Fees

Reasonable Fees. In some circumstances, the TOWN may assess a reasonable fee for the production of public records.

Categories of Permissible Charges. Permissible charges include, but are not limited to:

 a. five cents ($0.05) per page of black and white printouts or copies;

b. actual cost for storage devices or materials such as CDs or thumb/flash drives;

c. actual cost for duplication of records not susceptible to ordinary means of reproduction, such as color copies and large format plans;

d. postage fees where applicable, as stated above; and

e. fees for employee time required to satisfy a public records request (see paragraph below).

No copying fee will be charged for records provided in electronic form.

Employee Time for Locating and Segregating Records. If a response to a public request requires more than two hours of employee time a fee may be charged for employee time necessary to identify, locate, and compile the records requested. A fee may also be charged for employee time necessary to review, and, as applicable, segregate and/or redact information exempt from public disclosure. The hourly rate for such fees shall be the hourly rate of the lowest paid employee capable of performing the task, provided, however, that this hourly rate shall not exceed twenty-five dollars ($25.00) per hour, unless the TOWN has obtained the approval of the State Supervisor of Public Records to charge a higher hourly rate.  Depending upon the nature of the request, different rates may be charged for different types of work (i.e., a different hourly rate for search time and a different hourly rate for segregation/redaction time).

Requests for Commercial Purposes. Said fee limitations may not apply when a request for records is for a commercial purpose as determined by the Commonwealth’s Supervisor of Records.

Petition for Higher Fee. In certain circumstances, the TOWN may petition the Supervisor of Public Records for permission to assess fees for employee time at a rate in excess of $25.00.