From: To: Subject: Date:

John Bobrowiecki "SAdolphsen@mainepolicy.org"; FOAA Request: Payroll and Expenditures 1998 - 2010 Tuesday, February 22, 2011 4:17:39 PM

Mr. Adolphsen: Your Freedom of Access Request to Dale McCormick, Executive Director, Maine State Housing Authority, was forwarded to me for action. I am writing to give you an estimate as to the time and therefore expense involved as well as to ask for some clarification. As to the information regarding employees, we have information from 2004-the present in Excel-compatible form for most of the information requested; the benefit information is for total benefits. We can provide that information quite quickly and economically. We believe records from 1998-2003 would require extensive searching and redaction as the records are in either paper form or a form where personal contact information may be imbedded in the records. Such information is exempt from disclosure. Regarding expenditure information for operating expenses, we have information for 2004 and after readily available. I am assuming when you added the parenthetic "(check written)" after expenditure you did not intend to limit the request to checks; many of our expenses are paid by electronic transfer. Prior to that time the information may be paper format and would require extensive searching and redaction. Additionally, any information kept in paper form would be supplied in paper form and you would incur copying costs for those copies. By way of background, we also have programmatic expenditures for low income individuals such as housing benefits and low income heating assistance payments. The names and addresses of these recipients are confidential and exempt under the Freedom of Access Act. Please let me know if you wish your request to extend to these programmatic expenditures. In accordance with the statute we estimate that a response to your request for information about employees and expenditures since 2004 would require 250 hours to compile resulting in a charge of $2,500. A complete search back to 1998 would be at least an additional $5,000 due to the format in which it was saved. Both figures are estimates. Additionally, a search back to 1998 would incur copying costs. Due to the size of the request we would require payment in advance. In accordance with the statute we will begin our search upon receiving the payment as well as your clarification as to the nature and duration of the

request. We believe it will require 60-90 days to comply with a 2004-present request and likely the same amount of additional time if the request is back to 1998. Both are estimates. Please contact me with how you wish to proceed and if you have any questions. I can be reached at 624-5710. I look forward to working with you. John S. Bobrowiecki, Jr. Counsel Maine State Housing Authority