Lapeer city commissioners on Monday revised their FOIA fee. The move came after citizen Teresa Blundell held the city’s feet to the fire over what is appropriate to charge for documents produced for a request under the Freedom of Information Act. The new charge will include the cost of labor plus 12 cents a page to cover the cost of paper and maintenance. The former charge was $1 per page, plus labor.
The decision did not come easy. The issue came to the fore months ago after Blundell sought a copy of a police report.
“In July last year, I was the victim of an assault,” Blundell explained to commissioners on Monday. After filing a police report which included her statement, photos, witness statements and more on the incident within the city, Blundell said she had no response. When she contacted the police, they said the case was closed, and the prosecutor was not issuing a warrant. Puzzled, she said she asked for the report, but the documents she received did not tell the whole story.
“I knew it was not the complete file,” said Blundell. “It was very cursory. There was a lot of information that was missing.” That’s how she came to file a FOIA request – seeking the entire report on the incident so she could try to understand why it went nowhere.
When she got the 14 pages under the FOIA request, however, the bill that came with it was $37.44. Although the city backed off $6 in charges for certified mailing Blundell never requested, she still wanted an explanation of the fees. When she got that information, it appeared to Blundell that part of what the city was charging was unlawful because they were including inappropriate overhead costs. (More on that here.) She paid everything but $12.22, the part she determined was unlawful, but then she was threatened with collection.
After months of phone calls and correspondence, Blundell came to the commission with her issue. Attorney Mike Nolan prepared a written opinion (see here). Commissioners discussed and tabled the topic.
On Monday, the topic came off the table, and commissioners after a couple of false starts revised the fee. They took a more careful approach, than their attorney even recommended. Nolan said the $1.00 per page charge should be backed off to $0.90, by excluding the 10 cent fee for janitorial expense. It was clear, however, that a number of commissioners had difficulty with the notion of electricity and gas expenses included as incremental costs.
Mayor Bill Sprague noted that copies can still be made when the heat is off, and as for powering the copy machine – unless you meter the electric usage on the copier, it’s pretty hard to define that incremental cost.
“In my opinion, the spirit and intent of FOIA is to afford the citizen … an opportunity to receive the information they need about how government works,” said Sprague. “It is not, in my opinion, a revenue source…. I think the spirit and intent is to get that information into their hands in a fashion that doesn’t disadvantage other citizens.”
Commissioner A. Wayne Bennett first brought a motion to charge 50 cents a page, but it garnered no support since the law requires the costs to be actual. The price cannot simply be set.
“It’s whatever it costs,” said Nolan.
Commissioner Bostick-Tullius, who said she thought Nolan’s opinion was well thought out, then brought a motion to charge Nolan’s recommended amount of $0.90 per page. It, too, garnered no support.
Commissioner John Lyons marveled at the itemized cost of 58 cents a page for electricity. “I just can’t comprehend 58 cents for a copy…. I just think that’s way, way out of line.” He brought a motion to charge a total of 12 cents per page based on the data that the cost of paper per page is 1 cent and copier maintenance was 11 cents, and entirely excluding the other overhead costs of janitorial, electricity and gas.
Some commissioners thought 1 cent per page for paper was too low, but that was the data they received, so they had to stand by it. Bostick-Tullius suggested waiting to revise the fee until after the new budget is done, but other commissioners clearly wanted to move on the matter.
On a roll call vote, the new 12 cent per page fee took effect immediately. Bostick-Tullius and Bennett dissented on the vote. Labor costs are still part of the fee as well.
Commissioner Bennett then brought a motion to accept whatever Blundell had already paid, which was everything except the $12.22 for the charges in dispute. That motion passed unanimously.
“I want to thank you for moving on this,” Blundell said later in the meeting. She noted, “We have responsibilities as citizens… As much as it was an aggravation for you… This is not how I wanted to spend my time either…. It’s been time consuming for me also.” Blundell indicated it was not about the $12.22, it was about stepping forward as a responsible citizen.
“We thank you for time and efforts,” said Mayor Sprague.
That Blundell had to submit a FOIA request for the police report on the incident in which she was a victim was not discussed. Nor was information about why the case was closed.
