It is hereby declared to be the public policy of the Township
to recognize the public's general right to know pursuant to the
Open Public Records Act (N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq.). All "government
records" as that term is defined by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1.1 shall be subject
to inspection by the public unless exempt under the statute or other
regulation, common law practice, executive order of the Governor,
Rules of Court, federal law or judicial decision.
The Township Clerk is the custodian of records. The Township
Clerk shall adopt a form for the use of any person who requests access
to a record, and such form shall contain all the information required
by N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5, Subdivision f.
The fees for copies of government records under the Open Public
Records Act, N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1 et seq., shall be as follows:
A. Photostatic
copies of any government record that can be photocopied with municipal
facilities (8 1/2 x 11 or 8 1/2 x 14): 1 to 10 copies, no
charge; $0.10 per page for 11 pages or more.
B. In
the event that the actual cost for duplication of a government record
exceeds the foregoing rate, the charge shall be the actual cost of
duplicating the government records requested.
C. For
any government record copied onto a nonpaper medium, the actual cost
of the nonpaper medium.
D. For
any copy of a government record for which the Township is unable to
duplicate with its own facilities and requires the services of an
outside vendor, the actual cost to the Township from the outside vendor.
E. Whenever
the nature, format, manner of collation or volume of a record to be
inspected, examined or copied is such that the record cannot be reproduced
by ordinary document-copying equipment in the ordinary business size
or involves an extraordinary expenditure of time and effort to accommodate
the request, the charge for the record shall be the actual cost to
the Township, together with a service charge that reflects the hourly
rate for the lowest level employee who is capable of filling the request
for each hour required to duplicate the record. The requestor shall
have the opportunity to review and object to the charge prior to it
bring incurred.
F. In
the event that the Township does not maintain the record requested
in the medium requested, the Township shall either convert the record
to the medium requested or provide a copy in some other meaningful
medium. If a request is for a record in a medium not routinely used
by the Township, not routinely developed or maintained by the Township
or requiring a substantial amount of manipulation or programming of
information technology, the cost for the record shall be the actual
cost of duplication together with a special charge that shall be reasonable
and shall be based upon the cost for any extensive use of information
technology, or for the labor cost of personnel providing the service,
that is actually incurred by the Township or attributable to the Township
for the programming, clerical and supervisory assistance required,
or both.