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If a request (for copies or inspection) will result in a charge exceeding $40, the governmental body must provide the requestor with a written, itemized statement detailing all estimated charges that will be imposed, including any allowable labor or personnel costs. Prior to this legislation, General Service Commission rules did not require an itemized statement and many governmental bodies simply presented a bill when the copies were ready.

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If a lower cost alternative is available (for example, you have requested copies, but inspection would be free) the statement must notify you of this alternative.

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You must respond to this statement (via fax, email, snailmail or in person) within 10 days of the date the bill is sent by the governmental to either accept the charges or modify the request (for example, elect to inspect only and then decide which if any items to copy) or the request is deemed withdrawn and you have to start all over. The 10 days starts when the governmental body drops the statement in the mail, not when you get it. So if you elect to mail your response, plan on doing it as quickly as possible.

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The final charges may not exceed the charges in the itemized statement by more than 20%, or the governmental body must send a new itemized statement reflecting the final, actual charges and the requestor may again modify the request. Again, if you do not respond to the second statement within 10 days (as above), the request is deemed withdrawn and you have to start all over.

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If you have accepted the charges in an itemized bill, you owe the money at that point. A governmental body can refuse to provide the information if you don't pay the bill, and can refuse to provide information in the future if you owe more than $100 from past requests. The governmental body is prohibited from seeking payment of unpaid amounts through any other means. This means it cannot be added to a student fee bill, or sent to a collection agency. Since governmental bodies were able to require payment upon collection of copies in the past, this amendment will primarily affect people who go through the whole process and never actually go to collect their copies or look at the information.