Patricia Greely v. Holbrook, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20232451)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records October 30, 2023 SPR23/2451 Jeanmarie Tarara Town Clerk Town of Holbrook 50 North Franklin Street Holbrook, MA 02343 Dear Ms. Tarara: I have received the petition of Patricia Greely appealing the response of the Town of Holbrook (Town) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On September 28, 2023, Ms. Greely requested, “any and all invoices totaling the $600,000 plus in the Insurance Line Item 945 ‘Other Insurance’, including premium and any fees paid for Insurance that were paid or supposed to have been paid through fy22, fy23 and fy24…” The Town responded on September 29, 2023. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Ms. Greely petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR23/2451, was opened as a result. Fee Estimates A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.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 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

Jeanmarie Tarara SPR23/2451 Page 2 October 30, 2023 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). 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 September 29th Fee Estimate In its September 29, 2023 response, the Town provided a fee estimate of $82.92, for a total of 3 hours. In its response, the Town stated, “[t]he estimated time to retrieve the records is 3 hours at the lowest paid employee in addition to copies. 3 hours @ 37.64 $82.92 plus copies.” Current appeal In her appeal, Ms. Greely states, “I have not received the records I requested, nor any follow-up from the interim Town Administrator… after receiving an additional bill for $83 from the Town Accountant. I have already paid $33 for these records, and only received a small portion…” Although the Town has estimated that the process of searching for the responsive records for production will take 3 hours of employee time, it is uncertain why it would take 3 hours to search for the responsive records. As such, the Town must provide additional information regarding the tasks involved in the search process. Under the Public Records Law, 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. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii). However, municipalities may charge more than $25 per hour if such rate is approved by the Supervisor under a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). Where the Town has not submitted a petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv), to charge in excess of $25 per hour, I find the Town must clarify the hourly rate of the fee estimate. For the reasons discussed above, I find the Town must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee assessed in its September 29th estimate is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Ms. Greely 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 the response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us.

Jeanmarie Tarara SPR23/2451 Page 3 October 30, 2023 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Patricia Greely