained the fee estimate in an Estimated Personnel Cost Chart. The Town listed their Clerk as performing the task charging at the hourly rate of $25 for an estimated 113 hours of work would result in a total estimated response cost of $2,825. On July 9, 2021, Mr. Mazurczyk appealed explaining that the Town “failed to justify fees” and “failed to provide records and/or reasonable justifications for fees it demands”. Based on the Town’s response, it is unclear why the Town requires the amount of time indicated to produce the requested records. The Town must detail the tasks required to produce these records. Additionally, the Town has not explained if the hourly rate being used is that of the lowest paid employee with the necessary skill to perform the task. The Town must clarify these matters. Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. Mazurczyk with a response to the request, provided 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: Stanley Mazurczyk Paul E. Cohen