[HISTORY: Adopted by the Mayor and Township
Council of the Township of Dover (now Toms River) 6-22-2004 by Ord. No.
3884-04. Amendments noted where applicable.]
A.
In accordance with the provisions of N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1
et seq. (the "Act"), government records shall be readily accessible
for inspection, copying or examination by the citizens of this state,
with certain exceptions, for the protection of the public interest,
and any limitations in the right of access accorded by the Act as
amended and supplemented shall be construed in favor of the public's
right of access. A "government record" or "record" shall be as defined
within N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1.
B.
In accordance with N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1, the "custodian
of a government record" or "custodian" shall mean the Municipal Clerk.
The Municipal Clerk may delegate responsibility for handling records
requests for particular departments within the Township to deputy
custodians.
C.
The custodian of government record shall permit the
record to be inspected, examined and copied by any person during regular
business hours unless a government record is exempt from public access
by the Act, as amended and supplemented, any other statute, resolution
of either or both houses of the Legislature, regulation promulgated
under the authority of any statute or executive order of the Governor,
executive order of the Governor, Rules of Court, any federal law,
federal regulation or federal order. A request for a record must be
made on a form adopted by the custodian of the government record.
D.
Unless a shorter time period is otherwise provided
by statute, regulation or executive order, a custodian of a government
record shall grant access to a government record or deny a request
for access to a government record as soon as possible, but not later
than seven business days after receiving the request, provided that
the record is currently available and not in storage or archived.
E.
During such regular business hours and under the supervision
of a representative of the custodian, every citizen of the state shall
also have the right to copy such records by hand and to purchase copies
of the records. Copies of records shall be made available upon the
payment of the price as established by law. The custodian may require
a deposit against costs for reproducing documents sought whenever
the custodian anticipates that the information thus requested will
cost in excess of $5 to reproduce.
A.
The following fees shall be charged for copies of
public documents and records:
(1)
Duplicate tax bills: $5 for an initial duplicate copy
of a tax bill; $25 for each subsequent copy of a tax bill for the
same tax year requested by the same person or organization.
(6)
Review of videotape: $25 per hour or portion thereof.
(7)
Copy of videotape: $75 with the provision that the
party seeking to copy the tape must supply his own video equipment
and tape for copying the same.
(9)
Certified copy of disposition of Municipal Court case:
$5.
(12)
Police reports: $0.05 per letter-sized page
or smaller; $0.07 per legal-sized page or larger. If the request for
the police report is not made in person, an additional administrative
fee of $5 per report shall be assessed, in accordance with N.J.S.A.
39:4-131.
[Amended 11-9-2010 by Ord. No. 4298-10]
(13)
PC Codification Disc: $300 per disc.
(14)
Township Code Book: $300 per book
(15)
Update to Code Book, diskette or pages: $50
per update material requested.
(17)
Duplicate tax sale certificate: $100.
(18)
Copies of audio cassette, computer diskette
or computer compact disk: $20.
(19)
Issuance of bid documents/specifications: $50
(20)
Certificates for redemption: $25.
(22)
Booklet of Rules and Regulations for the Township
Water and Sewer Utility Department: $55.
B.
If the custodian of any such records shall find that
there is no risk or damage of mutilation of such records and that
it would not be incompatible with the economic and efficient operation
of the office and the transaction of public business therein, he may
permit any citizen who is seeking to copy more than 100 pages of records
to use his own photographic process, approved by the custodian, upon
the payment of a reasonable fee, considering the equipment and the
time involved, to be fixed by the custodian of not less than $10 nor
more than $50 per day.
C.
Wherever the nature, format, manner of collation or
volume of a government record embodied in the form of printed matter
sought to be inspected, examined or copied pursuant to the Open Public
Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., 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, a special service charge may be charged by
the custodian in addition to the actual cost of duplicating the record:
D.
In the event an extraordinary expenditure of time
and effort is needed by the Township to accommodate a request to inspect,
in addition to any fees for actual duplication and copying incurred
by the requestor under this chapter, the Township shall assess a special
service charge based upon the cost incurred for such extensive use
of information technology resources and/or the labor cost of the personnel
providing the service that is actually incurred or attributable to
the Township for the clerical and supervisory assistance required,
or both. The manner by which such special inspection service fee is
calculated shall be kept on file with the Township. The requestor
shall have the opportunity to review and object to the charge prior
to its being incurred.
