[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township
of Ocean as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where
applicable.]
[Adopted by Ord. No. 1980-17; amended by Ord. No. 1994-4 (§§ 2-19.1
to 2-19.3 and 2-19.5 of the 1972 Ocean Codified Ordinances)]
[Added by Ord. No. 2002-14]
A.
Except as otherwise provided by law, all records of the Township
shall be available to the public upon written request therefor, which
may, but need not, be made on a form provided by the Township, a copy
of which is on file at the Township Clerk's office and has been approved
by resolution of the Township Committee, and within such response
time or times as may be stated thereon and provided by law.
B.
Such records may be inspected at the principal office of the Township
during regular business hours and may be copied, by hand, under the
supervision of a representative of the Township. Copies of such records
may be purchased upon payment of the following fees:
C.
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 pursuant to this section is such that the record
cannot be reproduced by ordinary document copying equipment in ordinary
business size, or involves an extraordinary expenditure of time and
effort to accommodate the request, the Township may charge, in addition
to the actual cost of duplicating the record, a special service charge
that shall be reasonable and shall be based upon the actual direct
cost of providing the copy or copies. The requestor shall have the
opportunity to review and object to the charge prior to it being incurred.
D.
The custodian shall permit access to a Township record and provide
a copy thereof in the medium requested if the Township maintains the
record in that medium. If the Township does not maintain the record
in the medium requested, the custodian shall either convert the record
to the medium requested or provide a copy in some other meaningful
medium. If a request is for a record: in a medium not routinely used
by the Township; not routinely developed or maintained by the Township;
or requiring a substantial amount of manipulation or programming of
information technology, the Township may charge, in addition to the
actual cost of duplication, a special charge that shall be reasonable
and shall be based on the cost for any extensive use of information
technology, or for the labor cost of personnel providing this service,
that is actually incurred by the Township or attributable to the Township
for the programming, clerical, and supervisory assistance required,
or both.
E.
The disclosure of records, of any investigation in progress, shall
be deemed to be inimical to the public interest and the Township and
shall not be available for copying nor shall the public have access
thereto until the investigation shall have been completed and release
of such records has been authorized by resolution of the Township.
F.
The public shall not have access to the following records:
(1)
Minutes of all meetings until approved by the Township;
(2)
Reports, opinions and correspondence between the Township and its
attorney or engineer which are subject to review by the Township and/or
which are privileged information;
(3)
Employment records of staff and administrative personnel and any
matters which would violate the privacy of such employees.
A.
In accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 47:1A-2, all records
which are required by law to be made, maintained or kept on file by
any board, body, agency, department, commission, authority or official
of the Township shall be deemed to be public records. Every citizen
of the state shall have the right to inspect such records during regular
business hours maintained by the custodian of the records. During
such regular business hours and under the supervision of a representative
or the custodian, every citizen of the state shall also have the right
to copy such records, by hand, and to purchase copies of the records.
Copies of records shall be made available upon the payment of the
price as established by law.
B.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Subsection A of this section, where it shall appear that the records which are sought to be examined pertain to an investigation in progress by any body, agency, commission, board, authority or official, the right of examination may be denied if the inspection, copying or publication of the records is inimical to the public interest; provided that this provision shall not be construed to prohibit any body, agency, commission, board, authority or official from opening such record or records for public examination if not otherwise prohibited by law.
C.
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 Township
by ordinary document-copying equipment in ordinary business size or
involves an extraordinary expenditure of time and effort by the Township
to accommodate the request, the Township may charge, in addition to
the actual cost 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 requestor shall have the opportunity
to review and object to the charge prior to it being incurred.
[Added 11-10-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-12]
D.
In the event an extraordinary expenditure of time and effort is needed
by the Township to accommodate a request to inspect, in addition to
any fees for actual duplication and copying incurred by the requestor
under this article, the Township shall 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 Township
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 Township. The requestor shall have
the opportunity to review and object to the charge prior to it being
incurred.
