CITY OF OWOSSO
MICHIGAN FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACTION POLICY
1.
PURPOSE. The purpose of this policy is to establish such
procedures as are necessary to comply with the provisions of Public Act
442 of 1976, as amended, commonly known as the Freedom of Information
Act (FOIA).
2.
AUTHORITY. This policy is adopted pursuant to the provisions of
FOIA that require the establishment of procedures implementing the
provisions of the act.
3.
REFERENCES TO FOIA. The various provisions of FOIA applicable to
the City of Owosso shall govern the administration of FOIA by the City
of Owosso and its officers and employees. Except in instances in which
FOIA specifically provides discretion to the City in its administration,
the provisions of the act shall be administered in accordance with the
plain meaning of its terms.
4.
FOIA COORDINATOR. The City Manager shall be the FOIA coordinator
for the City and, pursuant to the act, shall have the authority to
designate another individual to act on his behalf in processing FOIA
requests.
5.
PROTECTION OF RECORDS. In order to safeguard public records and
avoid unreasonable interference with the discharge of City functions,
the following guidelines shall apply when requests are made to examine
public records:
5.1.
Records shall be made available for examination in City Hall
during regular business hours and at such locations and times as will
permit supervision of the records examination by a member of City Hall
staff.
5.2.
Requests to examine electronic records may be honored by printing
such records or by transferring requested records to a computer or other
device capable of reading such records the use of which would not
interfere with the ordinary conduct of City business.
6.
FEES. Fees for public record searches and the copying of public
records shall be charged in accordance with the following regulations:
6.1.
The charge for routine record searches and the duplication of
records shall be $.25 per page copied plus the actual cost of first
class postage for mailing the copies of records. This is the calculated
cost to copy public records. Additional charges shall be applied in
cases in which public record searches are expected to result in
unreasonably high costs to the City as provided in Section 6.2 below.
6.2
The cost of a public record search is determined to be
unreasonably high when the cost of search, examination, review and the
deletion and separation of exempt from nonexempt information exceeds
$100. In such instances, the FOIA coordinator shall charge the full
cost of search, examination, review and the deletion and separation of
exempt from nonexempt information in addition to the cost of copying and
postage identified in Section 6.1.
6.3
When the cost of public record searches and copying of public
records is estimated to exceed $50.00, a good faith deposit equal to ½
the cost calculated according to the provisions of Section 6.1 and 6.2
of this policy shall be required.
Adopted by the
Owosso City Council on March 3, 2003.
