Education Matters US

In an article last July, the Northwest Herald found taxing bodies were overcharging for FOIA requests. Since that time I have done some research, although there is much more to go in this area. I found many taxing bodies that charge what appear to be excessive fees as well.

First there is Winthrop Harbor District 1. There fee structure is as follows:
* $0.35 for first 10 pages
* $0.25 for pages 11-25
* $0.10 for pages beyond 25

There is no reason for a different cost since the only things that can be charged are the actual costs of reproduction. Manpower of any kind cannot be charged. Needless to say, the State Attorney General agreed with me and sent this letter to the Winthrop Harbor School District.

Second, I questioned the cost in Grayslake District 46. When I started FOIAing documents 2 years ago, they charged 10 cents per copy. They have since raised their costs to 20 cents. When I questioned why they had raised the fee, I was ignored by being told, this is what we always have charged and no further research was going to be done. You can imagine my reaction. I immediately FOIAed the actual cost of copiers, paper and ink toners. I have received those and was also told there that there was manpower cost to find documents and to consult with attorneys on whether the documents were FOIAable.

I scanned in the copier cost and paper cost receipts. The toner costs is included with the copier. As you can see from these receipts the costs for reprooduction is as follows:

Again, the State’s Attorney General agreed with me that the district is overcharging for the copy of a FOIA request. Follow this link to the letter sent to the district. I have also emailed the new board asking them to correct this situation.

Other taxing bodies that I believe appear to overcharge for a FOIA: