HomeMy WebLinkAboutOrd 427-2009 Establishing Rules for Public Information Recovery Costs.pdfCITY OF ANNA, TEXAS
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AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS, AMENDING THE ANNA CITY
CODE OF ORDINANCES, PART 11 BY CREATING ARTICLE 48, ENTITLED "PUBLIC
INFORMATION", ESTABLISHING RULES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE
RECOVERY OF CERTAIN COSTS RELATED TO THE PROVISION OF PUBLIC
INFORMATION IN ACCORDANCE WITH CHAPTER 552 OF THE TEXAS
GOVERNMENT CODE; AMENDING PART IV, SCHEDULE OF FEES, ARTICLE V,
BY INSERTING A SECTION 10 PROVIDING FOR CHARGES FOR ACTIVITIES
RELATED TO PUBLIC INFORMATION REQUESTS; PROVIDING FOR SAVINGS,
SEVERABILITY, AND REPEALING CLAUSES; PROVIDING FOR AN EFFECTIVE
DATE; AND PROVIDING FOR THE PUBLICATION OF THE CAPTION HEREOF
WHEREAS, the City of Anna, Texas City Council ("City Council") recognizes that public
policy requires public access to information regarding the affairs of government and the
official acts of public officials and employees; and
WHEREAS, the Legislature of the State of Texas, the Office of the Attorney General of
the State of Texas and the City Council have recognized the need for reasonable cost -
recovery rules and procedures related to locating, compiling, manipulating data, and
reproducing public information for inspection, duplication, or copying; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has investigated and determined that it would be
advantageous and beneficial to the City of Anna, Texas ("City") and its citizens to
amend Part 11 by creating Article 48, a chapter entitled "Public Information" into The
Anna City Code of {ordinances ("Anna Code"), establishing rules and procedures
relating to statutorily -limited labor costs, actual Personnel time, and other costs related
to locating, compiling, manipulating data, and reproducing public information; and
WHEREAS, the City Council also wishes to amend Part IV, Schedule of Fees, Article V
by inserting a new Section 10, into the Anna Code, providing specific charges for the
activities relating to the reproduction of information in response to a Public Information
Request; and
WHEREAS, Chapter 552 of the Texas Government Code and Chapter 70 of Title 1,
Part 3 of the Texas Administrative Code authorizes governmental bodies to establish
policies regulating said activities relating to Public Information Requests.
CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS ORDINANCE NO._JO2- rlf0 PAGE 1 of 14
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
ANNA, TEXAS, THAT:
Section 1. Recitals Incorporated.
The above -referenced recitals are incorporated herein as if set forth in full for all
purposes.
Section 2. Amendment.
In accordance with Part 11, Article 1, Section 9 of the Anna Code, the following
amendment is made to Part 11 by adding a new Article 48, entitled "Public Inforrnation,"
by inserting the following language:
This section of the Code is prepared under the authority of the Texas
Government Cod6, Chapter 552, to establish regulations relative to requests
made to the City for public information.
The following words and phrases, when used in this article, shall have the
meaning ascribed to them by this section or if not defined in this section or
other parts of this article shall have that meaning customarily attributed to
them.
City means City of Anna, Texas.
Labor Charge means the statutorily -limited $15/hour charge for locating,
compiling, manipulating data, and reproducing public information as to all
responses to a request for public information that: (a) exceeds 50 pages; (b)
requires the provision of documents from two or more separate buildings that
are not physically connected with each other; or (c) requires the provision of
documents from a remote storage facility.
Nonstandard Copy or Oversized Copy means any copy of public information
that is made available to a Requestor in any format other than a Standard
Paper Copy. Microfiche, microfilm, diskettes, magnetic tapes, CD-ROM are
examples of Nonstandard Copies. Paper copies larger than 8 Y2by 14 inches
(legal size) are also considered Nonstandard Copies.
Overhead Charge means a charge that covers such costs as depreciation of
capital asset, rent, maintenance and repair, utilities, and administrative —
CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS ORDINANCE NO. _YVj_J#_0L PAGE 2 OF 14
overhead. The Overhead Charge shall be computed at 20% of the Labor
Charge associated with a particular Public Information Request.
Personnel Charge means the actual cost to the City of Personnel time —to the
extent such time exceeds the 36-hour limit under Section 4 of this article —
expended for locating, compiling, manipulating data, and reproducing public
information associated with a particular Public Information Request, said actual
cost being calculated by reducing to an hourly rate an employee's annual
salary and the value of all other compensation in the form of benefits received
by said employee and multiplying said hourly rate by the time actually spent.
