Public Records Request Form

City of Belmond Public Records Request Policy

Effective: November 4, 2024

Adopted by City Council Resolution No. 2024-31

View and download Public Records Request Form here.

 

This document defines the fee rates for providing services related to public records requests as set forth in the City of Belmond Public Records Policy.

All legal, reasonable expenses for the examination or copying of records shall be paid by the party requesting the records.

Two types of fees may be charged in responding to a public records request – a Labor Service Fee and a Copy Fee.

Labor Service Fee – Personnel expenses related to the search, preparation, & retrieval of records and supervision of records examination.

Parties requesting records shall be charged for the personnel expenses related to the search, retrieval, preparation, copying, and supervision of examination of records as follows:

1. Requests requiring less than 30 minutes to produce

• The first 30 minutes of City staff time during a given month will be free of charge (“Free Service”). This Free Service is calculated based on time spent supervising the examination of records or fulfilling any request placed in the same month by the same individual or organization.

1. Requests requiring greater than 30 minutes to produce

• Requestors shall be charged for the labor of services performed by City staff in the search, preparation, retrieval, or supervision of examination of public records lasting longer than 30 minutes in any one month.
• The requestor shall be charged the effective hourly wage rate of the staff member(s) for time needed to provide and review the records, prorated to the nearest fifteen (15) minutes. The requestor shall not have the right to request which particular employee(s) perform the services.
• The above labor charges shall not include the costs of employee benefits, depreciation, maintenance, electricity, or insurance associated with the administration of the office, per Iowa Code Section 22.3.

Copy Fee

In addition to any applicable labor service fees, the following fees shall be charged for providing copies of public records.

 

Fees for Copies of Records
8 ½” x 11” black and white photocopy	$0.25 per page/side
8 ½” x 11” color photocopy	$1.00 per page/side
8 ½” x 14” or 11” x 17” black and white photocopy	$1.00 per page/side
8 ½” x 14” or 11” x 17” color photocopy	$2.00 per page/side
Copied to USB flash drive or CD	$20.00
Certified mailings	Actual cost
Prepared or bound reports	Actual cost
Fax – domestic	$2.00 per page/side
Fax – international	$5.00 per page/side

 

Additional Costs

The City reserves the right to amend the fee schedule at any time in the event of unanticipated expenses.

Any costs not covered by this fee schedule shall be charged to the requestor based on the actual costs incurred by the City, including but not limited to all amounts charged to the City by third parties in connection with the fulfillment of any records request. This may include expenses of legal services utilized for the review and/or redaction of legally protected confidential information