A. No fee will be charged for the inspection of public records or locating public records and making them available for copying, except as described in RCW 52.56.120(3).
B. The City shall charge the following costs for providing copies of public records:
1. Fifteen cents ($0.15) per page for photocopies of public records, printed copies of electronic public records when requested by the person requesting records, or for the use of City equipment to photocopy public records;
2. Ten cents ($0.10) per page for public records scanned into an electronic format or for the use of agency equipment to scan the records;
3. Five cents ($0.05) per each four (4) electronic files or attachment uploaded to e-mail, cloud-based data storage service or other means of electronic delivery;
4. Ten cents ($0.10) per gigabyte for the transmission of public records in an electronic format or for the use of agency equipment to send the records electronically. The City shall take reasonable steps to provide the records in the most efficient manner available to the agency in its normal operations;
5. The actual cost of any digital storage media or device provided by the City, the actual cost of any container or envelope used to mail the copies to the requestor, and the actual postage or delivery charge.
6. Sixty-seven cents ($0.67) per minute of staff time for redaction of any law enforcement requested body-worn camera footage. These charges are based on the average per-minute salaries of the city employees responsible for video redaction. See RCW 42.56.240 (14)(f)(1).
C. The charges in subsection B of this section may be combined to the extent that more than one type of charge applies to copies produced in response to a particular request.
D. The City may charge a flat fee of up to two dollars ($2.00) for any request as an alternative to fees authorized under subsection B of this section when the City reasonably estimates and documents that the costs allowed under this subsection are clearly equal to or more than two dollars ($2.00). An additional flat fee shall not be charged for any installment after the first installment of a request produced in installments. If the City has elected to charge the flat fee in this subsection for an initial installment, it may not charge the fees authorized in subsection B2 on subsequent installments.
E. The City shall not impose copying charges under this section for access to or downloading of records that the City routinely posts on its Website prior to receipt of a request, unless the requestor has specifically requested that the City provide copies of such records through other means.
F. A requestor may ask the City to provide, and if requested, the City shall provide a summary of the applicable charge before any copies are made and the requestor may revise the request to reduce the number of copies to be made and reduce the applicable charges.
G. The City may include a customized service charge, as allowed by RCW 42.56.120(3).
H. The City may require a deposit in an amount not to exceed ten percent of the estimated cost of providing copies for a request. If the City makes a request available on a partial or installment basis, the City may charge for each part of the request as it is provided. If an installment of a records request is not claimed or reviewed, the City is not obligated to fulfill the balance of the request. The City may waive any charge assessed for a request pursuant to City rules and regulations. The City may enter into any contract, memorandum of understanding or other agreement with a requestor that provides an alternative fee arrangement to the charges authorized in this section, or in response to a voluminous or frequently occurring request.
H. The PRO will not charge sales tax when it makes copies or scans of public records but if the records are sent to a third party for copying/scanning, that third party may charge sales tax and the requestor will be responsible for payment of that tax as well as the third party's actual charges for copies or scans.
I. Payment: Payment may be made by cash, check, or money order made payable to the City.
J. Other Copying Charges: The Act generally governs copying charges for public records, but several specific statutes govern charges for particular kinds of records. The following non-exhaustive list provides some examples: RCW 46.52.085 (charges for traffic accident reports); RCW 10.97.100 (copies of criminal histories) and RCW 70.58.107 (charges for birth certificates). The City will charge the amount authorized pursuant to these other statutes rather than as provided under the Act.
K. Use Of Outside Vendor: An agency is not required to copy/scan records at its own facilities. An agency can send the project to a commercial copying/scanning center and bill the requestor for the amount charged by the vendor. An agency can arrange with the requestor to pay the vendor directly. An agency cannot charge the default per page copying/scanning charge when its cost at a vendor is less. (Ord. 1019, 6-5-2023)