Personnel means City employees.
Program Processing means the execution of a sequence of coded instructions
by a computer producing a result.
Programming Labor Charge means a charge for any services of a programmer
required in the processing of a Public Information Request while executing an
existing program or in creating a new program so that requested information
may be accessed and copied.
Public Information Request a/ka "Open Records Request" means a request for
public information made in accordance with Texas Government Code, Chapter
552.
Requestor means a person who submits a request to the City for inspection or
copies of public information.
Standard Paper Copy means a copy of public information that is a printed
impression on one side of a piece of paper that measures up to 8 Y2by 14
inches (legal size). Each side of a piece of paper on which information is
recorded is counted as a single copy. A piece of paper that has information
recorded on both sides is counted as two copies.
Section 3. Personnel Time
3.01 Personnel Charges for Time Spent over 36 Hours
Personnel Charges shall apply and be imposed on Requestors for time
spent by Personnel in locating, compiling, manipulating data, and
reproducing public information for inspection or duplication by a
Requestor or providing copies of public information to a Requestor that is
in excess of 36 cumulative hours during a 12-month period, said period
to correspond with the fiscal year of the City.
3.02 Request by a Minor
CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS ORDINANCE NO.Jqj?J00? PAGE 3 OF 14
In determining whether the time limit established under Section 3.01
above applies, any time spent complying with a request for public
information submitted in the name of a minor, as defined by Section
101.003(a), Texas Family Code, is to be included in the calculation of the
cumulative amount of time spent complying with a request for public
information by a parent, guardian, or other person who has control of the
minor under a court order and with whom the minor resides, unless that
parent, guardian, or other person establishes that another person
submitted that request in the name of the minor.
3.03 Exceptions
This section does not apply if the Requestor is a representative of:
(a) a radio or television station that holds a license issued by the Federal
Communications Commission; or
(b) a newspaper that is qualified under Texas Gov't Code Section
2Q51.044 to publish legal notices or is a free newspaper of general
circulation and that is published at least once a week and available and of
interest to the general public in connection with the dissemination of news;
or is one of the following:
(c) an elected official of the United States, this state, or a political
subdivision of this state; or
(d) a representative of a publicly funded legal services organization that is
exempt from federal income taxation under Section 501 (a), Internal
Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, by being listed as an exempt entity
under Section 501 (c)(3) of that code.
Section 4. Statement of Time Spent
Each time the City complies with a request for public information, the City shall
provide the Requestor with a written statement of the amount of Personnel time
spent complying with that request and the cumulative amount of time spent
complying with requests for public information from that Requestor during the
applicable 12-month period, (The amount of time spent preparing the written
statement is not chargeable and is not included in the amount of time included in
the statement provided to the Requestor under this subsection.)
Section 5. Statement of Estimated Costs
5.01 Estimate Required
Before complying with a Public Information Request, the City shall provide a
CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS ORDINANCE NO._%VaLOOL PAGE 4 OF 14
statement of estimated costs if:
(1) the City intends to impose a Personnel Charge;
(2) copies made to comply with the request will exceed 50 pages;
(3) the Public Information Request requires the provision of documents
from two or more separate buildings that are not physically connected
with each other;
(4) the Public Information Request requires the provision of documents
from a remote storage facility; or
(5) the estimated charges for complying with a Public Information
Request exceed $40.00.
A statement of estimated costs under this section shall be provided to the
Requestor on or before the 1 oth day after the date on which the public
information was requested. If the City does not provide therequired
statement, it may not collect more than $40.
5.02 Content of Statement of Estimated Costs
A statement of estimated costs provided under this section must include:
(1) the itemized estimated charges, including any allowable charges
for labor, overhead, copies, Personnel time, programming time, etc.;
(2) whether a less costly or no -cost way of viewing the information is
available;
(3) a statement that the Requestor must provide the City with a
mailing, facsimile transmission, or electronic mail address to receive
the itemized statement and that it is the Requestor's choice which type
of address to provide; and
(4) a statement that the Requestdr must respond in writing by mail, in
person, by facsimile or by electronic mail to the City Secretary in
response to the statement of estimated costs.
A statement of estimated costs provided under this section must also
include as an attachment a copy of the current version of Texas
Government Code §552.2615. A copy of §552.2615, current at the time of
adoption of this article, is attached hereto as Exhibit A and incorporated
herein as if set forth in full.
CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS ORDINANCE NO. Grp. PAGE 5 OF 14
Section 6. Procedures for Certain Charges and Methodology of
Calculations
6.01 Labor Charges
(a) Labor Charges will be applied to any Public Information Request that:
(1) exceeds 50 pages in length;
(2) requires the provision of documents from two or more separate
buildings that are not physically connected with each other; or
(3) requires the provision of documents from a remote storage facility.
(b) Labor Charges may not exceed $15.00/hour.
(c) Labor Charges may not be charged to the Requestor for any time spent by
an attorney, legal assistant, or any other person who reviews the requested
information:
(1) to determine whether the City will raise any exceptions to disclosureof
the requested information under the Texas Government Code,
Subchapter C, Chapter 552; or
(2) to research or prepare a request for a ruling by the attorney general's
office pursuant to §552.301 of the Texas Government Code.
(d) When confidential information pursuant to a mandatory exception of the
Public Information Act is mixed with public information in the same page, a
Labor Charge may be recovered for time spent to redact, blackout, or
otherwise obscure confidential information in order to release the public
information. A Labor Charge shall not be made for redacting confidential
information for requests of 50 or fewer pages, unless the request also
qualifies for a Labor Charge pursuant to Texas Government Code,
§552.261 (a)(1) or (2).
(e) Labor Charges may not be imposed to the extent that Personnel Charges
are imposed.
6.02 Programming Labor Charges
If a Public Information Request requires the services of a programmer in
order to execute an existing program or to create a new program so that
requested information may be accessed and copied, the City may charge for
the programmer's time as a Programming Labor Charge in accordance with
state law and rules of the Attorney General.
CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS ORDINANCE NO.1422,00t PAGE 6 OF 14
6.03 Personnel Charges
Personnel Charges are calculated at an hourly rate for time spent by
Personnel in locating, compiling, manipulating data, and reproducing public
information for inspection or duplication by a Requestor or providing copies of
public information to a Requestor that is in excess of 36 cumulative hours in a
12-month period, said period to correspond with the fiscal year of the City.
When Personnel Charges are applicable, the charge is calculated by
determining the sum total of the actual cost of all employees' time spent on a
Public Information Request. Whenever Personnel Charges are imposed,
Labor Charges may not be imposed.
6.04 Overhead Charge
(a) An Overhead Charge refers to a standard charge established in order to
recover costs associated with the following:
(1) depreciation of capital assets;
(2) rent;
(3) maintenance and repair;
(4) utilities; and/or
(5) administrative costs.
(b) The methodology for computing an Overhead Charge is to multiply 20% of
any Labor Charges, Programming Labor Charges or Personnel Charges,
associated with any given Public Information Request.
(c) An Overhead Charge shall not be made for requests for copies of 50 or
fewer pages of Standard Paper Copies unless the request also qualifies for a
Labor Charge pursuant to Texas Government Code, §552.261 (a)(1) or (2).
Section 7. Charges for copies, Nonstandard Copies and other materials
In addition to charging $.10 per paper copy for standard copies, the following
charges shall apply with regard to all Public Information Requests:
(1) Nonstandard Copies
(i) Diskette - $1.00;
Magnetic tape — Actual
CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS ORDINANCE NO.-Y42A.00,f PAGE 7 OF 14
(iii) Data cartridge _ Actual Cost;
(iv) Tape cartridge —Actual Cost;
(v) Rewritable CD (CD-RW) - $1.00;
(vi) Non-rewritable CD (CD-R) - $1.00;
(vii) Digital video disc (DVD) - $3.00;
(viii) JAZ drive - Actual Cost;
(ix) Other electronic media — Actual Cost;
(x) VHS video cassette - $2.50;
(xi) Audio cassette - $1.00;
(xii) Oversized Copy (e.g., 11 inches by 17 inches, greenbar, bluebar,_
not including maps and photographs using specialty paper) - $.50;
and/or
(xiii) Specialty paper — Actual Cost.
Charges for Nonstandard Copies or Oversized Copies are applicable to
all Public Information Requests, regardless of the number of pages or the
time involved in the response to the Public Information Request.
(2) Microfiche and microfilm charge:
(i) If the City already has information that exists on microfiche or
microfilm and has copies available for sale or distribution, the charge
for a copy must not exceed the cost of its reproduction. If no copies of
the requested microfiche or microfilm are available and the information
on the microfiche or microfilm can be released in its entirety, the City
may make a copy of the microfiche or microfilm. The charge for a copy
shall not exceed the cost of its reproduction.
