Selectmen Agree On Doubling Copy Fees

By John Voket

Taxpayers may squeal whenever a local government doubles the cost of any municipal service. But in the case of photocopies that may be required, local selectmen believe the increase in cost from 25 to 50 cents is more than justified.

The Board of Selectmen voted unanimously Tuesday to increase the per-copy charge to the maximum allowed by state statutes. According to First Selectman Herb Rosenthal, he contacted the state Freedom of Information Commission on the matter, and felt validated when he was told many communities already charge the 50-cent maximum.

While Mr Rosenthal would not attribute the need for change exclusively to recent Freedom of Information requests received by his office in recent months, he did note at Tuesday’s meeting that the cost for copies is not exclusively for the paper and toner used to produce the document images.

“When people request massive amounts of copies, you not only have the paper and ink, but the time of the person required to locate the documents and make the copies,” the first selectman said. “We can justify the price increase particularly in conjunction with the [amount of] employee time being taken.”

Town finance director Ben Spragg, who was on hand at the meeting, said he was the one who instituted the 25-cent per page charge 15 or 20 years ago.

According to town hall employees, a stack of documents requested under the FOI Act by a local special interest group called The Friends of Newtown has been sitting on a desk since early December. Copies of emails sent between the First Selectman’s Office and the requesting individual, who has not signed his or her name, indicate that $131 worth of copies will be produced as soon as a check for the copies is delivered.

Jan Andras, the first selectman’s administrative assistant, said the Freedom of Information Commission advised her this week that significant amounts of copies of documents on hand should only be provided if they are paid for in advance. The Friends of Newtown have also made an additional request to review environmental reports related to the Fairfield Hills development that weigh in at 16,000 pages.

While any requests for document copies made prior to the selectmen’s ruling will still be charged at the 25-cent rate, any further requests will be charged the 50-cent rate. At the old rate, copies of the 16,000 pages of environmental reports would cost in excess of $4,000, according to town hall emails to the Friends of Newtown.

Upon contacting Matt DeAngelis, a spokesperson for the group, December 27 about the extensive environmental reports, The Bee received an email stating: “…we didn’t ask for COPIES — we asked for the COST of the copies.”

Mr DeAngelis added that he will get the $130 for the original documents. He said Friends of Newtown will send an environmental consultant in to read the reports and get any copies needed in the coming weeks.

In other business Tuesday, the selectmen tabled discussion on proposed charges for extensive digital files requested by surveyors and other land-use professionals. Mr Rosenthal said the town clerk is approached occasionally by individuals looking to purchase large parts, or even the entire body of electronic land maps on file.

Selectman Joseph Bojnowski pointed out that the information is the result of years of compilation work on the part of town workers and contractors, and that the cost of the discs and the time to reproduce the information pales in comparison to the value of the information.

The selectmen decided to poll other communities of approximately the same size as Newtown, to determine if they provide digital land records en masse, and if so, how do they calculate the cost.