Resident presses Lansing leaders on FOIL fees after Ithaca Voice story

A resident criticized coverage in the Ithaca Voice and asked whether the town would publicly post internal documents to avoid repeated FOIL (Freedom of Information Law) fees. The resident said FOILs followed the board's development moratorium and that "taxpayers shouldn't face a tax hike for exercising their rights," urging a more transparent approach.

Town officials apologized for any perceived condescension and said the reporter's inquiry began with a different topic but led to discussion of town finances. The supervisor told residents that processing FOIL requests is labor-intensive — particularly when requests span years of emails that must be reviewed for exempt material such as personnel matters or attorney-client communications — and that the town has seen an increase from "about 5 or 6 FOILs every three to four months" historically to roughly "20 a month" in recent weeks. Officials said that, while they encourage transparency, posting thousands of documents online is not a simple, cost-free alternative to individual FOIL processing.

The board promised follow-up: staff will provide more precise legal-cost figures and discuss options for improving public access, including whether targeted posting or expanded summaries could reduce the need for fee-bearing requests. "I did not intend it to be that way," one official said in response to residents' concerns and offered to follow up with more information.