Higgins, Patrick v. Westwood, Town of - Clerk's Office (SPR 20260296)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records February 4, 2026 SPR26/0296 Molly Fitzpatrick Interim Town Administrator Town of Westwood 580 High Street Westwood, MA 02090 Dear Ms. Fitzpatrick: On January 28, 2026, this office received your petition on behalf of the Town of Westwood (Town) seeking permission to charge for time spent segregating or redacting responsive records and a waiver of statutory limits on fees that may be assessed in responding to a request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv); see also 950 C.M.R. 32.06(4). As required by law, I understand that the Town furnished a copy of this petition to the requestor, Patrick Higgins. G. L. c. 66, § 10(c); G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv)(2). On January 26, 2026, Mr. Higgins requested “[a]ll meeting minutes of the Westwood Select Board for calendar years 2024, 2025 and 2026, both open session and executive session.” Petition to Assess Fees – Municipalities The Supervisor of Records (Supervisor) may approve a petition from a municipality to charge for time spent segregating or redacting or to charge in excess of $25 per hour, if the Supervisor determines that 1) the request is for a commercial purpose or 2) the fee represents an actual and good faith representation by the municipality to comply with the request. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). In rendering such a decision, the Supervisor is required to consider the following: a) the public interest served by limiting the cost of public access to the records; b) the financial ability of the requestor to pay the additional or increased fees; and c) any other relevant extenuating circumstances. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). The statute sets out a two-prong test for determining whether the Supervisor may approve a municipality’s petition to allow the municipality to charge for time spent segregating or redacting records. The first prong is whether the request for records was made for a commercial purpose. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). It is my determination that this request was not made for 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

Molly Fitzpatrick SPR26/0296 Page 2 February 4, 2026 commercial purpose. The second prong of the test is whether the fee represents an actual and good faith representation by the municipality to comply with the request. The Supervisor must consider 1) if the fee is necessary such that the request could not have been prudently completed without the redaction or segregation or fee in excess of $25 per hour; 2) the amount of the fee is reasonable; and 3) the fee is not designed to limit, deter or prevent access to requested public records. Id. Fee Estimates – Municipalities A municipality may assess a reasonable fee for the production of a public record except those records that are freely available for public inspection. G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). The fees must reflect the actual cost of complying with a particular request. Id. A maximum fee of five cents ($.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). 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 Petition to Assess Fees In its petition, the Town requests to assess fees for segregation and redaction, and explains the following in support of its request: The Town anticipates that responsive records may require segregation and redaction pursuant to, but not limited to, the following exemptions: Exemption (d): Inter-agency or intra-agency memoranda or letters relating to policy positions being developed by the agency, excluding reasonably completed factual studies or reports; Exemption (g): Trade secrets or commercial or financial information voluntarily provided to an agency for use in developing governmental policy and provided under a promise of confidentiality; Exemption (i): Records relating to the acquisition of real property, where disclosure would place the Town at a bargaining disadvantage.

Molly Fitzpatrick SPR26/0296 Page 3 February 4, 2026 Given the sensitive and legally complex nature of these records, careful review, segregation, and redaction are required to ensure compliance with the Public Records Law while protecting exempt information. In light of the Town’s petition, I find the Town has met its burden to explain how, given the nature of the responsive records, the request could not prudently be completed without redaction or segregation. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). To the extent the responsive records contain the exempt information as described above, the Town may assess a fee for the segregation and redaction of such exempt material. Fee in Excess of $25.00 per Hour In its petition, the Town argues the following: In this instance… the nature and content of the request require that the work be performed exclusively by the Interim Town Administrator, whose hourly rate exceeds the statutory cap. Employee Required to Perform the Work Title: Town Counsel Hourly Rate: $95.56 No lower-paid employee is qualified or authorized to perform the required tasks, which include: • Locating and compiling responsive records across multiple platforms (including email and text messages); • Reviewing records for applicable exemptions under the Public Records Law, including but not limited to exemptions related to privacy, deliberative process, and attorney-client privilege; • Exercising judgment to segregate and redact exempt or confidential information to ensure legal compliance and prevent inadvertent disclosure… The responsive records require a high level of legal expertise and judgment. The Town does not employ any other staff members who are trained, authorized, or appropriately situated to conduct this level of review. Assigning this work to lower-paid staff would create a substantial risk of inadvertent disclosure of exempt information and noncompliance with the Public Records Law. Estimated review and redaction time by Town Counsel: 1.5 hours @ $95.56/hour = $143.34 Estimated total labor cost: $143.34 Based on its petition, I find the Town has met its burden to explain how, given the nature of certain responsive records, the request could not prudently be completed without assessing

Molly Fitzpatrick SPR26/0296 Page 4 February 4, 2026 fees in excess of $25.00 per hour. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv). However, this allowance is limited to $75.00 per hour for attorney review by Town Counsel as described above. Regarding the work of the Interim Town Administrator, however, I find the Town has not met is burden to explain how the request could not prudently be completed without assessing a fee in excess of $25.00 per hour. Id. Conclusion Accordingly, to the extent the responsive records contain the exempt information described above, the Town may assess a fee for segregation and redaction. Further, as described above, the Town may assess a fee limited to $75.00 per hour for attorney review by Town Counsel. However, as noted above, I am unable to grant the Town’s request to assess fees in excess of $25.00 per hour for the work of the Interim Town Administrator. This office encourages Mr. Higgins and the Town to continue to communicate directly in order to facilitate providing records more efficiently and affordably. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(vii) (a municipality shall suggest a reasonable modification to 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 records sought more efficiently and affordably). Any subsequent fee estimate from the Town must be made in compliance with G. L. c. 66, § 10(b)(viii) and G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii). Please note, Mr. Higgins has the right to seek judicial review of this decision by commencing a civil action in the appropriate superior court. See G. L. c. 66, §§ 10(c), 10(d)(iv)(4), 10A(c). Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Patrick Higgins