[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Council of the Borough
of Washington 4-1-2003 by Ord. No. 2-2003.[1] Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Administration of government — See Ch. 3.
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also repealed former Ch.
39, Fees, adopted 8-2-1988 by Ord. No. 13-88.
The purpose of this chapter is to set forth the Borough's
fee schedule for obtaining copies of government records.
As used in this chapter, the following terms shall have the
meanings indicated:
Any information subject to public inspection which is maintained
by the Borough in written, audio, video, electronic or other form
and as defined by the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et
seq.
A charge, in addition to the actual cost of duplicating the
government record(s), which shall reflect the expense associated with
extensive use of Borough information, technology or resources, or
the extensive clerical or supervisory assistance by Borough personnel
necessary to accommodate requests to examine and/or provide copies
of the record(s), and as defined by the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A.
47:1A-5c and 47:1A-5d.
The fees for copies of government records shall be:
B.
Maps:
(1)
Thirty-six inches by 48 inches: $7 per sheet.
(2)
Thirty inches by 42 inches: $5.50 per sheet.
(3)
Twenty-four inches by 36 inches: $3 per sheet.
(4)
Eleven inches by 17 inches: $1 per sheet.
(5)
Eight and one-half inches by 11 inches or 8.5 inches by 14 inches: fees per page in accordance with § 39-3A.
(6)
Full set of Tax Maps: $60.
(7)
Topographical maps: $3 per sheet.
(8)
Full set of topographical maps: $60.
C.
Engineering standards, details and design criteria: $5 per sheet.
D.
Land Use Code book: $30 plus supplements.
E.
General Ordinance Code book: $125 plus supplements.
F.
Land Use Code supplement: $5 plus actual cost.
G.
General Ordinance Code supplements: $5 plus actual cost.
H.
Audiotape: $15 per tape.
I.
Videotape: $25 per tape.
J.
Duplicate tax bill: $6.
K.
Duplicate tax sales certificate: $100.
M.
Court dispositions: $5.
N.
Transcripts of audiotapes: $10 per page.
O.
Certified copies of birth, marriage, domestic partnership, civil
union or death certificates: $10.
[Amended 8-17-2004 by Ord. No. 12-2004; 11-17-2008 by Ord. No.
13-2008; 10-17-2017 by Ord. No. 2017-18]
P.
Discovery requests: $20.
Q.
Accident reports: $5.
R.
Digital photograph CD copy: $10.
S.
Digital photograph print copy: $5 per print.
Postage costs will be added to fees for copies of records requested
to be mailed and will be determined at the time of the request.
A.
A special service charge may be applied by the custodian of records
or his/her designee in the following circumstances:
(1)
When the nature, format, manner of collation or volume of a government
record embodied in the form of printed matter to be inspected, examined
or copied is such that the record cannot be reproduced by ordinary
copying equipment in ordinary business size or involves an extraordinary
expenditure of time and effort to accommodate the request, an extraordinary
expenditure of time meaning in excess of one hour;
[Amended 8-17-2004 by Ord. No. 12-2004]
(2)
When a request is for a government record in a medium not routinely
used by the Borough;
(3)
When a request is for a government record not routinely developed
or maintained by the Borough; or
(4)
When a request for a government record requires a substantial amount of manipulation or programming of information technology by the Borough and the cost of such manipulation or programming is not otherwise included in the fee or fees listed in § 39-3.
(5)
Where a special service charge is to be imposed, prior to rendering
the service that will give rise to the charge, the custodian of records
or his/her designee shall notify the requestor and give the requestor
an opportunity to review the amount to be charged.
[Added 8-17-2004 by Ord. No. 12-2004]
B.
The special service charge rate for supervisory, programming and/or
clerical services shall be charged per hour and as follows:
(1)
The hourly rate shall be the hourly wage of the employee conducting
the supervisory, programming and/or clerical services as set by the
Borough Council by ordinance or resolution from year to year and/or
collective bargaining agreement(s) from time to time, together with
benefits calculated on an hourly basis (total yearly benefits for
employee divided by 1,820 times the hours on project).
(2)
The hourly wage of salaried personnel shall be calculated by dividing
the employee's annual salary as set by the Borough Council by
ordinance or resolution and/or collective bargaining agreement(s),
together with benefits calculated on an hourly basis (total yearly
benefits for employee divided by 1,820 times the hours on project)
by 26 pay periods and then dividing that biweekly pay by the number
of hours worked in a biweekly period.
(3)
The contracted hourly rate charged by any contractor hired by the
Borough to perform these tasks.
A.
Upon the approval of a request to view, inspect, examine or copy
a record, the record and the requestor shall remain in the presence
of the custodian of records or his/her authorized representative at
all times. Under no circumstances shall any government record be removed
from the office where it is normally kept unless accompanied by the
custodian of records or his/her authorized representative.
B.
In the event that the nature of a request to view records requires that the custodian of records or his/her designee observe or monitor such viewing for a period of time exceeding one hour, the requestor shall be responsible for reimbursing the municipality for time spent in excess of one hour by the custodian of records or his/her designee in accordance with the § 39-5B. Where such a charge is to be imposed, prior to rendering the service that will give rise to the charge, the custodian of records or his/her designee shall notify the requestor and give the requestor an opportunity to review the amount to be charged.
[Amended 8-17-2004 by Ord. No. 12-2004]
A fee deposit shall be paid prior to filling any anonymous request
where it is estimated that the information requested will cost in
excess of $5 to reproduce. The amount of the fee deposit shall equal
the total estimated cost of filling the request. Information requested
will not be provided until payment of fees has been rendered.
