In accordance with section 552.275, the city council establishes an annual time limit of 36 hours and a monthly time limit of 15 hours as the amount of time that employees are required to devote without charge to produce public information for inspection or duplication, or providing copies of public information to any one requestor. This annual time limit shall apply to each twelve (12) month period commencing, effective with the date of adoption of this article. each fiscal year beginning on October 1, 2020. For the fiscal year beginning October 1, 2019, the annual time limit will begin on June 12, 2020 and continue through September 30, 2020. The monthly time limit will commence July l, 2020.
(Ordinance 2020-14 adopted 6/11/20)
(a) 
The city secretary or the city secretary’s designee shall provide the requestor with a written statement of the amount of personnel time spent complying with each request and the cumulative amount of time spent complying with requests from that requestor during the applicable twelve-month period. The time spent preparing the written statement of total time spent may not be included.
(b) 
When the time spent on responding to a particular requestor’s requests equals or exceeds the time limit imposed by section 1.1001, the city secretary or the city secretary’s designee shall provide the requestor with a written estimate of the total cost, including materials, personnel time, and overhead expenses necessary to comply with the request. The estimate must be provided on or before the tenth (10th) day after the date on which the public information was requested. The amount of the cost shall be established by rules prescribed by the attorney general.
(c) 
If the city secretary or the city secretary’s designee determines that additional time is required to prepare the written estimate of costs required by subsection (b) above and provides the requestor with a written statement of that determination, the city secretary or the city secretary’s designee must provide the written estimate of costs required by subsection (b) as soon as practicable, but on or before the 10th day after the date the city provides the written statement that additional time is required.
(Ordinance 2020-14 adopted 6/11/20)
(a) 
After the city secretary or the city secretary’s designee has provided the requestor with the written estimate of costs under section 1.1002, the requestor may respond within ten (10) days of receiving the estimate by submitting a written statement in which the requestor commits to pay the lesser of:
(1) 
The actual costs incurred in complying with the requestor’s request, including the cost of materials and personnel time and overhead; or
(2) 
The amount stated in the written statement provided.
(b) 
If the requestor fails or refuses to submit the written statement of commitment to pay, the requestor shall be considered to have withdrawn the requestor’s pending request for public information.
(Ordinance 2020-14 adopted 6/11/20)
Any time spent complying with a request in the name of a minor is to be included in the calculation of the cumulative amount of time spent complying with a request for public information by a parent, guardian, or other person who has control of the minor under a court order and with whom the minor resides, unless that parent, guardian or other person establishes that another person submitted that request in the name of the minor.
(Ordinance 2020-14 adopted 6/11/20)
(a) 
This article does not apply if the requestor is an individual who, for a substantial portion of the individual’s livelihood or for substantial financial gain, gathers, compiles, prepares, collects, photographs, records, writes, edits, reports, investigates, processes, or publishes news or information for and is seeking the information for:
(1) 
A radio or television broadcast station that holds a license issued by the Federal Communications Commission;
(2) 
A newspaper that is qualified under section 2051.044 of the Texas Government Code to publish legal notices or is a free newspaper of general circulation and that is published at least once a week and available and of interest to the general public in connection with the dissemination of news;
(3) 
A newspaper of general circulation that is published on the internet by a news medium engaged in the business of disseminating news or general information to the general public; or
(4) 
A magazine that is published at least once a week or on the internet by a news medium engaged in the business of disseminating news or information to the general public.
(b) 
This article does not apply if the requestor is a representative of a publicly funded legal services organization that is exempt from federal income taxation under section 501(a), Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, by being listed as an exempt entity under section 501(c)(3) of that code.
(c) 
This article does not apply if the requestor is an elected official of the United States, this state, or a political subdivision of this state.
(d) 
The policy does not replace or supersede other sections of the public information act and does not preclude the city from charging for cost of labor in response to a request for copies or a request for inspection for which a charge is authorized under another section of the public information act. The limit established in this policy applies to all requestors equally except as exempted by the public information act.
(e) 
This policy does not apply to requests exempted by section 552.275 of the Texas Government Code.
(Ordinance 2020-14 adopted 6/11/20)