Commonwealth Transparency v. Belmont, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20241138)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records April 30, 2024 SPR24/1138 Ellen O’Brien Cushman Town Clerk Town of Belmont 455 Concord Avenue Belmont, MA 02478 Dear Ms. O’Brien Cushman: I have received the petition of Commonwealth Transparency (“requestor”) appealing the response of the Town of Belmont (Town) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On April 6, 2024, the requestor sought: [1.] Any and all contracts, communications, or documents of any kind with the following: Accountedge LLC – 3 Meadowlark Farm Lane, Middleton, MA 01949 USA, [two identified individuals] [at identified addresses]. [2.] Any and all payments made to: Accountedge LLC – 3 Meadowlark Farm Lane, Middleton, MA 01949 USA, [two identified individuals] [at identified addresses]. [3.] Any and all conflict of interest documents for: Accountedge LLC – 3 Meadowlark Farm Lane, Middleton, MA 01949 USA, [two identified individuals] [at identified addresses]. Fee estimates – 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 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

Ellen O’Brien Cushman SPR24/1138 Page 2 April 30, 2024 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 petition under G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii); 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). Current Appeal In the appeal, the requestor stated, “[t]here is no quantification of responsive records, there is no claim of exemption to justify any charges for either segregation or redaction. There is no quantification for why it would take 1.5 hours to search for records...” The Town’s April 16th fee estimate In its April 16, 2024 fee estimate, the Town assessed a fee of $37.50 to produce responsive records based upon 1.5 hours of labor. The Town stated, “[t]he first two hours of labor are free of charge.” The Town further described the fee as: Labor: 25.00 Rate per Hour, up to $25 (least paid person who can perform the work) 1.5 # Hours Although the Town has indicated that the time to produce responsive documents for production results in a calculation of 3.5 hours, it is unclear how the Town calculated this fee. It is unclear how much time will be spent searching and how much time to segregate, or redact the records. The Town must provide further details regarding the tasks involved and what each task entails. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). For the reasons discussed above, I find the Town 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). Conclusion Accordingly, the Town 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 the response to this office at pre@sec.state.ma.us.

Ellen O’Brien Cushman SPR24/1138 Page 3 April 30, 2024 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Commonwealth Transparency