FOIL-ed RECORDS COME AT A COST

New Yorkers might get an unpleasant surprise when they ask their government for databases and other types of electronic public records.
Besides an e-mail or a disk, they might also receive a bill.

Last month, New York quietly changed its Freedom of Information Law to allow government agencies to charge for an employee's time when they fill citizens' requests for electronic records, provided they need to spend more than two hours filling the request.

The agency must supply an estimate of the cost beforehand in order to be able to collect, said Robert J. Freeman, executive director of the state's Committee on Open Government.

The change, which Gov. David A. Paterson signed into law in August, benefits governments but could discourage citizens from asking for government records, Freeman said.

Previously, governments were allowed to charge only for the actual cost of materials used when the request was filled. For example, someone who requested a CD containing every Boome County labor contract would have been charged $2.

Recently, however, a file of Vestal town payroll records came accompanied by a bill for $127.40 -- five hours' salary for Deputy Comptroller Pam Fitzgerald.

Permitting members of the public to ask for documents in a form other than paper would prohibit an agency from saying no on the grounds the records were too "voluminous and burdensome" to copy, or it lacked sufficient staff -- excuses used in the past, said Assembly-woman RoAnn Destito, D-Rome. Agencies could require people seeking names and addresses certify they would not use them for solicitation.