Spending
Dear Mahwah Township,
Please accept this electronic request for public records made under OPRA and the common law right of access. I am not required to fill out an official form or use a particular software platform to submit my request per NJSA 47:1A-6(f), which states that an email from a requestor including all of the information required on the adopted form shall suffice in place of a completed form as a valid government record request.
I HAVE NOT been convicted of any indictable offense under the laws of New Jersey, any other state, or the United States.
I WILL NOT use the requested government records for a commercial purpose.
I AM NOT seeking records in connection with a legal proceeding.
Records requested:
Copies of ALL invoices for all fire extinguisher, kitchen fire suppression and fire alarm services from 2020 to present
My preferred delivery method for response(s) to this request is by E-mail as attachments. Please confirm you have received this request. If you are not the custodian of records, please forward my request to that person and provide their email address to me for future reference.
Yours faithfully,
Tony Michael
Good morning,
The attached documents are in partial response to your OPRA Request
regarding invoices for “all fire extinguisher, kitchen fire suppression
and fire alarm services from 2022 to present. As per the Finance
Department, they updated their current accounting program in 2022 and can
provide the 2022 to present responsive documents digitally. The
responsive invoices for 2020 and 2021 will require a representative from
the Finance Department to manually review documents to locate responsive
documents.
OPRA allows public agencies to impose special service charges when
fulfilling a request that requires an extraordinary expenditure of time
and effort. See N.J.S.A. 47:1A-5.c. Special service charges must be based
upon the actual direct cost of providing the records. The statutory
formula for a special service charge is the direct hourly rate (minus
fringe benefits) of the lowest level employee capable of fulfilling the
request times the number of hours anticipated to complete request. If the
requestor wishes to move forward with the request, they must pay the
special service charge in advance. The charge operates as an escrow, so if
the request is completed in fewer hours, the balance will be returned.
The charge includes retrieving the records, manually viewing the files for
redactions, redacting the files, and reviewing post-redaction.
The Township estimates that this would require 14 hours to fulfill the
2020 and 2021 invoices, minus the first four (4) hours, for a total of 10
chargeable hours. Therefore, the special service charge to complete the
request for years 2020 and 2021 would be $492.80 based on an estimated 10
hours by a Finance Department representative at a rate of $49.28 per hour.
Furthermore, you have the option to narrow the request in order to
decrease the number of hours, which in turn will lower the overall cost.
Kindly respond in writing with your acceptance or rejection of this
estimated charge for the 2020 and 2021 invoices. We will not begin to
process this portion of the request until we receive your written
acceptance and payment by check to the Township of Mahwah.
Regards,
Carolyn George, RMC
Municipal Clerk
Township of Mahwah
475 Corporate Drive
Mahwah, NJ 07430
201-529-5757, ext. 232