September 18, 2009
By SETH AUGENSTEIN
Every Sussex County municipality is on board with lower fees for public documents.
Twenty of the 24 municipalities in the county have changed their costs per copied page to nominal amounts, ranging from 5 to 12 cents. The majority now charge a dime.
Three of the four remaining municipalities -- Sparta, Hampton and Frankford -- are in the process of lowering their paper copies to 10 cents or lower through ordinances to be voted upon this month. The sole remaining town, Green, has suspended all Open Public Records Act fees while they consider changes to their ordinance.
Only the Sussex County government itself is sticking with the state maximum for documents -- 75 cents per page for the first 10 pages, decreasing to 50 and then 25 cents based on how many pages are requested.
Audio recordings continue to vary in availability and cost, particularly in some of the smaller Sussex County towns. However, most communities said a CD of a municipal meeting would cost between 35 to 50 cents.
The sea change in records costs came this year, and sped up quickly this summer. The quick turnaround was brought about by several state open government advocates, but mostly by Sparta activist Jesse Wolosky.
Wolosky was vigilant about cajoling, persuading, and lodging about a dozen complaints with the state's Government Records Council against some communities in just a matter of months. He even had a lawsuit ready to file against Sparta before it decided to change its fees. He said he was pleased with the result of his tenacity.
"I'm not asking for a lot -- I just want transparency," he said.
Two of the towns, Hardyston and Andover Township, were convinced to switch their fee schedule by Martin O'Shea, a former journalist and current advocate for New Jersey open government.
Most local officials said they supported or were ambivalent about the changes -- although some bemoaned a lack of guidance from the state. Hampton Administrator Eileen Klose said there should be a uniform cost for the records so as to avoid confusion from community to community.
Changes in the Garden State could be heading toward some kind of uniform standards. Several court cases in New Jersey have pointed toward "actual cost" guidelines, meaning just the material cost -- paper, toner, blank CD -- should be passed onto the person requesting the records.
Sussex County is at the forefront of the massive -- and belated -- shift in the cost of public records statewide, according to another open government activist, John Paff. While some areas, like Morris County, continue to stick to the 75-cents-per-page model, he said change can come quickly once it gains momentum, like it did in Sussex County.
"Once the monolithic facade gets cracked, it all starts to change," Paff said.
Wolosky said he hoped the changes would continue within the county -- and beyond.
"It's a good result for the general public," he said.
