Alan J. Dias v. Hanson Board of Health (SPR 20230154)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records February 7, 2023 SPR23/0154 Gilbert Amado Health Inspector Hanson Board of Health 542 Liberty Street Hanson, MA 02341 Dear Mr. Amado: I have received the petition of Alan Dias appealing the response of the Hanson Board of Health (Board) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On January 12, 2023, Mr. Dias requested: [1] Copies of all warrants submitted from the Board of Health to the Town Accountant for payment made to [a named individual] for the Board of Health from 1/1/2022 thru and including 1/1/2023[;] [2] Copies of all invoices submitted for payment from [a named individual] for services performed by him for the Board of Health from 11/2022 thru 1/1/2023. On January 13, 2023, the Board provided a fee estimate. Unsatisfied with the Board’s fee estimate, Mr. Dias petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR23/0154, 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

Gilbert Amado SPR23/0154 Page 2 February 7, 2023 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 Board’s January 13th Fee Estimate On January 13, 2023, the Board provided a fee estimate of $75.40. The Board asserted: The lowest paid Board employee capable of searching for, compiling, segregating, redacting, and/or reproducing the responsive documents is paid at a rate of $25.00 per hour. The Board’s good faith estimate of the time required to comply with your request is three (3) hours, which includes searching, compiling and making copies of all warrants and invoices made payable to [a named individual] for work performed by him for the Board of Health, for a one year time frame, at the cost of $25.00 per hour and approximately eight (8) copies at $0.05 per copy, this amounts to $75.40. In the fee estimate, the Board states that the Town of Hanson does not have a population of over 20,000 people. Current Appeal In his appeal, Mr. Dias argues, “I am respectfully requesting that this office determine that the three hour charges are unreasonable, and I will be more than happy to pay for the copy charges.” Although the Board has estimated that the process of responding to the records request will take 3 hours of employee time, it is unclear how many hours each task, such as searching for the records, compiling the records, segregating the records, and making copies of the records, will take. Further, it is unclear how many pages of responsive records exist. Additionally, it is unclear if the Board is reviewing the documents to redact or segregate the records pursuant to certain exemptions. Under the Public Records Law, a fee may 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)(ii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). The Board must clarify if redactions are required by law. For the reasons discussed above, I find the Board must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee assessed is expressly provided for and consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d).

Gilbert Amado SPR23/0154 Page 3 February 7, 2023 Conclusion Accordingly, the Board is ordered to provide Mr. Dias 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, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Alan Dias