Public records ruling prompts N.J. towns to reduce copying costs

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 Star Ledger

In response to an appellate court ruling, a number of towns in New Jersey have lowered fees for copying open public records. Others are waiting for Gov. Chris Christie to weigh in on the matter.

The Appellate Division of Superior Court ruled in February that beginning July 1 public entities could only charge the actual costs of making copies, including paper and toner.

“For most, if not all public agencies, the actual cost for copies will be less than the prior rates under OPRA,” said Lisa Ryan, spokeswoman for the state Government Records Council said. “So, access to records will be cheaper.”

A bill approved by the Legislature, which reached Christie’s desk on June 28, sets a uniform rate of 5 cents per page for letter-size documents and 7 cents a page for legal size. Previously, the rate was 75 cents for the first 10 pages, 50 cents for the next 10 and 25 cents for every page after that. Under that rate, a 100-page report would cost more than $20, a far cry from the proposed rate’s $5.

Sean Conner, a spokesman for Christie, said the governor has not decided whether to sign the bill.

“Approximately 50 bills have come in and he’s taking that time,” Conner said.

Somerville in Somerset County, Union Township in Union County, Chester Borough in Morris County and Highland Park in Middlesex County have already lowered prices to 3 cents a page. Boonton officials have decided to go ahead with the rates contained in the bill approved by the Legislature and will vote on them at their next meeting in August.

John Paff, chairman of the Libertarian Party’s Open Government Advocacy Project, called the change a “major victory.” The public records activist has filed countless requests that have brought about investigations of schools and municipalities and stirred up controversy on behalf of open government.

Estimating that he spends about $50 on records requests a month, Paff said the 75-cents-per-10-page fee dissuaded the public from accessing records.

“I know it just seems like $6 here or $4.50 there, but that starts to add up. That’s groceries, that’s gas for essentially a slim stack of papers,” he said.

However, Branchburg Township Committeeman James Leonard said the new price does not reflect the actual cost for the time it takes employees to produce the requested documents. He suggested the township send a letter to the state’s local mandates commission, an organization responsible for examining legislative mandates for fairness.

“I’m in favor of lowering costs for residents any way we can, but it’s not fair to the municipality when the state steps in and asks municipalities to do something below cost,” he said. “I don’t think municipalities should make a profit on it, but municipalities shouldn't lose money on it either.