[Adopted 2-11-2003 by Ord. No. 02-8 (Ch.
55, Art. I, of the 1985 Code)]
[Amended 10-11-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-11]
New Jersey has adopted the Open Public Records Act, N.J.S.A.
47:1A-1 et seq., which has as its general purpose making government
records available to the public. In certain instances, the production
of archived records or records in a format that is not the usual format
maintained by the municipality or other special circumstances would
be costly and time-consuming. The New Jersey Open Public Records Act
permits the Village to require the payment of fees, special service
charges and/or special charges as a prerequisite to the production
of records requiring extraordinary time and effort, special equipment
or special formatting. The purpose of this article is to set forth
the Village's fee schedule for obtaining copies of government
records and to establish policies and procedures in the event a special
service charge is warranted.
As used in this article:
Any information subject to public inspection which is maintained
by the Village 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 Village information, technology or resources, or
the extensive clerical or supervisory assistance by Village 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.
[Amended 10-11-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-11]
A.
The following fees shall be charged for copies of public documents
and records requested pursuant to the Open Public Records Act:
(1)
Police reports. The fee shall be in accordance with the rates established by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5, set forth in Subsection A(2) below. For police accident reports not requested in person, an additional fee of $5 shall be charged to cover the administrative costs of the report, pursuant to N.J.S.A. 39:4-131.
(2)
Standard documents. Pursuant to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5, except as otherwise provided by law or regulation, the fee assessed for the black-and-white duplication of a government record embodied in the form of printed matter shall be $0.05 per letter-size page or smaller and $0.07 per legal-size page or larger, up to a maximum size of 11"x17". If the actual costs of reproduction exceed $0.05 per letter-size page or smaller or $0.07 per legal-size page or larger, the Village may charge the actual cost of duplication. Access to electronic records and nonprinted materials shall be provided free of charge, but the Village will charge for the actual costs of any needed supplies, as set forth in Subsection A(3) hereof.
(3)
Copies of videotapes or audiotapes, CDs, DVDs, and other media. The
Village shall charge the actual cost of duplication, including any
needed supplies.
B.
Special service charges.
(1)
Whenever 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 the Village
by ordinary document-copying equipment in ordinary business size,
including, but not limited to, maps, engineering drawings, photographs,
color documents or documents larger than 11"x17", or where such request
involves an extraordinary expenditure of time and effort by the Village
to accommodate the request, the Village may charge, in addition to
the actual cost to the Village of duplicating the record, a special
service charge that shall be reasonable and based upon the actual
direct cost of providing the copy or copies. The Village may also
assess a special service charge based upon the cost incurred for such
extensive use of information technology resources and/or the labor
cost of the personnel providing the service that is actually incurred
or attributable to the Village for the clerical and supervisory assistance
required, or both. The manner by which such special inspection service
fee is calculated shall be kept on file with the Village. The requestor
shall have the opportunity to review and object to the charge prior
to it being incurred.
(2)
The special service charge labor cost for supervisory, programming
and/or clerical services shall be charged per hour and as follows:
(a)
The hourly rate shall be the hourly wage of the employee or
individual conducting the supervisory, programming and/or clerical
services as set by the Village governing body by resolution or ordinance
from year to year and/or PBA agreement year to year and/or PBA agreement(s)
from time to time.
(b)
The hourly wages of salaried personnel shall be calculated by
dividing the employee's annual salary as set by the Village governing
body by resolution and/or PBA agreement(s) by 26 (weeks) and then
dividing that biweekly pay by the number of hours worked in a biweekly
period.
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. (Included in public records.)
[Amended 10-11-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-11]
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.
[Amended 10-11-2011 by Ord. No. 2011-11]
The Village Clerk may waive the fees or other charges otherwise
chargeable if the requester of government records is a governmental
or public educational entity.
