Washington enacts public record request fees

WASHINGTON — City council members voted 5-0 Tuesday night to implement fees for public record requests, charging parties for printing materials and staff time used to fulfill such requests.

Iowa code chapter 22 states that, “Every person shall have the right to examine and copy a public record.” The resource is commonly used by journalists seeking otherwise hard-to-find information from various spreadsheets, contracts, audio recordings, memos, emails and any other files held by government officials.

City staff initially recommended a fee structure identical to one implemented by the Washington Police Department in May: $5 for a request, plus 50 cents per page of the records provided, plus $25 per hour of staff time starting after the first 30 minutes spent gathering records.

That proposal drew criticism from staff of the Southeast Iowa Union at Tuesday night’s meeting, as well as some news industry representatives, who cited sections of state code requiring that public record fees “not exceed the actual cost of providing the service.”

City Attorney Kevin Olson ultimately recommended a different fee structure at Tuesday night’s meeting, which removed the $5 flat fee, and set the hourly charge for staff time at a rate dependent on the given staff member’s hourly pay, if fulfilling the request takes over 30 minutes.

The policy does clarify, however, that record requesters must reimburse the city for costs of any services it pays to gather and share the records, like legal review for sensitive documents and IT services for accessing compromised files.

“It makes sure that we follow the statutory provisions,” Olson said. “We’re not trying to make money here, trust me. We’re trying to cover our costs.”

The passed resolution lowered the fee for printed copies to 25 cents for black and white pages, but keeps it at 50 cents for color pages.

That charge still butts up against one complaint from Iowa Freedom of Information Council Executive Director Randy Evans.

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“The 50-cents-per-page charge far exceeds the allowable costs for toner and paper,” Evans said in an email to The Union before Tuesday night’s meeting. “I purchased paper and toner this week for the FOI Council’s printer/copier. Based on those costs, the city’s actual charges per page are nowhere near 50 cents.”

City Administrator Deanna McCusker, however, said the charge was reasonable, citing similar models in Algona and Independence.

“What we’re charging is right in line with other cities,” she said.

With the new resolution adopted for requests handled by city personnel, Council Member Bethany Glinsmann said the council should revise its police record request fees to the same effect.

“I think these changes make a lot of sense and seem more reasonable, and it sounds like they align with the code better as well,” she said. “The original price structure is what we have in place for the police public records … I think we need to revisit that.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com