Catherine Foster v. Adams, Town of - Town Clerk (SPR 20252344)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records August 19, 2025 SPR25/2344 Haley Meczywor Town Clerk Town of Adams 9 Park Street Adams, MA 01220 Dear Ms. Adams: I have received the petition of Catherine Foster appealing the response of the Town of Adams (Town) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On July 26, 2025, Ms. Foster requested, “…documentation relating to the financial settlement awarded to [an identified individual] after his separation from employment with the town of Adams [including] how it was paid.” The Town responded on August 6, 2025 and August 11, 2025, providing a fee estimate. Unsatisfied with the Town’s responses, Ms. Foster petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/2344, 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 2 (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). 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

Haley Meczywor SPR25/2344 Page 2 August 19, 2025 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 August 6th and August 11th Responses In its August 6, 2025 response, the Town assessed a fee of $25.00 to provide the responsive records. In support of the fee estimate, the Town stated as follows: An initial search indicates that there are records that may be responsive to your request that are in the custody of the Town. In accordance with 950 CMR 32.07(2)(b), the Town provides the following initial good faith estimate of the cost to comply with your request: Search time by the lowest-paid Town employee capable of searching for and compiling responsive records: Administrative Assistant: 1 hour at $25.00 per hour. Grand total good faith estimate: $25.00. This estimate includes the initial 2 hours of time devoted to complying with your request… as the Town’s population was under 20,000 (8166) in the 2020 U.S. Census. The lowest-paid town employee capable of searching for and compiling responsive records… is paid at a rate in excess of $25 per hour, and therefore this estimate is based upon the maximum rate of $25 per hour…Please note: if you request paper copies rather than electronic files, you will be required to pay an additional $0.05 per page for black and white copies. Ms. Foster subsequently requested a fee waiver from the Town on August 7, 2026, which the Town declined on August 11, 2025. Current Appeal In her appeal petition, Ms. Foster objected to the fee estimate for the following reasons: [1] Unreasonable search claim… [2] Improper maximum rate charge… [3] Public interest outweighs fees… [4] Financial hardship… Fee Waivers G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(v) provides the following with respect to waiving a fee for the production of responsive records:

Haley Meczywor SPR25/2344 Page 3 August 19, 2025 the records access officer may waive or reduce the amount of any fee charged under this subsection upon a showing that disclosure of a requested record is in the public interest because it is likely to contribute significantly to public understanding of the operations or activities of the government and is not primarily in the commercial interest of the requestor, or upon a showing that the requestor lacks the financial ability to pay the full amount of the reasonable fee. Please be advised, although the Supervisor may encourage fees to be waived, the Supervisor may not mandate that a records access officer waive fees assessed for complying with a public records request; rather, as described above, the records access officer may waive or reduce the amount of any fee upon a showing of various factors. See G. L. c. 66, § 10 (d)(v); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.07(2)(k). Reasonableness of the Fee Estimate Although the Town states that it would take 1 hour to produce the responsive records, it is unclear why the Town requires this much time. The Town must advise how much time is needed to search and how much time is needed to segregate and/or redact under the law. Additionally, if redactions are required, I find the Town must provide information about whether the responsive records contain information that is required by law to be segregated or redacted, as well as the applicable statutes, if any. Further, it is uncertain how many pages of responsive records the Town possesses and how many minutes per page the Town requires to segregate or redact the records. Accordingly, the Town must provide further details regarding its fee estimate. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). Pursuant to 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). Consequently, the Town must clarify whether its fee estimate includes time for segregation or redaction not required by law. For the reasons discussed above, I find the Town must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee estimate of $25.00 is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). This office encourages Ms. Foster and the Town to communicate 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). Any revision to the request would result in the requirement to issue a revised fee estimate. Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Ms. Foster with a response to the request, provided in a manner consistent with this order, the Public Records Law and its Regulations

Haley Meczywor SPR25/2344 Page 4 August 19, 2025 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. Ms. Foster may appeal the substantive nature of the Town’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Catherine Foster