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Newberg staff propose fee updates; residents warn public‑records charges could hinder oversight
Summary
City staff presented first reading of a master-fee update that includes system-development-charge adjustments and modest police public-records fee increases; public commenters pressed the council to reconsider legal-review fees and staff pledged an analysis and improvements to the public records web interface.
City staff presented the first reading of an updated master fee schedule on May 18 that would adjust various permit and system-development charges and remove a communications-officer public-safety fee, while also increasing some public-records fees.
Accounting manager Dan Corer said wastewater system-development charges would decrease—staff attributed that to completed wastewater work that reprioritized infrastructure needs—while transportation SDCs were set to rise about 6.06%. Corer also described new line items and clarifications in the permit schedule (mural review, vacation-rental review, street-tree-permit addition) and said the police department’s public-records fee for police-specific record requests would move from $15 to $20.
Public commenter Rebecca (Becky) Wallace sharply criticized the proposed legal-review and research-fee structure for public-records requests, saying charges can create barriers to oversight and noting the state-run public-records "web drawer" is difficult to search. "Public records law exists to promote transparency and public trust, not to create financial barriers," Wallace said, urging the council to limit when attorney review is charged and to reconsider the fee schedule.
City records staff (Rachel) acknowledged the web-drawer interface is hard to navigate for members of the public and said staff are building a catalog layer to improve searchability. Rachel said most requests (she estimated 90–95%) do not incur fees and that the city typically begins charging staff time once an estimated hour of staff time is exceeded (the packet lists an attorney research fee line). City attorney James noted state public-records law frames what fees and legal services the city can charge and said the city has applied fee waivers in the public-interest cases.
Councilors requested an analysis of the prior year’s public-records requests showing how many incurred fees, how often legal review was required, total revenues collected from public-records fees, and the staff time involved. Staff agreed to return with that data and to add clearer waiver and public-interest guidance to the public-records request page and form.
