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Yelm staff proposes modest public‑records fees, council asks about deposits and delivery costs
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Summary
City staff presented a proposal to add modest public‑records fees — 50¢ per photocopy, 10¢ per scanned page, small per‑file electronic fees and 10¢ per gigabyte for uploads — and to require deposits when requests are estimated to exceed $50. Councilors asked how postage and upfront payment would be handled.
City staff presented proposed updates to Yelm’s public‑records fee schedule during a study session, outlining small charges intended to recover handling costs for large or technical requests. The staff proposal would adopt the charges allowed under state law and add a customized‑access fee for requests requiring new IT work.
The proposal would set a 50¢ per‑page charge for photocopies and 10¢ per page for scanning records not already in electronic form, staff said. "If we make photocopies of records, that's 50¢ per page," the presenter said, adding that scanning would be charged at 10¢ per page and that "electronic files and attachments that we upload to an email or a cost a storage device or other means of electronic delivery, we can charge 5¢ per for every 4 electronic files." The plan also includes a 10¢ per‑gigabyte charge for large electronic transfers.
Staff framed the change as a way to recoup processing time and deter high‑volume automated requests. "It's very, very minimal, but it will help, I believe, reduce some of the especially, like, the bot request that come through a lot," the presenter said. For requests that require new IT work or outside vendors to produce custom data, staff said the city would pass along the vendor cost to the requester.
Council members sought clarification on postage and deposit procedures. One councilor asked how the city would guarantee recovery of mailing costs when they cannot be known until a request is assembled; the presenter replied that the city would require payment before mailing and, for requests estimated to cost $50 or more, would collect a fee or deposit upfront: "If we estimate that it would be $50 or more, then we will collect a fee or deposit upfront before we start working on the request." Staff also emphasized that inspections conducted in person during business hours remain free of charge.
The presenter said the proposed schedule would adopt amounts authorized by the Washington statutes (RCW) so the city’s schedule can update automatically if state figures change. Staff intends to add the item to the council agenda at the council’s second meeting of the month for formal consideration.
Next steps: staff will place the fee schedule on the next regular council agenda for possible adoption and will provide the full written policy and links to the RCW figures to council members prior to that meeting.
