Christina Camacho v. Ipswich Housing Authority (SPR 20253523)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records December 11, 2025 SPR25/3523 James Holt Executive Director Ipswich Housing Authority One Agawam Village Ipswich, MA 01938 Dear Mr. Holt: I have received the petition of Christina Camacho appealing the response of the Ipswich Housing Authority (Authority) to a request for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On November 11, 2025, Ms. Camacho renewed a prior May 12, 2025 request for “all maintenance records, work orders, service requests, repair logs, and any related documentation associated with my current unit (…Agawam Village, Ipswich, MA 01938) along with units I have occupied prior since 2019…” Specifically, Ms. Camacho sought: [1] All submitted tenant work orders[;] [2] All internal maintenance reports[;] [3] Contractor work and inspection reports[;] [4] Water intrusion/mold-related maintenance logs[;] [5] Plumbing and HVAC work reports[;] [6] Lead paint disclosures and any environmental health-related reports[;] [7] Environmental testing reports and redevelopment-related information[;] [8] Any correspondence or internal notes related to maintenance or repairs in these units[.] The Authority responded on November 25, 2025, providing a fee estimate. Unsatisfied with the Authority’s response, Ms. Camacho petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR25/3523, 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 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

James Holt SPR25/3523 Page 2 December 11, 2025 ($.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). 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 Authority’s November 25th Response In its November 25, 2025 response, the Authority provided a fee estimate of $75.00 to produce the responsive records. In support of its fee estimate, the Authority provided the following: The Authority is allowed to charge for employee search time necessary to respond to your request, together with any redactions required by law. That time is charged at the hourly rate of the lowest paid person capable of compiling and reproducing responsive records…. Such hourly rate shall not exceed $25/hour unless otherwise authorized by the Supervisor of Records. Please note that because the Town of Ipswich has less than 20,000 residents, pursuant to the last Decennial U.S. Census (approximately 13,785), you will be charged for all hours of work associated with this request. It is estimated that it will cost $75.00 to comply with your Request. That amount is broken down as follows: Title Hours Per Hour Cost Executive Director 3 hours to search and Reduced to $25.00, scan responsive as required. records. TOTAL 3 hours $75.00 Current Appeal In her appeal petition, Ms. Camacho requested a fee waiver and stated, “[t]hese records should already be in my tenant file, which the agency is legally required to maintain, and should not require three hours of ‘search time.’”

James Holt SPR25/3523 Page 3 December 11, 2025 Fee Waivers G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(v) provides the following with respect to waiving a fee for the production of responsive records: 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 Authority states it will take 3 hours to search for and scan the responsive records, it is unclear why the Authority requires this much time. In this case, the Authority has confirmed that an hourly rate of $25.00 is equal to or less than the hourly rate of the lowest paid individual with the skill necessary to perform those tasks and appears to not be charging a fee for segregation or redaction. The Authority has also confirmed that the Town of Ipswich has a population less than 20,000 residents. However, the Authority must explain why 3 hours is required to search and scan the responsive records, and describe the task(s) involved in the search process. The Authority must provide additional information on the number of pages it intends to scan. Accordingly, the Authority must provide further details regarding its fee estimate. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). For the reasons discussed above, I find the Authority must revise its fee estimate or provide further explanation of how the fee estimate of $75.00 is consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). This office encourages Ms. Camacho and the Authority to communicate to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. Ms. Camacho may wish to narrow her request. 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.

James Holt SPR25/3523 Page 4 December 11, 2025 Conclusion Accordingly, the Authority is ordered to provide Ms. Camacho 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. Ms. Camacho may appeal the substantive nature of the Authority’s response within ninety (90) days. See 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Christina Camacho