Is it the water, or....

As your editor began working on a lawsuit about Iron
River’s water ordinance we began to look at municipal
budgets in the county. Then I asked for a copy of the
county budget under the freedom of information act
(FOIA.)

I picked up the copy and I was presented with an
invoice that I paid based on faith that county
employees were doing the right thing, although
several elected officials were not (see recent articles
we published on the topic.) Imagine my surprise
when I got home and discovered the contents of the
invoice (below.)

So the misapplication of the FOIA statute MCL
15.234 (reported in full below) must be caused
by something in the water. Or is it perhaps the
almost universal inability of public employees
to read and comprehend (an educational problem?).

Or is it that once they become public employees, the
corporate culture of local government dictates that
they ignore the laws they swore to uphold? We
would really like to discover what, in particular,
ails these people we pay with our taxes, that has
them believing that they do not need to serve the
public that employs them.

MCL 15.234 (quoted in full below) very clearly states:

"(1) A public body may charge a fee for a public
record search, the necessary copying of a public
record for inspection, or for providing a copy of
a public record. Subject to subsections (3) and (4), the
fee shall be limited to actual mailing costs, and to the
actual incremental cost of duplication or publication
including labor, the cost of search, examination,
review, and the deletion and separation of exempt
from nonexempt information as provided in section
14. A search for a public record may be conducted
or copies of public records may be furnished without
charge or at a reduced charge if the public body
determines that a waiver or reduction of the fee is
in the public interest because searching for or
furnishing copies of the public record can be
considered as primarily benefiting the general public.
A public record search shall be made and 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 is entitled to information under this
act and who submits an affidavit stating that the
individual is then receiving public assistance or,
if not receiving public assistance, stating facts
showing inability to pay the cost because of indigency.

"(2) A public body may require at the time a request
is made a good faith deposit from the person
requesting the public record or series of public
records, if the fee authorized under this section
exceeds $50.00. The deposit shall not exceed 1/2
of the total fee.

"(3) In calculating the cost of labor incurred in
duplication and mailing and the cost of
examination, review, separation, and deletion
under subsection (1), a public body may not
charge more than the hourly wage of the lowest
paid public body employee capable of retrieving
the information necessary to comply with a
request under this act. Fees shall be uniform and
not dependent upon the identity of the requesting
person. A public body shall utilize the most
economical means available for making copies
of public records. A fee shall not be charged for
the cost of search, examination, review, and the
deletion and separation of exempt from nonexempt
information as provided in section 14 unless failure
to charge a fee would result in unreasonably high
costs to the public body because of the nature of the
request in the particular instance, and the public body
specifically identifies the nature of these unreasonably
high costs. A public body shall establish and publish
procedures and guidelines to implement this subsection.

"(4) This section does not apply to public records
prepared under an act or statute specifically
authorizing the sale of those public records to the
public, or if the amount of the fee for providing a copy
of the public record is otherwise specifically provided
by an act or statute."

End MCL.

The 30 cents a page is a significant overcharge in a
world where regional copy shops charge 10 cents a copy
(including the public library in Crystal Falls.) And the
words “unreasonably high costs” are simply ignored.
Please also understand that at 10 cents a copy, the
regional commercial copy shops actually make enough
of a profit to make the effort worth their while. Where
on earth did Iron County come up with an "incremental
cost" of 30 cents per copy?

We have highlighted the pertinent sections appropriate
to the details of this event. They were written by the state
legislature for the average citizen of the state to
comprehend. In short, you don't have to be a trained
lawyer to appreciate the nuances.

We cannot understand why, if the county employees are
well intentioned, they cannot understand what the average
citizen can, and does, understand. Unless, of course, our
county employees are not well intentioned?

Perhaps the county  board of commissioners can answer
that question. Are the county employees well intentioned?
If the commissioners don’t provide the answer or take
corrective actions, the courts most certainly will provide
an opinion, that counts, on the matter.

Bill Vajk