Source: Rapid City Journal
Sturgis has dropped its asking price for a copy of the list of vendors at the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally to $20. The city had originally been asking $600 for a copy of the list.
Previous city manager, David Boone, raised the asking price from $50 to $600 when he began the job. City finance officer Fay Bueno said the amount of labor that is put into compiling the list of more than 700 vendors is what drove the cost up.
The price of the document has remained a hot topic for those requesting the list, including Sturgis resident Jack Hoel, who sent a letter to Attorney General Marty Jackley concerning the subject.
"This is obviously a public record," Hoel said.
The letter sent back to Hoel states that "public documents must be provided upon ‘payment of the actual cost of mailing or transmittal, the cost of reproduction, or other fee established by statute or administrative rule.'" The letter goes on to say that under state statute, requests for public records that involve more than an hour of staff time to locate, assemble or reproduce may be billed extra.