HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution No. 443CITY OF MEDINA, WASHINGTON
RESOLUTION NO.443
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF
MEDINA, WASHINGTON, ESTABLISHING AN UNIFIED
FEE SCHEDULE FOR VARIOUS SERVICES, PERMITS
AND APPLICATIONS WITHIN THE CITY, ADOPTING A
FEE STUDY FOR BODY -WORN CAMERA VIDEO
REDACTION COSTS, ESTABLISHING THE CITY'S BODY -
WORN CAMERA REDACTION FEES, AND ADDING
THESE FEES TO THE CITY'S FEE SCHEDULE FOR
PUBLIC RECORDS REQUESTS, AND REPEALING PRIOR
FEE SCHEDULES ADOPTED BY RESOLUTION.
WHEREAS, the City has historically begun adopting all fees by resolution in order
to consolidate fees and keep them updated routinely; and
WHEREAS, the City has three different fee schedules that are in Resolution Nos.
300, 406 and 417 and these should be consolidated into a single location for ease of
review by the public and the City; and
WHEREAS, the City of Medina started using body -worn cameras in recent years
and therefore has the obligation to maintain, review, and produce video recordings from
the body -worn cameras; and
WHEREAS, the City desires to impose a body -worn camera redaction fee
schedule and incorporate it into the current fee schedule; and
WHEREAS, throughout this Resolution, the term "redaction" shall mean the act of
redacting, altering, distorting, pixelating, suppressing, or otherwise obscuring any portion
of a body -worn camera recording; and
WHEREAS, under the Public Records Act ("PRA"), RCW 42.56.070(7) and RCW
42.56.120 prescribes that agencies may be reimbursed for the costs of providing copies
of public records to requestors; and
WHEREAS, RCW 42.56.120(4) allows government agencies to: require a deposit
in an amount not to exceed ten percent (10%) of the estimated cost of providing copies
for a request, including a customized service charge; when an agency makes a request
available on a partial or installment basis, the agency may charge for each part of the
request as it is provided; when an installment of records request is not claimed or
reviewed, the agency is not obligated to fulfill the balance of the request; waive any charge
assessed for a request pursuant to agency rules and regulations; enter into any contract,
memorandum of understanding, or other agreement with a requestor that provides an
alternative fee arrangement to the charges or in response to a voluminous or frequently
occurring request; and
WHEREAS, RCW 42.56.240(14)(f)(i) authorizes cities whose police departments
have a body -worn camera program to require any requester not listed in RCW
42.56.240(14)(e) to pay the reasonable costs of redacting, altering, distorting, pixelating,
suppressing, or otherwise obscuring any portion of the body -worn camera recording prior
to disclosure only to the extent necessary to comply with the exemptions in RCW 42.56
et. seq. or any applicable law; and
WHEREAS, the City has analyzed the 2018 Body -Worn Video Redaction Cost
Study, attached hereto as Exhibit A completed by the Seattle Police Department, which
determined the amount of time it takes to redact such body -worn camera footage, and
multiplied that amount of time by the City Police Department Records Staff salaries to
determine the "reasonable cost" for such redactions; and
WHEREAS, the City has determined that the Cost Study provided in Exhibit A is
reasonable and the City wishes to adopt said study for the purpose of calculating charges
applicable to public record requests involving body worn camera footage; and
WHEREAS, the City wishes to adopt a fee schedule that allows the City to recover
the cost of actual staff time incurred by the City for redacting body -worn camera footage;
and
WHEREAS, the City has decided not to consider the cost of its body -worn camera
redaction software/program in the calculation of its redaction rate at this time, but the City
may decide to calculate this into its redaction rate in the future; and
WHEREAS, the City will charge for redactions based on the parameters provided
in the Public Records Act; charge staff time applicable to redacting videos; charge staff
time (salary only) for no more than the lowest -paid employee assigned responsibility for
redacting video; and
WHEREAS, the salary rate for the Records Manager for the Medina Police
Department is approximately determined to be $0.85 per minute. This amount does not
include the benefits paid to the Records Manager or other overhead costs. The City
intends to charge requestors at the specified rate per minute of Records Manager time to
redact body -worn camera video footage. This rate is below the actual cost incurred by the
City for redacting body -worn camera footage; and
WHEREAS, the City's Police Department has a trained Records Manager who
applies their expertise to redact video in an efficient and skillful manner; and
WHEREAS, the City's Police Department uses redaction technology that most
efficiently and effectively meets the administrative and operational needs of the City; and
WHEREAS, the City will incorporate its adopted Body -Worn Camera Redaction
Fee into its Unified Fee Schedule and make it publicly available on its website; NOW,
THEREFORE,
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MEDINA, WASHINGTON, RESOLVES
AS FOLLOWS:
Section 1. Preliminary Findings in Support of Resolution. The City Council
hereby adopts the foregoing recitals as its legislative findings in support of this Resolution.
Section 2. Adoption of Body -Worn Video Redaction Study. The 2018 Body -
Worn Video Redaction Cost Study, attached hereto as Exhibit A was completed by the
Seattle Police Department, which determined the amount of time it takes to redact such
body -worn camera footage, and multiplied that amount of time by the City Police
Department Records Staff salaries to determine the "reasonable cost" for such
redactions. The City of Medina has determined that the Cost Study provided in Exhibit A
is reasonable and the City hereby adopts Exhibit A as the Medina study for the purpose
of calculating charges applicable to public record requests involving body worn camera
footage.
Section 3. Adoption of Fee Schedule. The Fee Schedule attached to this
Resolution as Exhibit B is hereby adopted as the Fee Schedule for the City of Medina.
Section 4. Repeal of Prior Fee Resolutions. Resolution Nos. 400, 406, and
417, being fully replaced by this Resolution are hereby repealed.
Section 5. Effective Date. This Resolution shall take effect immediately upon
passage by the Council and signature of the Mayor.
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MEDINA ON THE 13TH
DAY OF MAY, 2024 BY A VOTE OF FOR, AGAINST, AND
ABSTAINING, AND SIGNED IN AUTHENTICATION THEREOF ON THE 13TH DAY OF
MAY, 2024.
APPROVED AS TO O FORM:
Inslee, B i Ryder, P.S.
Je ifer S bertson, City Attorney
FILED WITH THE CITY CLERK:
PASSED BY THE CITY COUNCIL.
RESOLUTION NO. 443
Attachments:
:Jessica Rossman, Mayor
ATTEST:
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Aimee Kellerman, City Clerk
Exhibit A — Fee Study For Body -Worn Camera Video Redaction Costs
Exhibit B — Fee Schedule