For at least the past five years, Orion Township has charged 10 cents for one-sided copies and 15 cents for two-sided copies of documents, with some even coming at no charge, to the public.
Clerk Jill Bastian wanted to keep those costs minimal, in spite of being inundated recently with a number of Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests, many of which took hours to compile the records for inspection.
Bastian recalls one case that took 7.5 hours of staff time and two reams of paper to get FOIA-requested papers ready. The final cost to person requesting to view the records was $1, but the cost to the township, according to Bastian, was over $100.
As a result, Bastian approached the township board with the idea of charging for staff time if an excessive amount of time is required to compile records for inspections or copying.
The charge is based on the lowest paid employee who could do the work, and was adopted at last Monday’s board meeting.
‘If we are going to charge for labor, then we have to provide a reason,? Bastian said, noting that the new policy does just that.
‘It’s a very rare occasion when someone will come in and ask for a huge amount of documentation,? she added.
Bastian said the possible additional fees will be explained up front to whomever is requesting FOIA material. She guesses that the new fees may have applied to about a half-dozen cases over the course of her time at the township.
‘We wanted to ensure that people pay for the documents at the lowest possible cost,? she said.
Trustee Matt Gibb suggested charging a higher amount, like 30-40 cents per page, instead of leaving it at its current 10/15 cent fee and opening things to interpretation.
But the board voted for the lower fees and Bastian said the attorneys and other township employees, such as the supervisor, will be involved in the decision making.
‘You’re not going to have one person sitting here making those decisions,? she said.
Among other things, the policy reads that fees may be reduced or waived if the FOIA Coordinator determines that the request or copies are in the public interest and the first $20 of a request may be waived in cases of indigency.
When the fees are anticipated to exceed $50, the township can require that 50-percent of the estimated fees be paid in advance.