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Board denies FOIA appeal over GIS data fees
Summary
The board denied an appeal that sought GIS data without the county's standard fees, finding the county's fee schedule applicable to the requested GIS/digital files and rejecting an attempt to recast it as a fee-exempt FOIA request.
The board reviewed an appeal concerning access to GIS data and whether the county should waive standard fees by treating the request as a FOIA appeal. Staff explained Alger County maintains and controls the GIS dataset and that the county charges for certain digital extracts; the appellant sought to avoid the fee by recasting the request as a FOIA appeal. The board made a motion to deny the appeal, citing the standard fee schedule for GIS services, and the denial carried without reversal.
Commissioners discussed the balance between public access and the county's cost for maintaining GIS services; staff said the fee schedule is the standard approach and that the county has previously declined similar fee waivers in other jurisdictions.
