Lawsuit alleging Santa Clara county overcharging for copies

From Sunshine Review

April 24, 2009:

Lawsuit alleges Santa Clara County gouges public by overcharging for document copies

"A public interest group has sued Santa Clara County for allegedly gouging local residents with the highest fees in California to copy official documents such as real estate records, arguing that county officials are inflating the charges to illegally secure more revenue without taxpayer approval.

In a lawsuit filed this week in Santa Clara County Superior Court, Los Angeles-based California Public Records Research Inc. accuses the county recorder's office of capitalizing on a change in state law in the early 1990s to increase copying costs for records by 700 percent over a 15-year period. The group's research shows that the average $28 cost to copy a seven-page document in Santa Clara County is tops in the state." Read the full article here.