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Township of Bethlehem, NJ
Hunterdon County
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
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New Laws (17) Index
[HISTORY: Adopted by the Township Committee of the Township of Bethlehem as indicated in article histories. Amendments noted where applicable.]
GENERAL REFERENCES
Development fees — See Ch. 101.
Health service fees — See Ch. 164, Art. I.
[Adopted 6-3-1999 by Ord. No. 211-2-99; amended in its entirety 9-18-2008 by Ord. No. 211-6-2008[1]]
[1]
Editor's Note: This ordinance also superseded former Art. I, Copies of Documents, adopted 10-31-1980 by Ord. No. 211; and former Art. II, Certificates, adopted 3-31-1981 by Ord. No. 214; and renumbered former Art. III as Art. I.
The public records of the Township of Bethlehem shall be accessible for examination and copy in accordance with N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., upon the terms and conditions as hereinafter provided. Such inspection shall be made only at reasonable times during the business hours and without interference with the conduct of the affairs of the office or other place where such records are kept or maintained.
As used in this article, the following terms shall have the meanings indicated:
PUBLIC RECORD
Shall include those records determined to be public in accordance with N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq. This term does not include employee personnel files or pension files, including any grievance filed by or against an individual, police investigation records subject to N.J.S.A. 47:1A-3b, public assistance files or other matters in which there is a right of privacy or confidentiality or which is specifically exempt by law.
RECORDS REQUEST
The official form adopted by the Municipal Clerk to process all requests for public records. This form shall be available at the Municipal Clerk's office.
A. 
All requests must be made on the official records request form adopted by the Municipal Clerk. This form shall be available at the Municipal Clerk's office.
B. 
All requests for public records shall be made in writing and forwarded to the Municipal Clerk. A request for a copy of public records shall be submitted on a records request form.
The Municipal Clerk is not required to store all municipal records in the Municipal Clerk's office. Most records will be readily accessible for inspection, copying, or examination during normal business hours, if available, and with certain exceptions provided by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.
Nothing in this article shall require the Municipal Clerk or any other municipal official, employee, servant and/or agent to examine, analyze, tabulate, or interpret documents which are subject to production under the New Jersey Open Public Records Act.[1]
[1]
Editor's Note: See N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.
[Amended 7-1-2010 by Ord. No. 211.7.2010]
A copy or copies of a government record may be purchased by any person upon payment of the fee prescribed by law or regulation or, if a fee is not prescribed by law or regulation, upon payment of the actual cost of duplicating the record.
A. 
The fee assessed for the duplication of a government record embodied in the form of printed matter shall not exceed the following:
(1) 
Letter-size documents: up to $0.10 per page.
(2) 
Legal-size documents: up to $0.15 per page.
B. 
Whenever the nature, format, manner of collation, or volume of a government record embodied in the form of printed matter to be inspected, examined, or copied is such that the record cannot be reproduced by ordinary document copying equipment in ordinary business size or involves an extraordinary expenditure of time and effort to accommodate the request, the Township may charge, in addition to the actual cost of duplicating the record, a special service charge that shall be reasonable and shall be based upon the actual direct cost of providing the copy or copies.
C. 
Whenever a request is made by mail, the Township may charge, in addition to the actual cost of duplicating the record, the actual cost of mailing the records.
A. 
Use of outside vendors. Whenever in-house municipal staff or available municipal equipment is insufficient to duplicate or produce government records in a timely fashion, the Municipal Clerk may cause such duplication or production to be accomplished by outside vendors such as copy centers or producers of digital images. If the costs of such duplication or production charged by such vendors exceeds the routine charges set forth in N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5, the requester shall pay the actual direct cost and labor, without any additional surcharge.
B. 
Fees for extraordinary expenditure of time and effort. Whenever government records cannot be reproduced by regular copying equipment or fulfillment of the request would involve extraordinary time and effort, the following charges shall be imposed:
(1) 
The actual cost of material and supplies for duplication or reproduction; and
(2) 
A special service charge of $35 per hour or the actual direct cost of labor, whichever is less, for each hour of extraordinary time expended by Township staff.
C. 
Fees for digital records. If a request for governmental records involves production or conversion of digital or computerized records or film which is, in a medium not routinely used by the agency (i.e., electronic or film), not routinely developed or maintained by an agency, or requiring a substantial amount of manipulation or programming of information technology, then the requester shall pay fees and special charges as follows:
(1) 
Direct costs (no overhead) to comply with the request; plus
(2) 
The cost of technology and labor actually incurred or $45 per hour, whichever is less.
D. 
Fees for duplicate real property tax bill. The fee for a duplicate real property tax bill shall be $5 each.
E. 
Fees for duplicate tax title certificates. The fee for a duplicate tax title certificate shall be $100 each.
F. 
Fees for returned checks due to insufficient funds. The fee for a returned check due to insufficient funds shall be $20 per check to be paid by the maker of said check.
G. 
Fees for birth, marriage and death certifications. The fee for certified copies of birth, marriage and death certificates shall be $25 each.
H. 
Fees for real property tax information. The fee shall be $10 for each property.
I. 
Fees for municipal improvement assessment information. The fee shall be $10 for each property.
J. 
Fees for list of real property owners within 200 feet. The fee shall be $2 per line item per year of information requested.
The Township of Bethlehem may be compelled by New Jersey law to produce or duplicate governmental records, but no compliance with these legal obligations shall be deemed to constitute a license, sublicense or waiver of copyright laws.
The Township of Bethlehem may waive the fees or other charges otherwise chargeable, without resolution or ordinance, if the requester is a governmental entity.
The Township of Bethlehem may adopt policies, rules and regulations, by resolution, in furtherance of this article from time to time. All policies, rules and regulations shall be kept on file with the Municipal Clerk's office.