Improving the right to know
Signed into law by Gov. Rick Snyder, the changes to the state act specify procedures and limits related to submitted requests.
The act sets fee limits and criteria for determining fees, establishes procedures for responding and declining requests, and establishes a process for appealing fees.
Locally, government officials say they’re gearing up for the new standards.
“We have until July 1 to amend our FOIA guidelines and policies,” Grand Haven Township Manager Bill Cargo said. “It should be simple and straightforward.”
Cargo noted that the township would likely rely on the guidance of other organizations to develop revised policies.
“We’re going to copy what the Michigan Municipal League and Michigan Township Association does,” he said. “Hopefully, across Michigan, communities will have policies that are substantially the same.”
The new law caps fees at no more than 10 cents a requested page, and fees are reduced by up to 50 percent if governments miss deadlines for providing information. Costs could be reduced even more if there are prolonged delays.
The law also subjects government agencies to fines if they willfully skirt public information requests.
Grand Haven City Manager Pat McGinnis said they’re aware of the new rules and plan to implement them accordingly.
“We know about it, but we’ve not yet gotten the training yet,” he said.
According to McGinnis, they city has complied with former and current FOIA policies. He noted that much of the information is made available even without a FOIA request.
“We’re certainly going to be in compliance at all times, but we do advocate an open approach,” he said.
In fact, one of the goals set by City Council for this year and beyond is to be more transparent with communication and information with residents.
Despite the changes, the new state law’s original language would have given citizens more leverage over public officials who create financial barriers to FOIA requests.
When the bill passed the state House, it aimed to curb high costs of obtaining information by capping the cost of copying and lowering the allowed labor cost for fulfilling a request. The version of the bill that was signed into law maintained the cap on fees, but still allows labor costs. It also lets municipalities raise costs by including fringe-benefit costs.
The Tribune News Service contributed to this report.