[Added 11-10-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-12]
[Amended by Ord. No. 1999-16; Ord. No. 2001-30; Ord. No. 2002-2; Ord. No. 2002-32; Ord. No. 2004-12]
A.
A certified copy of any vital record or certification thereof is
$10. Additional certifications or certified copies ordered at the
same time are $10 each.
[Amended 3-15-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-5]
B.
The fees to be charged for copies for public documents and records
and the time table for providing the same as well as the procedure
for the request for same shall be that as set forth in the following
schedule incorporated herein as Schedule A.
C.
All police records, including all police accident reports which are
subject to public inspection or copying, may be purchased upon payment
of the following fees:
|
Schedule A
[Amended 11-10-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-12; 3-15-2022 by Ord. No. 2022-5] | |
|---|---|
|
Fees for copies:
| |
|
1st to 10th page
|
$0.75 per page
|
|
11th to 20th page
|
$0.50 per page
|
|
All pages over 20
|
$0.25 per page
|
|
Copy of meeting minutes:
| |
|
Township Committee
|
Fee based on photocopy charge
|
|
Land Use Board
|
Fee based on photocopy charge
|
|
Environmental Commission
|
Fee based on photocopy charge
|
|
Economic Development Commission
|
Fee based on photocopy charge
|
|
Open Space Committee
|
Fee based on photocopy charge
|
|
Other
|
Fee based on photocopy charge
|
|
Duplicate recordings of public meetings listed above
|
$10 per tape times the number of tapes
|
|
Basic fees or vital statistics:
| |
|
Marriage license fee
|
$28
|
|
Domestic partnership
|
$28
|
|
Birth certificate
|
$28
|
|
Death certificate
|
$28
|
|
Certified copy of vital record or certification thereof (birth
certificate, death certificate, marriage/domestic partnership)
|
$10 each
|
|
Freon certification
|
$10 per item
|
|
Propane tank
|
$5 per tank
|
D.
Police photographs will be photocopied at the following rates: First
page to 10th page, $0.75 per page; 11th page to 20th page, $0.50 per
page; all pages over 20, $0.25 per page. If requests are made for
duplicate photographs, the actual cost of making the photographs shall
be charged.
[Added 11-10-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-12]
E.
Municipal Court discovery, first page to 10th page: $0.75 per page;
11th page to 20th page: $0.50 per page; all pages over 20: $0.25 per
page. Municipal Court discovery sent to requesting party via regular
mail will require an additional fee for the actual cost of postage,
plus $0.25 for stationery-related expenses. Where the discovery must
be obtained from an entity other than the Township, the actual costs
paid to the other entity shall be paid by the requestor.
[Added 11-10-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-12]
F.
The fee
for motor vehicle accident reports, statements and investigation reports
where a request is made other than in person shall incur an administrative
service charge of $5.
[Added 5-20-2020 by Ord. No. 2020-4]
Where the document in question is more than 100 pages in length,
the Clerk may permit the person requesting copies to use his/her own
copying machine, provided that there is no risk of damage or mutilation
of the documents, and it would not be incompatible with the transaction
of public business. Such determination shall be completely within
the discretion of the Clerk. The fee in such case shall be $15 per
day.
[Adopted by Ord. No. 2006-26]
[Amended 3-13-2008 by Ord. No. 2008-06; amended 11-10-2010 by Ord. No. 2010-12]
A.
Tax Collector's office. Redemption statements: Pursuant to N.J.S.A.
54:5-54, the Tax Collector's Office shall provide to any requestor
entitled to redeem a tax sale certificate, two calculations of the
amount required for redemption within a calendar year at no cost.
B.
Thereafter, a fee of $25 for each subsequent calculation requested
of the Tax Collector shall be charged to the requestor. A request
for a redemption calculation shall be made in writing to the Tax Collector.
The Township agrees to accept electronic receipts in the form
of credit card or debit card charges for any and all delinquent local
obligations, which is defined as any debt of charge that has been
turned over to a municipality for collection for the tax sale process.
The credit card or debit charge payment will be accepted by the Township
up to but not later than 30 days prior to a tax sale for the obligation.
