large_somerset county couthouse.JPG

The Historic Somerset County Courthouse in Somerville. (Photo by Matt Rainey/Star-Ledger)

(Matt Rainey/The Star-Ledger)

SOMERVILLE — A state judge has again denied Raritan Borough's efforts to charge a major newspaper publisher for public information — a decision in an ongoing battle that could cost the borough and its taxpayers as much as $750,000 in legal fees.

Superior Court Judge Yolanda Ciccone has sided once more with Gannett New Jersey, the publisher of the Courier News and The Home News-Tribune, in an Open Public Records Act lawsuit against Raritan Borough that demanded the borough release employee payroll records in a digital format, according to a report on MyCentralJersey.com.

The report cites Gannett attorney Tom Cafferty saying the only issue remaining to be resolved is how much the borough will be forced to pay Gannett in legal fees. Cafferty did not return calls by NJ.com seeking comment.

Cafferty filed a motion in Somerville Superior Court in October for reimbursement of attorney's fees and costs of $459,490.81, plus an additional 50 percent "enhancement" to "reflect the significant public interest in disclosure."

"The high price tag that this will cost taxpayers will serve as a lesson to other towns that they should move in a more open and transparent process, which will increase efficiency and benefit the taxpayers," Heather Taylor from The Citizens' Campaign told NJ.com. "At this point, we should be looking at how we can get more information out there with increased access."

CONNECT WITH US

• Follow us on Twitter



• Like us on Facebook



• NJ.com/somerset



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 in her decision.

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

"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."