LEGISLATIVE ANALYST MEMORANDUM

To: Members of the Board of Supervisors

From: Adam Van de Water, Office of the Legislative Analyst

Date: June 1, 2005

Re: Employee Suggestion: Sunshine Act Reproduction Fees (OLA No. 038-05B)

Employee Suggestion

An anonymous employee indicated that the Fire Department is currently providing all copies of documents responsive to Sunshine Ordinance requests free of charge. The employee suggested that the City charge duplication and postage fees as authorized by Administrative Code Section 67.28.

Background

The Sunshine Ordinance (Administrative Code Section 67.28 added by Proposition G in November 1999) authorizes City departments to charge fees of up to ten cents per page for duplication of documents and ten dollars for video copies of meetings. Specifically, unless the department establishes a higher fee based on "an itemized cost analysis establishing that its cost per page impression exceeds 10 cents or one cent, as the case may be", the City may only charge a maximum fee of:

• One cent per page (1¢/page), plus postage, for "documents routinely produced in multiple copies for distribution, e.g. meeting agendas and related materials…", or
• Ten cents per page (10¢/page), plus postage, for "documents assembled and copied to the order of the requester…", or
• Ten dollars ($10) for video copies of video recorded meetings.

Departments can choose whether to utilize this authorization for reproduction charges. As a result, it appears that some departments and not others currently apply the fee.

Analysis

According to Supervisor of Records and Deputy City Attorney Dorji Roberts, in some cases the time and cost of invoicing an individual submitting a Sunshine request outweighs the potential revenue gained, particularly for requests with few pages. In addition, as more and more documents are available electronically, departments are increasingly able to provide paperless documents via email or the web with little or no reproduction cost to the City. In some cases, this has cut reproduction fee revenues (as well as time spent making reproductions) in half.

According to interim Sunshine Ordinance Task Force (SOTF) Administrator and Deputy Clerk of the Board Adele Destro and Mr. Roberts, the departments receiving the most sunshine requests include the Board of Supervisors, the Mayor’s Office, Fire, Police, Planning, Library, Public Health, and Recreation and Park.

While there has not been a survey of the number of requests submitted by department and the amount each department collects in reproduction fees, anecdotal evidence suggests that the total amount is small. As an example, the Board of Supervisors and the Public Library currently charge the maximum reproduction fee and have done so for many years. Both departments collect approximately $1,000 in reproduction fees per fiscal year and expect to do the same in the future. Similarly, the Recreation and Park Department collects an estimated $600 per year in reproduction fees from the Sunshine Act.

Table I: Sunshine Act Reproduction Fees Received by Four Departments, FY 04-05.

Conclusion

A quick survey of half of the eight departments identified by Ms. Destro and Mr. Roberts as receiving the most requests under the Sunshine Act indicates that the amount of revenue collected per fiscal year for reproductions is quite small. As departments improve their ability to provide documents electronically, this revenue will likely decrease. However, where the cost of charging reproduction fees does not exceed the revenues collected, departments ought to charge the full amount authorized by the Sunshine Act.

The Board may wish to pass a resolution urging all City departments to provide copies of Sunshine Act requests electronically where possible or to charge the full amount authorized by Administrative Code Section 67.28.