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February 6, 2001; School District 11 (Anoka-Hennepin)
2/6/2001 10:14:43 AM
This is an opinion of the Commissioner of Administration issued pursuant to section 13.072 of Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13 - the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act. It is based on the facts and information available to the Commissioner as described below.
Facts and Procedural History:For purposes of simplification, the information presented by the person who requested this opinion and the response from the government entity with which the person disagrees are presented in summary form. Copies of the complete submissions are on file at the offices of IPA and, except for any data classified as not public, are available for public access. On December 11, 2000, IPA received a letter from X. In this letter, X asked the Commissioner to issue an advisory opinion regarding his/her right to gain access to certain data maintained by Independent School District 11, Anoka-Hennepin. In response to X's request, IPA, on behalf of the Commissioner, wrote to Dr. Roger Giroux, Superintendent of the District. The purposes of this letter, dated December 11, 2000, were to inform him of X's request and to ask him to provide information or support for the District's position. On December 22, 2000, IPA received a response from Paul H. Cady, District Legal Counsel. A summary of the facts of this matter follows. In a letter dated November 6, 2000, X requested copies of certain data about X's minor child, a student in the District. In response, the District wrote X: . . . the labor to prepare the copies is frac12; hour of clerical time at $20.00 per hour and there is [sic] approximately 8 copies at $.15 per page. X provided the Commissioner with a copy of the District's fee schedule, entitled Charges for supplying copies of data, and raised questions as to its propriety. The charges include $.15 per page, plus charges for the cost of time to photocopy, transfer data electronically, and prepare materials for mailing, including minimum charges for same. Also included are a $15.00 per disk cost for electronic copies of documents/databases, in addition to the minimum charge for transferring data to the disk. Charges for photographs range from $2.00 to $10.00. In his response to the Commissioner, Mr. Cady referred to his response to the issues raised in Advisory Opinion 01-018, which are identical to the issues here. In that response, Mr. Cady stated that, in deference to Advisory Opinion 00-054, which also involved the District but was issued after its response to X in this matter, the District will review and follow-up with [X] to ensure that the labor time involved in the preparation of copies in the instant matter did not extend beyond the actual time to prepare, make or compile copies. With respect to the District's fee schedule, Mr. Cady stated that the Minnesota Government Data Practices Act does not prohibit government entities from establishing fee schedules. As such, it is the position of the District that its fee schedule is allowable . . . . Issues:In his/her request for an opinion, X asked the Commissioner to address the following issues:
Discussion:Issue 1Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes, Chapter 13, is it reasonable for School District 11, Anoka-Hennepin, to charge for one-half hour labor to make eight photocopies of private government data? Please see also Advisory Opinion 01-018, in which the Commissioner opined: The situation here is essentially the same as that detailed in Advisory Opinion 00-054. The District told X it cost $.15 per copy, plus the $10.00 labor cost of one-half hour, to make and compile nine photocopies. However, the District did not provide justification for either the per-page cost, or for its assertion that it took one-half hour to make and compile nine photocopies. The Commissioner acknowledges Mr. Cady statement that the District will review its response to X in this matter to ensure that its charge for the labor to make the nine photocopies did not extend beyond the actual labor time involved. Issue 2Is the copy fee schedule used by School District 11, Anoka-Hennepin, allowable under Chapter 13? In Advisory Opinion 01-018, the Commissioner opined: The fee schedule for copies of data published by the District does not contain any explanation or justification for any of its copying charges. In addition, under this fee schedule, the District does not differentiate its charges for copies of data depending upon whether the requestor is the subject of the data. As noted above, government entities may not charge data subjects some of the costs associated with complying with requests for data that they may charge members of the public. Also, minimum copying charges are not allowable under Chapter 13. (See also Advisory Opinion 99-042.) In his response to the Commissioner, Mr. Cady did not explain how any of the copying charges reflect the District's actual cost to produce copies of government data. Accordingly, the District did not meet the burden of establishing that its copying fees comply with the requirements of Minnesota Statutes, sections 13.03 and 13.04, and Minnesota Rules, parts 1205.0300 and 1205.0400. (The Commissioner has addressed the issue of computing costs for copies of government data in numerous previous advisory opinions. See also Advisory Opinions 94-028, 94-040, 94-059, 95-044, 95-051, 96-014, 97-012 and 97-013, 99-042, 00-027, 00-054.) Opinion:Based on the facts and information provided, my opinion on the issues raised by X is as follows:
Signed: David F. Fisher
Dated: February 6, 2001 |
