Mayor unhappy with lower copying fees

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March 30, 2006

Says government should be allowed to charge overhead

By SCOTT SMITH The Kokomo Tribune Thu Mar 30, 2006, 05:51 AM EST

After refusing for more than a year to reduce Kokomo’s $1 a page copying fee to something more in line with most state and local government agencies, McKillip administration officials could do little but sit and watch as city council voted 6-0 March 13 to lower the fee to 25 cents a page, citing a provision in the Indiana Access to Public Records Act.

The law forbids government agencies from charging more than the actual cost of producing photocopies.

Agencies are not allowed to include labor costs. Mayor Matt McKillip said they should be.

“I think the statute’s wrong. I think we should be able to bill labor,” McKillip said Wednesday.

The mayor signed off on council’s copying fee ordinance Monday, saying he would press for certain changes, including:

• Allowing the public to continue receiving the first five pages for free. (Council removed that provision).

• Conducting a study to determine how much it actually costs to produce copies.

• Setting fees for faxing information long distance. McKillip said the cost of sending faxes to individuals outside the city shouldn’t be subsidized by local taxpayers.

Freedom of information advocates, including the Indiana Public Access Counselor’s Office and the Hoosier State Press Association, say if copying fees aren’t limited to the actual cost, government agencies would price public information out of reach.

Council members embraced the idea of lowering the fees earlier this year after a representative of Kokomo’s Fraternal Order of Police was charged $148 for a packet of city budget information.

“That’s pretty clear to me. We’re here to serve the public, not hinder them from getting records,” Council attorney Corbin King told the council in January.

In 1984, council delegated the responsibility for setting copying fees to the Board of Public Works and Safety, which set the fee at 20 cents a page. In November 2004, the McKillip-appointed board of works increased the fee to $1 a page.

In early 2005, the Tribune obtained an informal opinion from State Public Access Counselor Karen Davis, who said the $1 a page fee far exceeded what could be considered a reasonable copying fee under state law.

Davis said even 25 cents a page was too much in her opinion. Her opinions, however, are nonbinding and the board of works did not change the fee.

“State law doesn’t say we can’t charge $1 a page,” McKillip said Wednesday. “The public access counselor’s opinion isn’t binding.”

King petitioned the board of works at its Feb. 28 meeting to lower the fee after first discussing the issue with McKillip and board member Jack Dodd.

At the meeting board president Phil Williams said he was unaware council wanted the fee changed.

“A phone call would have been nice, so we weren’t blindsided by this,” Williams told King.

Williams said upping the fee to $1 a page was an effort to protect the taxpayers, “if we have to copy numerous pages for one citizen, or someone who may not be a citizen.”

Williams also said he thought a former city employee had done a study of what various government agencies charged for copies. "It seems like everybody was a lot higher," he added.

Most county agencies charge 20 cents a page, and state agencies charge 10 cents a page. State law allows county recorders and county clerks to charge $1 a page for certain documents.

Scott Smith may be reached at (765) 454-8569 or via e-mail at scott.smith@kokomotribune.com

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