Published by Brad Flynn | December 15, 2023 | Updated June 13, 2024
ISSUED 01/02/2024 – Michael Long vs. Bath Borough
APPEAL WITHDRAWN (REMOVED FROM OOR DOCKET): On February 20, 2024, OOR issued a withdrawal of this matter.
On February 14, 2024, Requestor indicated to OOR seeking to withdraw AP 2024-001 in its entirety (see email below).
STATUS UPDATE: Agreed upon records have been released by the Borough to the Requestor on February 7, 2024. The Borough released 1,027 pages of digital records. Interestingly, while not related to the instant appeal, the Borough agreed to release an additional 93 pages of information and records as part of the Settlement Agreement. Requestor no longer required the records copied and certified. The Requestor also agree to forego and abandoned altogether a number of records the Borough was willing to release on initial response to RTKRs #37.2023 and RTKRs #38.2023.
On February 7, 2024, Requestor claims the Borough has not released agreed upon records, even though the Borough has. Through attempts by the Borough and OOR asking the Requestor to clarify exactly what records haven’t been released per the Settlement Agreement, the Requestor has failed to respond. On February 12, 2024, OOR has imposed a deadline of Wednesday, February 14, 2024, for the Requestor consider either withdrawing the current appeal or return the matter to adjudication via a final determination.
OFFICE OF OPEN RECORDS MEDIATION HELD: January 30, 2024 – Tentative Agreement drafted. Settlement Agreement reached and executed between Borough and Requestor February 1, 2024.
APPEAL PENDING: Relative to Borough of Bath Agency Open Records Officer Tracking numbers, RTKRs #37.2023 & #38.2023. The Borough, on final response to the requests, granted access to 1,479 pages in Response #37.2023 and another 322 pages of information in Response #38.2023. Both requests totaled 1,801 pages of information within 373 identified public records. Requestor sought certified copies of the records, requiring the Borough to make copies of each page ($.25 cents per page) and certifying 373 records ($5 per record) in accordance with the OOR Schedule of Fees. Requestor refused to pay the copy and certification fees. Due to the fees accrued, and among other reasons, Requestor appealed the Borough’s response to Requests #37.2023 and #38.2023 to OOR.
Points of Clarification Regarding Requestors Email of February 14, 2024:
- Where Requestor states: “[T]rying to decipher that 120 page audit log and determine why it included so many accounts…” – Bath’s QuickBooks Audit Trail was generated for 9 specific general ledger accounts requested by Requestor. If there are deposits or activity entered in any other accounts associated with the 9 specific general ledgers, those accounts will be identified as well. This is the whole point of an audit trail log. It shows the complete activity on a general ledger account. There are times where Bath’s bookkeeping requires an item be entered to a general ledger account (temporarily) until the more appropriate line item can be identified later where funds should be booked. These types of corrections or general ledger revisions will be listed to the Audit Trail log. These types of revisions and adjustments to ledger lines is common practice.
- Where Requestor states: “So there are somethings that aren’t included within this reports as well as some lines that are lacking transactional data just for example I have a 2022 profit vs loss that is dated 10/3/2022 and another dated 1/23/23 or there’s about. The September version shows recorded revenue lines in 360.19 and i think 389.30, yet the end of year report has this lines as non existent or at 0.” Reading from a Profit vs Loss report at different time periods is problematic. The reason for this is because, as explained above, general ledger lines will be corrected and/or revised over time. Whatever was reported at a specific time period (for example Profit vs Loss report of 10/3/2022 and 1/23/23) line items may have been adjusted which will show different results and different times depending on when the Transaction Activity Report is generated.
- Where Requestor states: “The transaction log for 2022 fails to show this activity and while some of the transactions are shown in the audit trail and that the transactions were adjusted to different budget lines it still doesn’t equate to what was reported. Likewise there are other deposits dates that dont match up with previously reported premium payments.” The Requestor is confusing a Transaction (or Activity Report) from an Audit Trail Log. Transaction Reports only show a general ledger activity as of the day the report is generated. It’s a clean copy of transactional history. The Audit Trail Log will show the adjusted transactions from line to line over a specified time period.
- Where Requestor states: “I mean it worked in two other RTK appeals with regards to audit trails related to the mayors payments. Look at me complaining, not like you could’ve saved me a year by producing them the first two times I asked for them…” The Requestor never asked the Borough to produce an Audit Trail for specific ledger lines until January 30, 2024. The Requestor asked for Audit Trail logs that couldn’t be produced in a way described by the Requestor given the desktop version of QuickBooks the Borough uses. The Requestor significantly mischaracterized what was requested of the Borough and when. In addition, the RTKL prohibits the creation of a record. An agency is not required to create a record which does not currently exist or to compile, maintain, format or organize a record in a manner in which the agency does not currently compile, maintain, format or organize the record.
Docket Entries (12 Entries):
| Filed | Description |
| 02/20/2024 | OOR Withdrawal (1 Page) |
| 01/02/2024 | Requestor Appeal (2 Pages) |
| 01/09/2024 | Entry of Appearance (1 Page) |
| 01/09/2024 | Agency Correspondence (1 Page) |
| 01/09/2024 | Agency Mediation Agreement (1 Page) |
| 01/09/2024 | Requestor Mediation Agreement (1 Page) |
| 01/02/2024 | Requestor Appeal (82 Pages) |
| 01/02/2024 | Requestor Appeal (3 Pages) |
| 01/02/2024 | OOR Notice of Deadlines (1 Page) |
| 01/02/2024 | OOR Acknowledgement (7 Pages) |
| 01/02/2024 | OOR Additional Extension (1 Page) |
| 01/02/2024 | Requestor Appeal (87 Pages) |
