Miami-Dade County Demands $22K for Access to Public Information

Many local governments in the “Sunshine State” embrace transparency, according to Sunshine Review, a nonprofit organization dedicated to government transparency. And, then there is Miami-Dade County.

Miami-Dade County responded to a recent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request for information about how taxpayer funds are spent by demanding that the nonprofit pay the county $22,000. The request directed to Miami-Dade Police Department, which is part of an ongoing series on local salaries of government officials, listed labor costs as $1,204.80 for IT support and $21,341.24 for police assistance.

“Sunshine Review has never objected to paying a reasonable costs of fulfilling information requests, however, charging $22,000 hardly seems justified. Especially when you consider that many of Miami-Dade’s surrounding counties offered their information to us for free,” said Sunshine Review President Michael Barnhart. “At this rate it would be cheaper to fly down to Miami, and personally look up the files while staying at an all-inclusive South Beach hotel.”

Sunshine Review requested:

Sunshine Review has also requested this information from governments in other states. The average price tag has been $17, with an overwhelming amount of governments providing free records. Palm Beach County has provided partial information free of charge; Harris County in Texas, which is a top ten most populous county in the U.S. along with Miami-Dade, provided a free response, as did the Pittsburgh Police Department.

“Our role at Sunshine Review is to promote government transparency and accountability. Thankfully, numerous other cities have answered our FOIA without this unreasonable price tag. We hope that with public pressure, Miami-Dade Police will reduce their fee to a more manageable number,” said Barnhart.