John Barrella v. Middleborough, Town of - Office of the Town Clerk (SPR 20251610)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records June 13, 2025 SPR25/1610 Pamela Menconi Town Clerk Town of Middleborough 20 Centre Street, First Floor Middleborough, MA 02346 Dear Ms. Menconi: I have received the petition of John Barrella appealing the response of the Town of Middleborough (Town) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On April 11, 2025, Mr. Barrella requested: [1] [A]ll origination, holding and destination sources by account, journal entry or otherwise, regarding any and all retained earnings funds held, moved, transferred or otherwise processed from the time period of 2022 up to, but not limited to; the filing date of this request, April 11, 2025. Please include any and all transactions dates, amounts and names. Please explain when and where this data and any related activities was previously made publicly available. Please reference the chart, attached. [2] [A] detailed list of all Town borrowed amounts up to but not limited to; $36,979,156. Please include line-level amounts involved, itemized, cite authority under which each and every transaction was, how and by whom approved. Please include for what purpose the debt was assumed and the reasons why it exists. Please explain when and where this debt and any related activities were previously made publicly available. Please reference the attached charts, as provided by town employees. Please reference chart, attached. Prior Appeal This request was the subject of a prior appeal. See SPR25/1321 Determination of the Supervisor of Records (May 21, 2025). In my May 21st determination, I found that the Town must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee assessed is consistent with the Public Records Law. 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

Pamela Menconi SPR25/1610 Page 2 June 13, 2025 The Town responded on June 5, 2025. Unsatisfied with the Town’s response, Mr. Barrella petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/1610, was opened as a result. 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 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). The Town’s June 5th Response In its June 5, 2025 response, the Town assessed a fee of $50.00 to provide Mr. Barrella with records responsive to Item 1 of the request. The Town detailed its fee estimate as follows: Nevertheless, the Town has spent two hours searching for records and reviewing for responsiveness for FY23 and FY24. Based on the work done so far, there are not as many files to review as initially expected and it is now estimated that it will take approximately two more hours to search for the remaining records, review for responsiveness and scan the documents into a format for production. There are approximately 60 pages which need to be scanned and uploaded. As detailed below, it is estimated that it will cost a total of $50.00 to comply with Request No. 1. This estimate is based on the hourly rate of the lowest paid person capable of searching for the responsive records, in accordance with 950 CMR 32.07(2)(i). Such hourly rate shall not exceed $25.00 per hour unless otherwise authorized by the Supervisor of Records. This hourly rate is applied to the estimated amount of time it will take to complete the work. Where the lowest paid employees capable of doing this work are paid at rates of more than $25.00 per hour, you will be charged at the maximum rate of $25.00 per hour. Please note, that at the last Decennial U.S. Census the Town had a population of 24,245 and because the

Pamela Menconi SPR25/1610 Page 3 June 13, 2025 Town has more than 20,000 residents you will not be charged for the first two hours of work associated with this request. Request Number Response Request #1 Total estimate of time to search for and locate documents (origination, holding in physical files: 2.25 hours, based on actual search time and destination sources etc.): Total estimate of time to review files for responsiveness: 0.75 hour (approximately 15 minutes per requested fiscal year) based on actual review of FY23 and FY24 Total estimate of time to scan approximately 60 physical documents into .pdf for production: 1 hour (~1 minute per page) Total: 4 hours x $25.00/hour= $100.00 Although the Town has estimated that the process of compiling, reviewing, and preparing responsive documents for production will take four hours of employee time, the Town has not provided sufficient explanation of why four hours of employee time is necessary. Specifically, the Town must clarify how it requires one hour to scan the responsive records into .pdf format. For the reason discussed above, I find the Town must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee of $50.00 assessed in its June 5th estimate is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). This office encourages Mr. Barrella and the Town to continue communicating to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vii) (a 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 municipality to produce the records sought more efficiently and affordably). Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Mr. Barrella with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law, and its Regulations within ten 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. Mr. Barrella may appeal the substantive nature of the Town’s response within ninety days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1).

Pamela Menconi SPR25/1610 Page 4 June 13, 2025 Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: John Barrella Hayley A. Reifeiss, Esq.