Malden Transparency v. Amherst-Pelham Regional School Districts (SPR 20212571)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records October 19, 2021 SPR21/2571 Debbie Westmoreland Director of Communication and Operations Amherst-Pelham Regional School District 170 Chestnut Street Amherst, MA 01002 Dear Ms. Westmoreland: I have received the petition of Malden Transparency appealing the response of the Amherst-Pelham Regional School District (District) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On September 26, 2021, the requestor sought “[a]ll billing statements and/or invoices from Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP, . . .[,]” and “[a]ll documents evidencing payments made to Murphy, Hesse, Toomey & Lehane, LLP. . . . For the time period January 1, 2019 through the date you respond with the responsive documents[.]” On September 28, 2021, the District provided a fee estimate. Objecting to the fees, the requestor petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR21/2571, 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, 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). 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

Debbie Westmoreland SPR21/2571 Page 2 October 19, 2021 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 School’s September 28th fee estimate In its September 28, 2021 fee estimate, the School indicates, “[t]here are no responsive records in an electronic format; all are contained in the accounts payable warrants available only in paper format. The Business Office estimates that it will take up to 7.5 hours to compile and scan the documents. In accordance with public records law, the first 2 hours of work would be performed at no cost. The remaining 5.5 hours would be billed at $25 per hour, which is less than the hourly rate of the lowest-paid employee capable of compiling the documents. If you wish to proceed with the request, you must submit payment in the amount of $137.50. . . .” Although the District stated that it is assessing a $137.50 fee to compile and scan the documents, it is unclear how the District calculated its fee. Particularly, it is uncertain how the District requires 7.5 hours to compile and scan the responsive records. It is also not clear how many hours will be spent compiling and scanning the responsive documents. The District must provide further details regarding the tasks involved in compiling and scanning the records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). Conclusion Accordingly, the District is ordered to provide the requestor with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations within ten (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: Malden Transparency