The Londonderry Town Council approved a fee schedule for 91A right to know requests during its Sept. 16 meeting.
It was explained that the changes came in the wake of a new RSA, which allows communities, if they choose, to create a fee schedule for 91A requests.
Administrative Support Coordinator, Kirsten Hildonen, said in about a year and a half, she has only had a couple of examples where someone would be charged under the policy.
“I will say that the changes here would have only affected only or two of the requests we have received would have been charged,” she said.
Hildonen explained she made a change to the original fee schedule proposal, at the recommendation of Town Councilor, Ron Dunn, to have no fee for 10 or less pages of black and white copies that are up to 8.5×11 in size.
For black and white documents larger than that, there will be a fee of $1 per page, and color documents up to 8.5×11 will have a $1 fee per page for the first 10 pages, and then a fee of $.25 per page for more.
Color documents larger than 8.5×11 will be $2 per page, and all wide format print outs will be $5 per page.
One question raised at a previous meeting was in regards to having a fee for residents versus non residents.
Hildonen explained that the RSA doesn’t have any provisions that distinguish the difference, and she wasn’t sure they would have legal standing to do so.
She also explained that the media, anyone requesting it where the disclosure is in the public interest, or if the requestor can prove their indigent, can have the fee waived.
According to the definition, media requestors “means organizations or individuals who publish information in accepted digital, print, or broadcast formats and to standards generally recognized by professional news organizations that do not serve primarily as a platform to promote the interest and/or opinions of a special interest group, government, individual or cause.”
For electronic communication, there will be a $1 charge per individual “electronic communication, regardless of whether the records are delivered in hard copy or electronically, shall be charged of any requestor subject to the following provisions:
- No charge shall be issued for the first 250 individual electronic communications.
- No charge shall be issued for the following individuals or entities:
- An individual who can demonstrate they are indigent as established by the federal poverty line, as issued each year by the Federal Department of Health and Human Services; Media requestors; Any individual requesting information where the disclosure of the information 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, except media requestors.
3. Multiple requests from any person or entity to the same public body within a 30- day time period shall be considered one request.”
As part of the policy, it also requires an estimate for the requestor, up front.
“The requestor shall receive an itemized estimate of the cost of making the record available,” the policy reads. “This estimate shall accompany any written statement of the time reasonably necessary to determine whether the request shall be granted or denied and the reason for the delay, if it is estimated that making the record available will take longer than five (5) business days, or as soon as the fee can be ascertained.”
The Council ultimately approved the fees, with Town Council Chair, Chad Franz, noting they could always revisit it in the future.