[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough of Totowa 3-28-1978 by Ord. No. 6-78 (Ch. 65 of the 1974 Code). Amendments noted where applicable.]
Public records of the Borough of Totowa shall be open for inspection by members of the public as provided by law (N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1). Such inspection shall be made only at reasonable times during business hours and without interfering with the conduct of the affairs of the office or other place where such records are kept or maintained.
[Amended 3-9-2004 by Ord. No. 02-2004]
A. 
The statutory fee schedule shall apply to routine requests under the Open Public Records Law. The fees of N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5 are hereby incorporated herein as such fee schedule presently exists or as such fees might appear in future modifications or amendments of the statute. At present time, fees under N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5 for routine copies of municipal documents are:
(1) 
Pages 1 through 10: $0.75 per page.
(2) 
Pages 11 through 20: $0.50 per page.
(3) 
All pages after 20: $0.25 per page.
B. 
All requests for production of documents shall be in writing.
C. 
The Borough Clerk is authorized and directed to make copies of the following records and to charge the applicant for said copy as follows:
Document
Fee
Certification by Borough Clerk of any documents
$5
Exemplification of any document by Borough Clerk
$5
Miscellaneous Municipal Court records (per page)
$2
Municipal Court receipts
$2
For a certificate as to approval of a subdivision
$5
Duplicate tax bill
$3
Duplicate (photocopy) water and sewer bills
$0.75 each
D. 
If a request is to be mailed, the cost of postage will be added to the cost of reproducing the document.
E. 
A deposit will be required when the anticipated cost of document reproduction exceeds $5. The balance due will be payable upon delivery of the documents.
[Amended 3-9-2004 by Ord. No. 02-2004]
Nothing in this chapter shall require the custodian of documents or any other municipal official to examine, analyze, tabulate, or interpret documents which are subject to production under the New Jersey Open Public Records Act.
[Added 3-9-2004 by Ord. No. 02-2004]
Public records of the Borough shall be open and available for inspection by members of the public as provided by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. Such inspection shall be made during regular business hours and without interference with the conduct of the affairs of the office or other place where such records are kept or maintained.
[Added 3-9-2004 by Ord. No. 02-2004]
A. 
Charges authorized. The Municipal Clerk or other custodian or keeper of documents qualifying for mandatory inspection or production as "governmental records" under the New Jersey Open Public Records Act shall be entitled to special charges and/or special charges as set forth in § 300-5 of this chapter.
B. 
Amounts authorized.
(1) 
Duplication on other work beyond capability of municipal-in-house work force. Whenever the in-house municipal work force or available municipal equipment is insufficient to duplicate or produce government records in a timely fashion, the Municipal Clerk may cause such duplication or production to be accomplished by outside vendors such as copy centers or producers of digital images. If the costs of such duplication or production charged by such vendors exceeds the routine charges set forth in N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5, the actual direct cost of same without any additional surcharge for labor costs shall be paid.
(2) 
Special service charges authorized. Whenever government records cannot be reproduced by regular copying equipment or fulfillment of the request would involve extraordinary time and effort, charges may be imposed as follows:
(a) 
The actual cost of materials and supplies for duplication or reproduction; plus
(b) 
A special service charge of $32 per hour or the actual direct cost of labor (if less) shall be imposed for each hour of extraordinary time predicted to be utilized to respond to the request.
C. 
Conversion of documents:
(1) 
In the event that an OPRA request involves the reproduction or conversion from the medium in which the document requested currently exists into a medium not routinely developed or maintained by the Borough of Totowa or requires a substantial amount of manipulation or programming or information technology, the Custodian of Record shall either convert the document to the medium requested or provide some other meaningful medium as provided by OPRA. In the event that the requestor refuses to accept a copy in some other meaningful medium, the requester shall pay fees and special charges as follows:
(a) 
Direct costs to comply with the request; plus
(b) 
Special charges; the lessor of the cost of technology and labor actually incurred or $45 per hour.
(2) 
This section shall also apply to requests for documents which the Borough of Totowa is unable to reproduce in-house due to the document's existing size or medium, including but not limited to blueprints, plans, films, slides, CD-ROMs and the like.
[Added 3-9-2004 by Ord. No. 02-2004]
A. 
The Borough of Totowa may be compelled by New Jersey Law to produce or duplicate governmental records but no compliance with these legal obligations shall be deemed to constitute a license, sublicense or waiver of copyright laws.
B. 
The Municipal Clerk shall give the following notice to any requestor of governmental records:
Notice — Copyright Laws
You must comply with U.S. copyright laws. These laws may restrict your right to use, duplicate or modify the records provided to you by the Borough of Totowa. You should consult your own legal counsel on this since severe civil and criminal penalties for violation of copyright laws are provided.
[Added 3-9-2004 by Ord. No. 02-2004]
The Mayor, Municipal Clerk or Municipal Council by resolution may waive the fees or other charges otherwise chargeable if the requester of governmental records is a governmental or educational entity.