Ducey, Julia v. Southbridge, Town of (SPR 20260587)

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts William Francis Galvin, Secretary of the Commonwealth Public Records Division Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records March 4, 2026 SPR26/0587 Gayle Raducha Administrative Assistant Town Manager’s Office Town of Southbridge 41 Elm Street Southbridge, MA 01550 Dear Ms. Raducha: I have received the petition of Julia Ducey appealing the response of the Town of Southbridge (Town) to two requests for public records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10A; see also 950 C.M.R. 32.08(1). On February 18, 2026, Ms. Ducey requested, “2026 full liquor license application for [an identified entity] including cashed check,” and “2026 full liquor license application for [an identified entity] including cashed check.” The Town responded on February 18, 2026, providing two fee estimates, assigning the first request reference number 2025-0044 and the second request reference number 2025-0045. Unsatisfied with the Town’s responses, Ms. Ducey petitioned this office and this appeal, SPR26/0587, 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 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

Gayle Raducha SPR26/0587 Page 2 March 4, 2026 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 February 18th Fee Estimates In its February 18, 2026 fee estimate for 2025-0044, the Town provided a fee estimate of $25.00 and provided the following table: Department Estimated Hourly Estimated Personnel Hours Rate Cost Town Manager 1.00 $25.00 $25.00 Total Estimated Personal Cost $25.00 In its February 18, 2026 fee estimate for 2025-0045, the Town provided a fee estimate of $37.50 and provided the following table: Department Estimated Hourly Estimated Personnel Hours Rate Cost Town Manager 1.50 $25.00 $37.50 Total Estimated Personal Cost $37.50 Current Appeal In her February 20, 2026 petition to this office, Ms. Ducey objected to the Town’s fee estimates, stating the following: I have already paid $75.00 for these documents under a previous request (2025- 0264), which sought all liquor license applications for the current year. Although I received 23 applications through that request, three were missing. Despite my inquiries at the time, those documents were never provided. The Town is now seeking to charge $37.50 and $25.00 for these specific missing records. I am appealing these costs on the basis that payment has already been rendered for this information. Furthermore, as these application have already been reviewed and the licenses signed, no additional compilation time should be required…

Gayle Raducha SPR26/0587 Page 3 March 4, 2026 Reasonableness of the fee estimate Although the Town has estimated that it the requires 1 hour and 1.5 hours, respectively, it is unclear from the Town’s estimate how much time is allocated to the process of compiling, reviewing, and preparing the responsive records versus how much time is allocated for segregation and/or redaction of the records. Additionally, the Town has not indicated the number of responsive records nor the time needed for each record. Accordingly, the Town must provide further details regarding the tasks involved and what each task entails, including the time it is allocating to searching for, segregating, and redacting the requested records. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iv) (requiring the amount of the fee be reasonable). Further, the Town’s fee estimate lacks confirmation of the Town’s population and whether the first two hours of employee time to search for, compile, segregate, redact or reproduce the records has been factored into the fee estimate. Please be advised, municipalities may not assess a fee for the first 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. See G. L. c. 66, § 10(d)(iii). For the reasons discussed above, I find the Town must revise its fee estimates or provide further explanation of how the fee estimates of $25.00 and $37.50 are consistent with G. L. c. 66, § 10(d). Conclusion Accordingly, the Town is ordered to provide Ms. Ducey 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. Sincerely, Manza Arthur Supervisor of Records cc: Julia Ducey