I filed a FOIL request with my village on August 17. The village replied on August 25 and said it would let me know by October 16 if it needed more time.
In September, the village board passed a resolution setting a new FOIL policy because of a substantial increase in requests, and it applied the policy to requests already pending. I then got an email saying the clerk had to check physical files for information related to my request, and that it would cost $21 an hour for her to search, since that is her hourly wage and the new policy requires requesters to cover it. I receive my records electronically, so no copying is necessary, yet I still have to pay for her search time.
My request concerns the police chief earning a six-figure salary in a village of about 1,800 residents. The village has a history of stalling and of discouraging residents from seeking answers, and this feels like more of the same.
Filing a request, keeping the paper trail, and pushing back when the rules change in the middle of it is exactly how a village board gets held to account.
On the fee, the law is on your side. Public Officers Law § 87(1)(c)(iv) says preparing a copy “shall not include search time or administrative costs.” An hourly charge is allowed only when it takes at least two hours to prepare a copy of a record kept electronically, and then only at the rate of the lowest-paid employee who can do the work. Billing you the clerk’s wage to search paper files doesn’t fit. Put your objection in writing to the clerk and the mayor and quote the statute.
On the chief’s salary, you may not need to wait at all. Under § 87(3)(b), every agency must keep a payroll record showing each employee’s name, title and salary, and make it available. Minutes and resolutions from the meetings where the chief was hired are public too.
If the village won’t move, the state Committee on Open Government issues free advisory opinions. A written opinion from them tends to get a village attorney’s attention.
Keep at it.
