Scott E. McGowan v. Williamstown, Town of - Fire District (SPR 20213320)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Rebecca S. Murray Supervisor of Records January 3, 2022 SPR21/3320 Nicole Pedercini Town Clerk Town of Williamstown 31 North Street Williamstown, MA 01247 Dear Ms. Perdercini: I have received the petition of Scott E. McGowan appealing the response of the Town of Williamstown (Town) to a request for public records. G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On December 6, 2021, Mr. McGowan requested various documents from the Williamstown Fire District. The Town responded on December 21, 2021. Unsatisfied with the response, Mr. McGowan petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR21/3320, was opened as a result. Fee Estimates 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 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). 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 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

Nicole Perdercini SPR21/3320 Page 2 January 3, 2022 petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). Petitions relating to fees must be submitted to the Supervisor within ten business days after receipt of a request for public records. 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4)(g). The Town’s Fee Estimate In its response, the Town assessed a fee of $3,000 and stated that it would take 120 hours “to locate and review the requested records, with the average hourly rate of the lowest paid employee capable of performing such work for $25.00.” The Town's fee estimate has not explained with specificity why the indicated amount of time is necessary for producing the requested records. The Town has not provided sufficient explanation to explain why 120 hours of search time is necessary to comply with the records request and is in conformity with G. L. c. 66, §10(d). The Town must clarify how much time is needed to search, how much time is needed to segregate and/or redact as required by law and must explain what tasks are necessary to provide the records. I encourage Mr. McGowan and the Town to communicate further in order to facilitate producing records efficiently and affordably. Mr. McGowan may wish to include applicable time periods or additional factors to enable the search to be processed. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)(i). The Town must use its knowledge of the records to facilitate providing any responsive records. G. L. c. 66, § l0(a)(vii) (an agency or municipality shall suggest a reasonable modification of the scope of the request or offer to assist the requestor to modify the scope of the request if doing so would enable the agency or municipality to produce records sought more efficiently and affordably). For the reasons discussed above, I find the Town must revise its fee estimate. Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. McGowan 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: Scott E. McGowan