RARITAN — A lawsuit by a statewide newspaper publisher against the borough over public access to government documents could cost the borough as much as $750,000 in court costs and attorney fees.

In August, Judge Yolanda Ciccone of Superior Court in Somerville overturned a prior court decision and ordered Raritan Borough to provide municipal payroll records requested by The Gannett Satellite Information Network, the publisher of the Somerville-based Courier News as well as the Home News Tribune, Daily Record and Asbury Park Press.

The judge also ordered the borough to reimburse Gannett for "reasonable attorneys' fees" related to a lawsuit claiming that the borough refused to fulfill the original request as spelled out in the state Open Public Records Act, or OPRA.

A motion for reimbursement of attorney's fees and costs filed in superior court on Oct. 12 by Gannett's attorney Thomas J. Cafferty, broke down all incurred attorney's fees and said that Gannett is entitled to $459,490.81 in fees and costs, plus an additional 50 percent "enhancement" to "reflect the significant public interest in disclosure." A letter of certification from attorney Donald A. Robinson, also filed with superior court, supported Cafferty's motion.

Although the borough has since turned over the payroll records, the reimbursement has not been made, and if the judge awards Cafferty's requested 50-percent enhancement, the total owed to Gannett by Raritan would swell to as much as $758,250, the motion said.

In 2009, Gannett's newspapers made blanket OPRA requests to towns across the state in order to acquire computerized payroll records for 2008 from each of them, in a non-PDF format that would allow the papers to import them into databases for analyzing in story research, the judge recounted in her written decision.

The borough's legal counsel responded that the borough "did not maintain the records in the requested format," and that providing it in such format would cost Gannett $1,100 in fees to an outside company, ADS, which maintained the payroll records on behalf of the borough, the judge said. The borough would allow Gannett's representative to review the records in borough hall in their current format, the judge said.

Gannett declined the invitation and the offer to pay for the conversion, instead filing a complaint asserting that the borough's failure to provide the data in the requested format was a violation of Gannett's right of access to government records, a violation of OPRA by withholding the documents in a non-PDF format, and that the fee was an excessive "special service charge," the judge said.

Hollis R. Towns, Gannett New Jersey vice president for news, said in a report on MyCentralJersey.com (which hosts the Home News Tribune and Courier News) that his papers considered the $1,100 fee for the records "exorbitant," and more than an individual citizen shouid have to pay. He also said the award wouldn't be a windfall for Gannett



"It was the officials who wrongly decided to withhold public records in a useful format — and not the newspapers — who operated against the public's interest," Towns said in the report. "The legislature anticipated such problems, and included the provision to recover legal costs to give the law the teeth it needs."

CONNECT WITH US

• Follow us on Twitter



• Like us on Facebook



• NJ.com/somerset



"In pursuing reimbursement of legal fees, our overriding goal was, in fact, the public's interest — by eliminating unnecessary government secrecy, and making it easy for citizens to obtain the records that belong to them in the first place," Towns said.

John Paff, an open public records activist, told NJ.com there should be a better, easier way of resolving these disputes.

"It shouldn't matter whether towns hire outside contractors to handle payroll data or do it in-house, but some towns are actually philosophically opposed to giving out the information at all," Paff said. "If you allow towns to enter into contracts with outside contractors (charging) $5,000 for public records, that will discourage people from requesting the information."

Paff said a reasonable solution should come from the state, but instead, the towns have ignored the problem and "now they have to pay the piper."

"I can find out how much money I spent on my Discover card between February and March of 2007 and download it from their website in about 30 seconds," Paff said. "Why is it when you come to municipal governments that their computer program doesn't allow us to do that?"

He said towns follow a "scorched Earth" policy, and taxpayers have to foot the bill.

"I think it is about time these guys get their acts together," Paff said. "It's unacceptable for municipal officials to operate this way. We're dealing with public officials who have a callous attitude about the public's right to know."

"$750,000 — that's a lot of money," Paff said. "That's a nice down payment on a fully equipped fire truck."

A status conference on this case is scheduled for Feb. 7 before Judge Ciccone in Superior Court, Somerville, the MyCentralJersey.com report said.