Harold Rhodes v. Milford, Town of - Town Administrator (SPR 20242105)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records August 6, 2024 SPR24/2105 Richard A. Villani Town Administrator Town of Milford 11 Janock Road Milford, MA 01757 Dear Mr. Villani: I have received the petition of Harold Rhodes appealing the response of the Town of Milford (Town) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On June 17, 2024, Mr. Rhodes requested specified purchase orders. On June 26, 2024, Mr. Rhodes stated, “the Milford Town Report includes a listing of all vendors to whom a total of $15,000 or greater were paid … I’m concluding that the requested purchase orders include all of the purchase orders for each vendor listed during the period of time for which the Town Report covers.” Prior Appeal This request was the subject of a prior appeal. See SPR24/1968 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (July 23, 2024). In my July 23rd determination, I learned that the Town provided a further response on July 23, 2024, providing further details regarding its fee estimate. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Mr. Rhodes petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR24/2105, was opened as a result. Fees - Municipalities If there are any fees associated with a response a written, good faith estimate must be provided. G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2). Once fees are paid, a records custodian must provide the responsive records. A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.05) per page may be assessed for a black and white single or double-sided photocopy of a 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

Richard A. Villani SPR24/2105 Page 2 August 6, 2024 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 how 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 Town’s July 23rd Response In its July 23, 2024 response, the Town provided a fee estimate of $460.50 and stated, “[t]he lowest hourly rate for the Town employee (Administrative Clerk in Treasurer’s Office) capable of completing this request is $33.89. However, I am reducing the hourly rate to $25.00 per hour. The number of hours needed to search, compile and reproduce the Purchase Orders requested by Mr. Rhodes is 20 hours.” Additionally, the Town breaks down its fee estimate as follows: Total Hours of Employee time = 18 Hours x $25.00 = $450.00. (First 2 hours nonassessable). Copying Fee = 250 pages x $.05 = $12.50. Total Fee - $460.50. Additionally, in an email sent to this office on July 30, 2024, the Town stated, “[the Town] only request[s] payment of a fee when the time needed to search, compile, and reproduce the requested records (as in this case) requires extensive research time from a Town employee. Upon a showing that the requestor lacks the financial ability to pay the fee, [the Town] will waive the fee. Mr. Rhodes provided no information as to his ability or inability to pay a fee or costs.” In response to the Town’s July 30th email, Mr. Rhodes stated, “[t]he requested records for my selected six expense line items are only a very small portion of the hundreds of line items presented in the Town Report. It is simply not realistic to believe that this much time is required to calculate every line item in the Town Report… Requiring requestors to disclose their financial status to obtain a fee waiver can be intrusive and discourages individuals from exercising their

Richard A. Villani SPR24/2105 Page 3 August 6, 2024 right to access public records. It is unreasonable to expect requestors to provide personal financial information as a prerequisite for accessing public information.” Although the Town has estimated that the process to search, compile and reproduce the responsive records for production will take 20 hours of employee time, it is unclear how the Town requires this many hours to produce responsive records. Specifically, the Town must clarify the time it is allocating to search for, segregate or redact the records. As such, the Town must provide additional information regarding the tasks involved in producing the records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). I encourage Mr. Rhodes and the Town to communicate in order to facilitate producing records efficiently and affordably. Mr. Rhodes may wish to narrow the parameters or include applicable time periods or 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). Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. Rhodes 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. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Harold Rhodes