Goodrich- The cost to obtain information from the school through the Freedom of Information Act just increased following a decision by the school board late last year.
The board established a fee of $16.13 per hour and 6 cents per copy for all FOIA requests after reviewing its public records policy.
‘We are watching our dollars and followed the legal guidlines for FOIAs,? said Kim Hart Schools superintendent. ‘A copy of the policy is available at the main office.?
This fee is calculated based on the hourly rate (including benefits) of the lowest paid staff member capable of performing the search or review. The school will waive fees for requests made in the public’s interest, including requests from government officials and the media unless these requests become unreasonable, excessive or overly burdensome.
‘In my experience public bodies typically charge for FOIA,? said Robin Luce, a specialist in media law from the firm of Butzel Long, council for the Michigan Press Association. ‘It depends on the public body, if it’s too small they may not charge. For those of us that’s interested in open government–the danger is excessive charges they could be used to discourage people from obtaining information. There have been circumstances where that has been the case.?
‘However, you may ask that public bodies waive fees. Remember a public body has limited resources if they have someone on staff that’s being used for FOIA responses it’s understandable there are costs involved.?
Goodrich schools along with other entities charge labor cost for searching, examining, reviewing, or redacting exempt information from the documents when the FOIA request seeks several records, requires a search of numerous records or a search of records stored in different locations or mediums, or requires review and redaction of exempt material.
‘Until recently there was no need to charge,? said Michael Thorp, school board trustee. However, in recent months we have been having so many requests that take a specific amount of time the need was there. Money is tight and the requests contain a massive amount of time. It’s taking longer to ask the FOIA questions you can get into a lot of hours.?
Ron Lapp, Brandon Township supervisor says the lowest hourly rate charge is also due to the complexity of some FOIA requests.
‘If something requires more time to gather it can get costly to the township. We sometimes even ask for a down payment of approximately half the cost of the FOIA but it depends on the research,? he said. A lot of work can be costly and we need to be assured of payment.?
Tere Onica, Atlas Township clerk says often people who use a FOIA request don’t realize the information takes considerable digging.
‘We try to work with people on a timely basis and most of the time the information is at our fingertips but we can’t just push a button and it appears,? said Onica.

The Freedom of Information Act or FOIA is the implementation of freedom of information legislation in the United States. It was signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on July 4, 1966, and went into effect the following year. The Freedom of Information Act explicitly applies only to federal government agencies. These agencies are under several mandates to comply with public solicitation of information. Along with making public and accessible all bureaucratic and technical procedure for applying for documents from that agency, agencies are also subject to penalties for hindering the process of a petition for information.