(A) Copying/duplication fee schedule. There is hereby established the following copying/duplication fee schedule for all departments forming a part of town, except as excluded from these provisions by division (D) below.
(1) Fees for paper copy.
(a) The copy fee for producing paper documents shall be $0.10 for each page of any public record which is not a color copy and $0.25 for each page of any public record which is a color copy.
(b) Page definition: a page shall be one side of a sheet of paper or one side of a record or document. Thus, a sheet with writing on two sides that is copied (both sides) would be treated as two pages.
(2) Fees for electronic or digital copy.
(a) The copy fee for producing an electronic or digital copy of a document shall be $0.05 for each page of any public record.
(b) Page definition: a page shall be one side of a sheet of paper or one side of a record or document. Thus, a sheet with writing on two sides that is copied (both sides) would be treated as two pages.
(c) Media charges: electronic or digital copies shall be provided via email; the person requesting the electronic or digital copy shall provide an accurate email address for sending the requested documents. If the person requesting electronic or digital copies requests that the copies be provided on a compact disc (CD), the person making the request shall either supply town with the media to be used or pay to town $1 for each compact disc utilized to provide the electronic or digital copies.
(3) Packaging and shipping fees. Packaging and shipping fees shall be charged at cost.
(B) Procedure for processing of copy requests.
(1) All requests for copying of public records must identify with reasonable particularity the record being requested and be in writing or on a standard form provided by the town. No request for inspection or copying of public records may be denied because the person making the request refuses to state the purpose of the request, unless such condition is required by operation of law.
(2) Each department shall be expected to provide copies of public records, as herein requested, within a reasonable time period after the request is properly made. A reasonable time period may vary from a few minutes to a few weeks, depending upon the scope of the request, the time involved in honoring it, the ability of the particular department to respond to the request given its other duties and responsibilities, and the availability of copying or duplicating equipment (if any).
(C) Certification fees. The fee for certifying any document as a true, accurate and complete copy of the original public record shall be $5 for each document.
(D) Statutory or other prescribed fees. Nothing contained within this section shall alter, expand or interfere with the collection of any copying, search or other fee by a department of the town that is specified by other law or is ordered by a court to be paid.
(E) Duplication of computer tapes, computer discs, microfilm and the like. The town shall be entitled to establish the procedures and standards for providing a duplicate of any computer tape, computer disc, microfilm or similar or analogous record system containing information owned by the town or entrusted to it. The town, as part of its standard policy relative to such materials, shall charge a fee therefor, which fee shall not exceed the town’s direct cost of supplying the information in that form.
(1) In determining the town’s direct cost of supplying such information, the town shall compute 100% of the sum of the cost of:
(a) The initial development of a program, if any;
(b) The labor required to retrieve electronically stored data; and
(c) Any medium used for electronic output.
(2) For providing a duplicate, or for programming the computer system under I.C. 5-14-3-6 to separate disclosable information from non-disclosable information.
(3) As to such computer tapes, computer discs, microfilm or similar or other analogous record systems containing information owned by the town, the town shall be entitled to establish its own uniform, nondiscriminatory procedure for the requesting of a duplicate or copy, and the timeliness of any response thereto.
(F) Payment and accounting for fees.
(1) The town may, at its discretion, require the payment of any fees under this section to be made in advance to ensure payment and reimbursement to the town for the expense involved in providing the requested service.
(2) All proceeds from the fees arising from this section shall be deposited by the applicable department in the General Fund of the town. Unless the department in question chooses to do otherwise, a department imposing and collecting fees pursuant to this section shall be under no obligation to keep records as to the types of documents or records copied. Rather, the only record keeping required shall be to keep track of the number of pages copied in the various categories for which the various fees have been imposed and the number of documents certified.
(3) The various departments forming a part of the town shall not impose the fees established under this section when the services performed are for other departments forming a part of the town.
(Ord. 569, passed 4-6-2015)