Fredericksburg Fire Department Compensation Records
| Submitted | Jan. 20, 2022 |
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From: Good Citizen
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
A list with the following information regarding compensation for the employees of the Fredericksburg Fire Department in Fredericksburg, VA.
1) Name
2) Title
3) Compensation (Please separate compensation into base salary, overtime, and benefits)
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 5 business days, as the statute requires.
This request is filed by Tom Nash, a citizen of Virginia, in coordination with Good Citizen.
From: Clerk of Council City Of Fredericksburg, VA
Good morning.
The City is in receipt of your request.
Can you please provide the legal address of Tom Nash?
Thank you.
From: Muckrock Staff
Hello,
Please see attached. Thank you for your help with this request!
From: Clerk of Council City Of Fredericksburg, VA
Dear Mr. Nash,
Attached please find information responsive to your FOIA request of January 21, 2022. The information provided includes the name, job title, hourly rate of pay, and annual base salary of employees of the Fredericksburg Fire Department.
You also requested records of the overtime and benefits paid to members of the Fredericksburg Fire Department. However, this information is exempt from mandatory disclosure under Va. Code 2.2-3705.1(a) as “personnel information”. Instead of providing this information on each individual employee, the City is providing aggregate costs for overtime paid to employees of the Fire Department and aggregate Virginia Retirement System and Medical benefits costs for the Fire Department. There is no charge for this information.
If you have any questions please contact me.
Lesley Moore, SHRM-CP, PHR, IPMA-SCP, MBTI® Certified Practitioner
HR Director, City of Fredericksburg
lamoore@fredericksburgva.gov
715 Princess Anne Street, Suite 217
Fredericksburg, VA 22401
Voice: 540.372.1028 ext. 226
“One Team for a Great Community”
From: Good Citizen
Mrs. Moore,
Thank you for providing the majority of the records requested. I am still not in receipt of the overtime and benefits records as I initially requested. You cite Va. Code 2.2-3705.1(a), but there is no subsection titled "a."
Further, in subsection 1 (i), the law specifically states:
"No provision of this chapter or any provision of Chapter 38 (§ 2.2-3800 et seq.) shall be construed as denying public access to (i) contracts between a public body and its officers or employees, other than contracts settling public employee employment disputes held confidential as personnel records under § 2.2-3705.1;"
I look forward to receiving the remaining records in accordance with Chapter 37 of the Virginia Code, "Virginia Freedom of Information Act."
From: Clerk of Council City Of Fredericksburg, VA
Dear Mr. Nash:
The correct cite is 2.2-3705.1(1) which protects personnel information concerning identifiable individuals. I believe auto-correct might have changed the (1) to an (a). In your response, you cite 2.2-3705.1(1)(i) which requires production of “contracts between a public body and its officers or employees,” but the City does not have contracts of employment with the employees of the Fire Department. The City has produced the information identified in (ii) “records of the name, position, job classification, official salary, or rate of pay of” its employees.” Information re: the overtime and benefits paid to any individual employee is protected as “personnel information,” so the City provided aggregate information in response to this request.
From: Good Citizen
Mrs. Moore,
I want you to understand how much I appreciate your efforts to provide open records in light of the law as you see it, namely the fact that you provided aggregate information, but I must disagree.
The legal understanding among attorneys I have spoken to is that 2.2-3705.1(1)(i), and 2.2-3705.1(1)(iii) specifically, allows for the release of this information.
Of course, we can disagree on these things, but we must recognize that it's open to interpretation, until ruled upon by the proper legal authority. Will you please consult with the City Attorney for their opinion? I hope we can amicably resolve this dispute without the input of the VA Attorney General. In the whole scheme of things, I fail to see how providing benefits information, especially OT pay, provides more "personnel information" than a list of names next to their corresponding salaries.
Let's work together on finding the right answer. I do look forward to you working with you and appreciate your efforts thus far!
From: Clerk of Council City Of Fredericksburg, VA
Mr. Nash,
Our City Attorney has requested that you give her a call. She can be reached at 540-372-1020.
Thank you.
From: Good Citizen
Mrs. Moore,
I encourage you to have the City Attorney respond to the email sent by MuckRock. The law is clear that these records are public and in the interest of transparency, all correspondence should go through MuckRock. I am formally requesting you retain all records related to the fulfillment of this FOIA request.
I look forward to your response.
From: Good Citizen
Be advised: you are in violation of the VA Freedom of Information Act. Further delays in the release of records will result in an appeal to the Virginia Attorney General and litigation. Your compliance with the law is mandatory.
Factors that may mitigate litigation are as follow:
1) The expedient release of records requested in accordance with the Virginia Freedom of Information Act sections 2.2-3705.1(1)(i), and 2.2-3705.1(1)(iii).
From: Muckrock Staff
To Whom It May Concern:
I wanted to follow up on the following Virginia Freedom of Information Act request, copied below, and originally submitted on Jan. 21, 2022. Please let me know when I can expect to receive a response.
Thanks for your help, and let me know if further clarification is needed.
From: Clerk of Council City Of Fredericksburg, VA
Mr. Nash:
The City correctly cited Va. Code 2.2-3705.1(1), the exemption for "personnel records" as its basis for not providing overtime pay or benefits on an individualized basis. You may wish to review two Virginia FOIA Advisory Council advisory opinions that are related to this topic, namely AO-07-02, issued July 23, 2002; and AO-04-04, issued March 19, 2004. Per AO-04-04, "[w]hile FOIA does require that salary information be available to the public, it does not require that benefits information be disclosed. In fact, such information may be withheld as a personnel record pursuant to subdivision A 4 of 2.2-3705 [subsequently renumbered to 2.2-3705.1(1)]." With respect to overtime, please review AO-07-02, which concluded that employee time sheets constituted "personnel records" that are not subject to mandatory disclosure.
The City has released the name, job title, and official salary or rate of pay as required by FOIA. It has correctly exercised its authority to withhold the additional information. I do not intend to correspond with you further on this matter.
Kathleen Dooley, City Attorney
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