Date:
05/18/2023
Subject:
Cliff Sheakley/Tama County Auditor- Informal Resolution Report
Opinion:
The Iowa Public Information Board
In re the Matter of: Cliff Sheakley, Complainant
Tama County Auditor, Respondent | Case Numbers: 23FC:0044 Acceptance Order
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COMES NOW, Erika Eckley, Executive Director for the Iowa Public Information Board (IPIB), and enters this Acceptance Order:
On March 31, 2023, Cliff Sheakley filed formal complaint 23FC:0044, alleging that the Tama County Auditor violated Iowa Code chapter 22.
Mr. Sheakley requested all shapefiles[1] of Tama County from the Tama County Auditor. On March 28, 2023, in response to the request, the Auditor informed Mr. Sheakley that she could provide Excel datafiles (on which the shapefiles are based) at no cost. However, she stated that production of the shapefiles he had requested would incur a fee of ten cents per parcel. She further informed Mr. Sheakley that Tama County currently consists of 22,970 parcels, bringing the total cost of his request to $2,297.
Mr. Sheakley thereafter filed his complainant, alleging that the fee quoted to him is not based on the reasonable, actual costs of providing digital copies of the shapefiles to him. In response, the Auditor argued that Iowa Code section 22.2(4)(a) allows the County to establish “reasonable rates and procedures” for the retrieval of specified records stored in a geographical database. Further, she argued that the rate quoted to Mr. Sheakley was reasonable based on the total amount the County spends annually to create and maintain the shapefiles.
The records at issue are part of a government body’s geographical database, bringing them within the purview of section 22.2(4)(a)[2]. However, that Code section still requires a government body to set reasonable rates for the retrieval of records from a geographical database.
According to the figures and calculations the Auditor provided regarding the annual cost of creating and maintaining the shapefiles, the ten-cent-per-parcel fee accounts for roughly one-sixth of the County’s total expenses per parcel. The County creates these files primarily for its own use and uses public funds to do so. Based on this information and the Iowa Supreme Court’s past decisions regarding the reasonableness of public records fees, it appears that charging requesters a flat fee equivalent to one-sixth of the total per-parcel cost may be unreasonable.[3]
The County is willing to provide the files for free in an Excel format, but Mr. Sheakley has requested the files to be in a specific shapefile electronic format. Iowa Code § 22.3A(2)(d) allows the County to charge for “the reasonable costs of any required processing, programming, or other work required to produce the record in the specific format.” But, according to the County, they already pay an annual fee to have the shapefiles created and maintained.
Iowa Code § 23.8 requires that a complaint be within the IPIB’s jurisdiction, appear legally sufficient, and have merit before the IPIB accepts a complaint. This complaint meets the necessary requirements for acceptance.
IT IS SO ORDERED: Formal complaint 23FC:0044 is accepted pursuant to Iowa Code § 23.8(1) and Iowa Administrative Rule 497-2.1(2)(a). The County is allowed to charge reasonable fees for producing geographic database files, but the fees quoted do not appear to be reasonable based on the facts.
Pursuant to Iowa Administrative Rule 497-2.1(3), the IPIB may “delegate acceptance or dismissal of a complaint to the executive director, subject to review by the board.” The IPIB will review this Order on May 18, 2023. Pursuant to IPIB rule 497-2.1(4), the parties will be notified in writing of its decision.
By the IPIB Executive Director
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Erika Eckley, J.D.
[1] A shapefile is a specialized data format used for storing and representing geographical locations and attributes in two dimensions.
[2] However, notwithstanding subsections 1 and 2, a government body is not required to permit access to or use of the following: a. A geographic computer database by any person except upon terms and conditions acceptable to the governing body. The governing body shall establish reasonable rates and procedures for the retrieval of specified records, which are not confidential records, stored in the database upon the request of any person.
[3] Iowa Code § 22.3 was amended to include that all fees to be both reasonable and based upon the actual costs of copying the records. Iowa Code § 22.2(4)(a) was not amended and continues to only require that the fees be “reasonable.”