Township Event Cost Breakdown
Dear Mount Laurel 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:
I am requesting access to public records relating to costs, funding sources, and employee overtime associated with the following Mount Laurel Township-sponsored public events held during calendar years 2024 and 2025:
Events of Interest:
Annual Township Fireworks Events
Food Truck Festivals
Annual Tree Lighting Ceremonies
For each event listed above during the years 2024 and 2025, I respectfully request access to the following records:
1. Event Costs and Funding Sources
Total cost or budget for each event
Contracts, agreements, or invoices with vendors, performers, or service providers
Summary expense reports, if available
Source(s) of funding used (e.g., general budget, grants, sponsorships, dedicated funds)
Any records related to grant applications, awards, or reimbursements for these events
2. Employee Overtime Related to These Events
Total overtime hours worked by township employees in connection with each event
Total overtime compensation paid
Payroll summaries or time records showing employee overtime hours and pay
If available, documentation identifying which departments (e.g., Police, Department of Public Works, Recreation, EMS, Fire Department) incurred the overtime
Please provide the requested records in electronic format (PDF, Excel, or another digital format) where available.
If any portion of this request is unclear or requires clarification to make retrieval more manageable, I am happy to work with you to revise or narrow it. Should any documents be withheld or redacted, please provide the specific legal justification as required under OPRA.
Thank you for your time and assistance. I look forward to your response within the statutory timeframe.
Sincerely,
Anthony Galetti
[email address]
Dear Requestor:
Mount Laurel Township received your Open Public Records Act request delivered by email on Friday, October 1, 2025. Please accept this timely response.
Your request seeks the following:
I am requesting access to public records relating to the following capital improvement projects undertaken by Mount Laurel Township between January 1, 2020, and October 1, 2025:
I am requesting access to public records relating to costs, funding sources, and employee overtime associated with the following Mount Laurel Township-sponsored public events held during calendar years 2024 and 2025:
Events of Interest:
Annual Township Fireworks Events
Food Truck Festivals
Annual Tree Lighting Ceremonies
For each event listed above during the years 2024 and 2025, I respectfully request access to the following records:
1. Event Costs and Funding Sources
Total cost or budget for each event
Contracts, agreements, or invoices with vendors, performers, or service providers
Summary expense reports, if available
Source(s) of funding used (e.g., general budget, grants, sponsorships, dedicated funds)
Any records related to grant applications, awards, or reimbursements for these events
2. Employee Overtime Related to These Events
Total overtime hours worked by township employees in connection with each event
Total overtime compensation paid
Payroll summaries or time records showing employee overtime hours and pay.
Response: Request denied. Significantly for present purposes, OPRA only allows requests for records, not requests for information. MAG Entm't, LLC v. Div. of Alcoholic Beverage Control, 375 N.J. Super. 534, 546-49 (App. Div. 2005). In this regard, OPRA "is not intended as a research tool ... to force government officials to identify and siphon useful information." Id. at 546. In other words, a records custodian is not required "to conduct research among its records... and correlate data from various government records in the custodian's possession." Id. at 546-47. To qualify under OPRA then, the request must reasonably identify a record and not generally data, information or statistics.
OPRA does not "authorize a party to make a blanket request for every document" a public agency has on file. Gannett New Jersey Partners L.P. v. County of Middlesex, 379 N.J. Super. 205, 213 (App. Div. 2005). Rather, a party requesting access to a public record under OPRA must specifically describe the document sought. OPRA operates to make identifiable government records "readily accessible for inspection, copying, or examination." N.J.S.A. 47:1A-1. As such, a proper request under OPRA must identify with reasonable clarity those documents that are desired, and a party cannot satisfy this requirement by simply requesting all of an agency's documents. OPRA does not authorize unbridled searches of an agency's property.
Here, your request seeks a broad range of potentially responsive documents. There are likely 1,000s of records in multiple departments that could be responsive to this overbroad request.
Thank you,
Meredith Riculfy, RMC/CMFO/CMR/QPA
Township Manager/Clerk
750 Centerton Road
Mount Laurel NJ 08054
856.234.0001 ext 1233
856.234.8240 fax