Oak Park council upholds two FOIA decisions: denial of custom water/sewer report and $7.37 fee

Oak Park City Council on July 21 upheld two decisions by city staff and the city attorney concerning Freedom of Information Act requests: one denying a request that sought a new compiled report of water and sewer accounts and another upholding a $7.37 fee for a separate records request.

City Attorney Courtney explained to council that the first appeal (agenda item 10a), filed by Arimi Sacks of the Kick and Hanley PLC law firm, sought a report the city does not maintain in the ordinary course of business. “The Freedom of Information Act does not require a municipality to create a new document in response to a Freedom of Information Act request,” Courtney said, and noted the request also failed to sufficiently identify the records sought. Council voted unanimously to uphold the denial.

The second appeal (agenda item 10b) challenged a $7.37 fee the city assessed for approximately 0.25 hours of staff time spent locating and researching requested accounting and financial policy documents. City Attorney Courtney told council the city uses objective standards to compute reasonable FOIA fees and that an applicant can remit the fee or submit a revised request. Council voted unanimously to uphold the fee assessment.

Council members asked about next steps for an applicant who disagrees with a FOIA outcome; Courtney said appellants can either file a new, more specific request or pursue the matter in circuit court under the FOIA enforcement provisions. Both FOIA motions were carried on unanimous roll calls coordinated by the mayor and clerk.