Law Enforcement Police Vehicular Budgeting Data (Baltimore County Office of Budget and Finance)

Curtis Waltman filed this request with the Office of Budget and Finance of Baltimore County, MD.
Submitted May 25, 2017
Est. Completion None
Status
Payment Required

Communications

From: Curtis Waltman

Subject: Public Information Act Request: Law Enforcement Police Vehicular Budgeting Data (Baltimore County Office of Budget and Finance)

Email

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to Maryland's Public Information Act ("PIA"), I hereby request the following records:

For the last five years, from 1/1/12 to the date this request is processed I seek annual expenditures on Baltimore County Police Department vehicle purchases, upgrades and maintenance. This is for any vehicles in operation by the department.

If there are any problems with the scope of my request, I would be happy to talk and reduce the time range or make other changes. Thank you.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 10 business days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Curtis Waltman

From: Shronda Williams

Subject: Public Information Act Request: Law Enforcement Police Vehicular Budgeting Data

Email

Dear Mr. Waltman,

The Office of Budget and Finance (OBF) is in receipt of your Public Information Act (PIA) request "For the last five years, from 1/1/12 to the date this request is processed...annual expenditures on Baltimore County Police Department vehicle purchases, upgrades and maintenance. This is for any vehicles in operation by the department."

The General Provisions ("GP") Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland, as amended, §4-206 provides that "the official custodian may charge an applicant a reasonable fee for the search for, preparation of, and reproduction of a public record." A "reasonable fee" is defined as "a fee bearing a reasonable relationship to the recovery of actual costs incurred by a governmental unit." GP §4-206(a). "The custodian may not charge a fee for the first 2 hours." GP §4-206(c). Baltimore County's Code of Regulations authorizes the custodian of records to require the prepayment of search, preparation and reproduction fees. (See Regulation 08.01.01.15.E., which can be found at http://www.baltimorecountymd.gov/Agencies/infotech/index.html.)

OBF has expended one of the two hours allotted by law thus far and is estimating that it will take approximately five (5) hours for OBF to search, review and prepare its responsive records (1 "free" hour left, and 4 hours at $43.18/hour for Management Analyst III).

Please remit to the Baltimore County Office of Law, 400 Washington Avenue, Second Floor, Towson, Maryland, 21204, a check made payable to "Baltimore County, Maryland" and referencing "Police Vehicular Budgeting Data", in the amount of $172.72 for the above described search and preparation fees. The County will not continue work on this PIA request until it has received payment. If more work will be required than estimated above, the County will request additional search and preparation fees, as necessary.

Lastly, if you choose to proceed with this request and remit payment for the search and preparation fees, the County is authorized to require the prepayment of $.50 per page for hard copies and $.25 per page for PDF emailed copies, for the reproduction of the records. Once the requested information is ready, you will receive correspondence as to the amount due. The County will not release these records until it receives payment for the copying costs.

In accordance with GP §4-203(c)(1)(i)(4), I must inform you of remedies available for review. If you are alleging that you are being charged an unreasonable fee (defined as more than ($350.00) under GP § 4-206, you may file a complaint with the State Public Information Act Compliance Board, pursuant to GP § 4-1A-05. If you are alleging a complaint set out in GP § 4-1B-04, you may submit your complaint to the Public Access Ombudsman. You may also pursue judicial enforcement remedies as provided in GP §4-362.

Baltimore County Government
Office of Budget & Finance

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