Title
Police Public Records and Services Fees and Increased Staffing Level (Ordinance S-53215) - Citywide
Description
Request authorization for the City Manager, or his designee, to approve an increase in the Police Department public records fees for commercial traffic crash reports, video recordings, incident reports, and other records requests. This adjustment is estimated to generate an added $789,535 annual revenue, which will be used to fund requested positions. Further request to authorize the City Controller to disburse revenue related to this item. Request authorization to add 10 permanent full-time equivalent, non-sworn positions (FTEs) to support the processing and fulfillment of public records requests.
Report
Summary
This report outlines the status of the Department's operational challenges related to fulfilling public records requests in a timely manner, requests and adjustment to the public records fee schedule, and requests to increase the number of authorized FTEs assigned to the Department. Arizona law requires public bodies to maintain records reasonably necessary to provide an accurate account of their official activities and of any government funded activities. Arizona Revised Statute (A.R.S.) 39-121.01 provides that the public may obtain copies of public records, subject to reasonable copy fees. The proposed adjustments are intended to align fees with inflationary changes, support operational needs, and maintain compliance with A.R.S. 39-121.
Background
The business processes associated with Police's public records fulfillment are multi-faceted, involving not only research, redaction, and the release of records, but operation of a public service counter that services 16,000 walk-ins per year, a call center managing 68,000 calls annually, and the handling of thousands of complex court orders and high profile public records requests.
In April 2019, City Council approved a $5 up-front fee for public records requests. Prior to this action, the existing fee schedule had remained unchanged since its adoption in 2004. Meanwhile, the resource costs associated with processing and providing public records have continued to increase. Compounding the challenges faced in fulfilling these requests, the number of public records requests have continued to increase annually with significant increases in the last fiscal year. This has contributed to a growing backlog of unfulfilled requests and an inability to meet the service demands of the requestors. The current number of backlogged requests is 39,000 and the current average wait times for requests range from 10 days for a traffic crash report to 18 months for video footage as all records must be reviewed and redacted in accordance with A.R.S. 39-121 prior to being released to the requestor. Without additional resources to address the current backlog and a continual increase in service demand, the backlog is expected to continue to exceed operational capacity.
Proposed Public Records Fee Schedule Adjustment
The recommended fee adjustments (Attachment A) would apply to document and video-related public records requests. For non-commercial public records requests, electronic copies of documents would be provided at no cost, while fees for printed copies would increase by $.01 per page from $.24 per page, to $.25. Commercial document requests would be updated to a $10 flat fee plus $.25 per page. Video fees would shift to a two-tiered structure. Initial requests for videos, which would include a medium blur applied to the entire recording, will be provided at no cost to all requestors. Supplemental video requests requiring standard redactions would be assessed a fee of $23 per 30 minutes of video reviewed, applicable to both commercial and non-commercial requests. The proposed adjustments are intended to align fees with inflationary changes, increase cost-recovery efforts associated with commercial requests, support increased operational capacity, and maintain compliance with A.R.S. 39-121. Pursuant to A.R.S. 39-127, the City will continue providing certain crime victims and noted representatives one copy of the police report, audio recordings, and video recordings at no charge, at their request.
The City Auditor Department assisted the Police Department in determining a fair fee for public records requests for video. The City Auditor Department completed a cost model study that determined the cost of producing video content to be $71.44 per hour. Based on their analysis, the City Auditor Department recommended increasing the fee to the maximum permitted under A.R.S. 39-129, which is $46 per hour or $23 per half hour of video reviewed.
Staffing Needs
To address the existing backlog and increases in service demand, Police recommends utilizing a combination of 19 temporary and 16 permanent FTEs. The recommended increase of personnel within the Public Records and Services Bureau will support the timely processing and fulfillment of public records releases. The 19 temporary FTEs will be dedicated to eliminating the existing backlog within one year following completion of their training. The 16 permanent FTEs will support increased service demands and mitigate the risk of future backlogs. To address the ongoing need, staff is requesting 10 new FTEs in Police, with the remaining 6 FTEs being fulfilled through internal transfers and reallocations of existing positions.
Contract Term
The adjustments to the public records fees would begin November 1, 2026.
Financial Impact
The cost for the 10 additional ongoing, full-time FTEs is $389,524 for the first partial year and $779,869 annually. Expected revenue from the increased fees will be used to fully fund these positions and is forecasted to be $394,768 in the first partial year and $789,535 annually.
The cost for the 19 temporary FTEs is $958,401 for the first partial year and $1,446,075 for the second year. The temporary FTEs will be funded through one-time savings in the Police budget.
Concurrence/Previous Council Action
Ordinance S-45574 was previously approved at the April 17, 2019 City Council Formal Meeting.
Public Outreach
The proposed increased fee was posted on phoenix.gov at least 60 days prior to this meeting in compliance with Arizona law. The schedule and written report or data supporting the increased fee is filed in the City Clerk’s office. Also, as required by State law, a notice of intent to establish the proposed fee was posted on phoenix.gov at least 15 days prior to this meeting and was distributed through the City’s social media accounts.
Department
Responsible Department
This item is submitted by Assistant City Manager Lori Bays and the Police Department.