EMS Billing Statistics
Dear Howell Township,
This is a request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form. Please acknowledge receipt of this message.
Records requested:
I am requesting documents detailing the number of billable EMS incidents and the number of total EMS incidents for each of the years, 2016-2020. I am requesting the average amount collected for each billable event for each of the years, 2016-2020. I am also requesting the total revenue generated by the Police EMS program through collections from insurances and non-residents, as well as the costs of the program (personnel, equipment, maintenance, training, etc) on an annual basis for the years 2016-2020. I am requesting electronic delivery for this data, and I am requesting that the data is provided in the form of either original documents or the requested data compiled in an Excel spreadsheet. If any requested data from any of the years I have specified have been destroyed, I am still requesting that the remaining data be transmitted to me. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Devin Busono
Good Afternoon,
I am in receipt of your request and will have it processed within 7 business days.
Regards,
Donna Belton
Administrative Assistant
Clerk’s Office
4567 Route 9 North
Howell, NJ 07731
732-938-4500, ext. 2000
[email address]
Mr. Busono,
This request seeks information or asks questions and does not identify specific government records. A proper request under O.P.R.A. must identify with reasonable clarity those desired documents, and a party cannot satisfy this requirement by simply requesting all of an agency's records. See Bent v. Stafford Police Department, 381 N.J. Super. 30, 37 (App. Div. 2005).
M.A.G. Entm't, L.L.C. v. Div. of Alcohol Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534 (App. Div. 2005): The Court held that "[w]hile O.P.R.A. provides an alternative means of access to government documents not otherwise exempted from its reach, it is not intended as a research tool to force government officials to identify and siphon useful information. Rather, O.P.R.A. operates to make identifiable government records 'readily accessible for inspection, copying, or examination.' N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1." (emphasis added).
Custodians are not required to conduct research, collate data or create new documents in response to an O.P.R.A. request. As such, your request is an invalid O.P.R.A. request and is denied. In addition, when a request is "complex" because it fails to identify the explicitly sought documents, that request is not "encompassed" by O.P.R.A. See New Jersey Builders Association v. New Jersey Council on Affordable Housing, 390 N.J. Super. 166, 180 (App. Div. 2007).
You may modify your request by requesting the specific documents you require to provide you with the information or data that you want.
Dwayne M. Harris, RMC, CMR, QPA
Municipal Clerk
Township of Howell
4567 Route 9 North
Howell, NJ 07731
732-938-4500 x 2125
[email address]
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