(ii) If only a master copy of information in microfilm is maintained, the
charge is $.10 per page for Standard Paper Copies, plus any
applicable Labor and Overhead Charge for more than 50 copies.
(3) Remote document retrieval — if the City has a contract with a
commercial records storage company, whereby the private company
charges a fee to locate, retrieve, deliver, and return to storage the needed
CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS ORDINANCE NO. • ? PAGE 8 OF 14
record(s), no additional Labor Charge shall be factored in for time spent
locating documents at the storage location by the private company's
personnel. If after delivery to the City, the materials must still be searched
for records that are responsive to the request, the City may charge for
such search in accordance with this article.
(4) Computer resource charge:
(i) mainframe--$10 per CPU minute;
(ii) Midsize--$1.50 per CPU minute;
(iii) Client/Server system--$2.20 per clock hour; and
(iv) PC or LAN--$1.00 per clock hour.
(5) Miscellaneous supplies. The Actual Cost of miscellaneous supplies,
such as labels, boxes, and other Supplies used to produce the requested
information, may be added to the total charge for public information.
(6) Postal and shipping charges. The City may add any related postal or
shipping expenses that are necessary to transmit the reproduced
information to the requesting party.
(7) Miscellaneous charges. If the City accepts payment by credit card for
copies of public information and is charged a "transaction fee" by the
credit card company, the City may recover that fee from the Requestor.
Section 8 Implementation
The City Secretary, or a person designated by the City Secretary, shall
implement the provisions of this article.
Section 3. Amendment.
In accordance with Part II, Article 1, Section 9 of the Anna Code, the following
amendment is made to Part IV, Schedule of Fees, Article V, by adding a Section 10
and inserting the following language:
ARTICLE V. General Miscellaneous Fees
Section 10. Charges Relating to Public Information Requests
CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS ORDINANCE NO. 4 PAGE 9 OF 14
10.01 Labor Charges
MYRIF ROOM i I
711MIUM 39��
(1) exceeds'50 pages in length;
(2) requires the provision of documents from two or more separate buildings that
are not physically connected with each other; or
(3) requires the provision of documents from a remote storage facility.
(b) Labor Charges may not exceed $15.00/hour.
(c) Labor Charges may. not be charged to the Requestor for any time spent by an
attorney, legal assistant, or any other person who reviews the requested information:
(1) to determine whether the City will raise any exceptions to disclosure of the
requested information under the Texas Government Code, Subchapter C,
Chapter 552; or
(2) to research or prepare a request for a ruling by the attorney general's office
pursuant to §552.301 of the Texas Government Code.
(d) When confidential information pursuant to a mandatory exception of the Public
Information Act is mixed with public information in the same page, a Labor Charge
may be recovered for time spent to redact, blackout, or otherwise obscure
confidential information in order to release the public information. A Labor Charge
shall not be made for redacting confidential information for requests of 50 or fewer
pages, unless the request also qualifies for a Labor Charge pursuant to Texas
Government Code, §552.261 (a)(1) or (2).
(e) Labor Charges may not be imposed to the extent that Personnel Charges are
imposed.
10.02 Programming Labor Charges
If a Public Information Request requires the services of a programmer in order to
execute an existing program or to create a new program so that requested
information may be accessed and copied, the City may charge for the programmer's
time as a Programming Labor Charge in accordance with state law and rules of the
Attorney General.
10.03 Personnel Charges
Personnel Charges are calculated at an hourly rate for time spent by Personnel in
locating, compiling, manipulating data, and reproducing public information for
CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS ORDINANCE NOjqt&# L_ PAGE 10OF14
inspection or duplication by a Requestor or providing copies of public information to
a Requestor that it in excess of 36 cumulative hours in a 12-month period, said
period to correspond with the fiscal year of the City. When Personnel Charges are
applicable, the charge is calculated by determining the sum total of the actual cost of
all employees' time spent on a Public Information Request. Whenever Personnel
Charges are imposed, Labor Charges may not be imposed.
10.04 Overhead Charges
(a) An Overhead Charge refers to a standard charge established in order to recover
costs associated with the following:
(1) depreciation of capital assets;
(2) rent;
(3) maintenance and repair;
(4) utilities; and/or
(5) administrative costs.
(b) The methodology for computing an Overhead Charge is to multiply 20% of any
Labor Charges, Programming Labor Charges or Personnel Charges, associated with
any given Public Information Request.
