By Eric Curl / Opinion
May 6, 2025 – One of my main goals with Savannah Agenda is to increase the transparency of public entities and accessibility of public information to the community.
A $10 fee for emailing a fire report that was readily available seems excessive and could prove to be cost prohibitive when it comes to achieving the above stated goal. Apparently, the fee was established last year “to cover staffing and other costs for the Fire Department to retrieve, copy, and re-file a report,” according to the invoice I was sent 17 minutes after I requested the document.
The report in question provides about a paragraph’s worth of notes, within its eight pages, describing the recent warehouse fire on President Street just east of Savannah’s downtown. It does not explain the cause of the April 15 fire, which was still “under investigation” as of April 28, according to a Savannah Fire and Rescue spokesperson.
<Read the $10 fire report for free (don’t get too excited)>
I emailed the spokesperson, along with other city officials, on April 29, and again on May 1, to see if someone could explain the reasoning behind the fee considering, the first 15 minutes of searching are required to be free and government agencies are supposed to use the hourly rate of the lowest-paid full-time employee that can do the search (OCGA 50-18-71(c)(1)). Additionally, while the department can charge separately for the search for the record, the department should only charge (maximum) 10 cents per page for the document itself (OCGA 50-18-71(c)(2)).
In this case, I was emailed the $10 invoice 17 minutes after requesting the report. Subtracting 80 cents for copies and considering only 2-minutes-worth of pro-rated work, the lowest-paid employee capable of performing my request would have to be paid $276 per hour or about $574,080 per year to come to support the remaining $9.20 fee.
My math: (60 minutes/2 minutes = 30, 30 x $10 = $276), which is $2,208/day ($276 x 8hrs), which is $11,040/week ($276 x 5), which is $574,080/year ($11,040 x 52).
No one is being paid that much, and the fee is not “reasonable” charge for a public report, as required by state law. Unfortunately, I have not gotten a response to my inquiry and the reasoning behind the charge remains as clear as the cause of last month’s warehouse fire.
Extinguish the flat fee Savannah Fire.
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If you find value in this website, please consider contributing above or via Paypal to help cover the costs. You can also send contributions via Venmo @Savannah_Agenda. Your support, no matter how much you give, is appreciated and will help ensure the future viability of this community resource. You can also show your support by subscribing below and sharing Savannah Agenda with others via email or social media. Increasing readership is critical to the long-term success of this site.