6.4.3 Payment
of Costs. The requester will be invoiced by the
FOIA Coordinator for actual costs in filling the request. These costs are determined based upon
the following:
Þ Photocopy
expense $.25
per page*
Þ Fax $.50
per page*
Þ Mailing
Costs Actual
Þ Contracted
Services (video duplication, blueprints, etc.) Actual
Þ Mileage Actual/Current
Rate
Þ Floppy
Disks $2.00/each
Þ Labor
costs associated with any permitted or required searches, examinations,
reviews, separation and deletions of material shall be assessed at the
hourly rate paid to the lowest paid public body employee of Hamburg Township
who is capable of retrieving the information necessary to comply with
the request.
*The
established copy charge includes administrative labor for duplication.
Except
as provided below, no fee shall be charged for searching, examining,
reviewing, and deleting and separating exempt from non-exempt material
unless failure to charge a fee would result in unreasonable high costs
to the public body because of the nature of the request in the particular
instance, such as, by way of example, cases requiring advice from legal
counsel, additional staffing or other direct expenses not in the ordinary
course of business. (If a FOIA request is made for an easily
identified document consisting of a few standard size pages, labor for
the search, examination, and making deletions under the FOIA would generally
not present a case of unreasonably high costs to a public body. In such a case, the Legislature has directed
that no charge be imposed. If a request for “any and all” documents
as to a particular subject, requires a search of many boxes of records,
including review for exempt material which must be or may be deleted
(per Section 13 of the FOIA), and if that search, examination, and review
involves numerous hours of labor, charges may be imposed to avoid the
unreasonable high cost arising from the nature of that particular request.)
In any
case where the estimated actual cost to Hamburg Township of responding
to a request for a copy of a public record exceeds $50.00, a good faith
deposit equal to ½ of the estimated cost of such response shall
be required prior to completing the request. The FOIA Coordinator shall be responsible
for collecting the computed costs prior to the release of the requested
documents.
A copy
of a public record shall be furnished, without charge for the first $20.00
of the fee for each request, to an individual who submits an affidavit
that he or she is then receiving public assistance, or if not receiving
public assistance, stating facts showing inability to pay the cost because
of indigency.
If an individual
has an outstanding FOIA bill, the information shall be turned over to
the Accounting Department for collections proceedings. The
Township cannot refuse to comply with subsequent FOIA requests due to
an outstanding invoice.
The Township
Board may waive some or all of the costs as may be in the public interest
because furnishing copies of the document(s) would be considered as primarily
benefiting the general public.
6.4.4 Response. The initial response may either grant
or deny the requested documents or extend the time for response up to
ten (10) business days. The
response either granting or denying access in whole or in part to the
requested documents must contain the following:
(a) An
invoice containing a detailed breakdown and backup of the charges to
process the request.
(b) Transmittal indicating where the requester
may pick up the released documents and pay the appropriate costs. This transmittal shall also include the
following statement: “The Township does not warrant or guarantee
the accuracy of the information provided. Rather,
it provides the documents only to comply in good faith with the Michigan
Freedom of Information Act, and not for any other purpose.”
(c) If any aspect
of the response is less than a full granting of the request, the final
paragraph MUST be inserted exactly as follows: “If you receive written notice that your request
has been denied, in whole or in part, under Section 10 of the Freedom
of Information Act, you may, at your option, either 1) submit to the
Hamburg Township Clerk a written appeal that specifically states the
word “appeal” and identifies the reason(s) for reversal of
the disclosure denial; or 2) file a lawsuit in the circuit court to compel
Hamburg Township’s disclosure of the record. If,
after judicial review, the circuit court determines that the Township
has not complied with the Act, you may be awarded reasonable attorney’s
fees and damages as specified under the Act”
(d) Material
identified as exempt shall be forwarded to the requestor accompanied
by a transmittal letter indicating the specific reasons why any material
is not being disclosed together with the right to appeal or seek judicial
review.
6.4.5 Appeals. Under the Act, the requesting person
has the option of pursuing an appeal to the Hamburg Township Board or
proceeding to circuit court. If
the requesting person wants to appeal to the Township Board, the requester
must submit a written appeal that specifically states the word “appeal” and
identifies the reason or reasons for reversal of the denial. The
Township Board is not considered to have received a written appeal until
the first regularly scheduled meeting following submission of the appeal. Within ten days after receiving the written
appeal, the Township Board must do one of the following:
a) Reverse
the disclosure denial;
b) Issue
a written notice to the requesting person upholding the disclosure denial;
c) Reverse
the disclosure denial in part and issue a written notice to the requesting
person upholding the disclosure denial in part; or
d) Under
unusual circumstances, issue a notice extending for not more than 10
business days the period during which the Township Board will respond
to the written appeal. The Township Board is prohibited from
issuing more than one extension for any particular appeal.
6.4.6 Document
Storage. FOIA Documents to be released by the
Coordinator shall be held for one year plus one day. If the requester fails to pay the amount
due the Township, or fails to pick up the documents, the documents
may be recycled, destroyed, or returned to the appropriate department.
6.4.7 Record
Keeping. The FOIA Coordinator shall maintain a
chronological file of all FOIA requests processed by him/her together
with a copy of the document provided, response letter, and invoice. These files must be maintained for a
period of one year and one day from the date of response.