(c) An Overhead Charge shall not be made for requests for copies of 50 or fewer
pages of Standard Paper Copies unless the request also qualifies for a Labor
Charge pursuant to Texas Government Code, §552.261 (a)(1) or (2).
10.06 Charges for copies, Nonstandard Copies and other materials
In addition to charging $.10 per paper copy for standard copies, the following
charges shall apply with regard to all Public Information Requests:
(1) Nonstandard Copies
(i) Diskette - $1.00;
(ii) Magnetic tape — Actual Cost;
(iii) Data cartridge — Actual Cost;
(iv) Tape cartridge —Actual Cost;
(y) Rewritable CD (CD-RW) - $1.00;
CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS ORDINANCE NO. 0-of , PAGE 11 OF 14
(vi) Non-rewritable CD (CD-R) - $1.00;
(vii) Digital video disc (DVD) - $3.00;
(viii) JAZ drive - Actual Cost;
(ix) Other electronic media — Actual Cost;
(x) VHS video cassette - $2.50;
(xi) Audio cassette - $1.00;
(xii) Oversized Copy (e.g., 11 inches by 17 inches, greenbar, bluebar, not
including maps and photographs using specialty paper) - $.50; and/or
(xiii) Specialty paper —Actual Cost.
Charges for Nonstandard Copies or Oversized Copies are applicable to all Public
Information Requests, regardless of the number of pages or the time involved -in
the response to the Public Information Request.
(2) Microfiche and microfilm charge:
(i) If the City already has information that exists on microfiche or microfilm and
has copies available for sale or distribution, the charge for a copy must not
exceed the cost of its reproduction. If no copies of the requested microfiche or
microfilm are available and the information on the microfiche or microfilm can
be released in its entirety, the City may make a copy of the microfiche or
microfilm. The charge for a copy shall not exceed the cost of its reproduction.
(ii) If only a master copy of information in microfilm is maintained, the charge
is $. 10 per page for Standard Paper Copies, plus any applicable Labor and
Overhead Charge for more than 50 copies.
(3) Remote document retrieval — if the City has a contract with a commercial
records storage company, whereby the private company charges a fee to locate,
retrieve, deliver, and return to storage the needed record(s), no additional Labor
Charge shall be factored in for time spent locating documents at the storage
location by the private company's personnel. If after delivery to the City, the
materials must still be searched for records that are responsive to the request,
the City may charge for such search in accordance with this section.
(4) Computer resource charge:
(i) mainframe--$1 0 per CPU minute;
CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS ORDINANCE NO&?:,� PAGE 92 OF 14
(ii) Midsize--$1.50 per CPU minute;
(iii) Client/Server system--$2.20 per clock hour; and
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(5) Miscellaneous supplies. The Actual Cost of miscellaneous supplies, such as
labels, boxes, and other supplies used to produce the requested information,
may be added to the total charge for public information.
(6) Postal and shipping charges. The City may add any related postal or shipping
expenses that are necessary to transmit the reproduced information to the
requesting party.
(7) Miscellaneous charges. If the City accepts payment by credit card for copies of
public information and is charged a "transaction fee" by the credit card company, the
City may recover that fee from the Requestor.
(Ord., No. 9'19*.6 1 , , adopted /�!%/L—zj I
Cross Reference Part ll, Article 48
Section 4. Savings, Severability and Repealing Clauses.
All ordinances of the City in conflict with the provisions of this ordinance are repealed to
the extent of that conflict. If any provision of this ordinance shall be held to be invalid or
unconstitutional; the remainder of such ordinance shall continue in full force and effect
the same as if such invalid or unconstitutional provision had never been a part hereof.
The City declares that it would have passed this ordinance, and each section,
subsection, clause, or phrase thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more
section, subsection, sentence, clause, and phrase be declared unconstitutional or
invalid.
Section 6. Publication of the Caption Hereof and Effective Date.
This ordinance shall be in full force and effective from and after its passage and upon
the posting and/or publication, if required by law, of its caption and the City Secretary is
hereby directed to implement such posting and/or publication.
PASSED by the City Council of the City of Anna, Texas, this day of
X 12011
CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS ORDINANCE NO. PAGE 130F14
ATTESTED:
2&4L 4�,)WAA46.�
C Secretary, Natha Wilkison
K-efinetff Pelham
CITY OF ANNA, TEXAS ORDINANCE NO.y2LM'0-?-- PAGE 14 OF 14