Town administrator warns broad public-records requests are straining Halifax staff; proposes reduced public hours

Town Administrator Steven told the Halifax Select Board on July 14 that the town has lost roughly 10% of its staff and is facing an influx of large and broad public-records requests that are consuming extraordinary staff time and threaten to exhaust legal budgets.

Steven described requests that, per the town’s IT review, return hundreds of thousands of hits (he cited an example of 770,000 hits) and noted one pending request with an estimated legal-review price that could be in the tens of thousands of dollars. He said the town can charge only limited collection fees under state law after two hours of free work and that such large requests impose heavy operational burdens.

To reduce operational strain, Steven proposed reducing public-window hours so staff can complete required work: options under discussion include 8 a.m.–3 p.m. or 9 a.m.–2 p.m. with closed lunch periods, while preserving at least one long day (e.g., Tuesday) for the public. He asked the board to consider the change at the July 28 meeting with a possible August 1 start.

Board members acknowledged the tension between public access and staff capacity and asked staff to return with formal proposals. Steven said the town is also developing financial dashboards with the finance committee to improve transparency on spending and operational metrics.

Next steps: the Select Board will consider a formal hours proposal at its July 28 meeting; staff will return with a recommended schedule and anticipated service impacts.