Opinion
Opinion By: Jack Conway, Attorney General; Amye L. Bensenhaver, Assistant Attorney General
Open Records Decision
This matter having been presented to the Attorney General in an open records appeal, and the Attorney General being sufficiently advised, we find that the YMCA of Greater Louisville presents uncontested evidence that it does not meet the definition of a public agency under KRS 61.870(1)(h). Accordingly, it is not obligated to afford Antoinette Taylor access to records containing the information she requested on March 5, 2012.
Ms. Taylor requested information relating to state and federally funded grants received by the YMCA, lawsuits against the YMCA, bylaws and policies under which the YMCA operates, the "job description, responsibilities, and salary amount" of the YMCA Middletown Extension director, and the YMCA's "Form 990 for 2011, including YMCA's 2011 audit." In response, the YMCA of Greater Louisville advised Ms. Taylor that its annual report and 990 report are available on-line, but that as a private organization its records are not available under the Open Records Act. This appeal followed.
KRS 61.870(1)(h) defines the term "public agency" as any body which "derives at least twenty-five percent (25%) of its funds expended by it in the Commonwealth of Kentucky from state or local authority funds." In correspondence directed to this office, the YMCA of Greater Louisville provided an affidavit from Vice President-Finance/CFO S. Kay Manning in which she attested that the YMCA does not derive at least twenty-five percent of the funds expended by it in the Commonwealth from state or local authority funds. Having reviewed the YMCA of Greater Louisville's financial records for the year ending December 31, 2011, she calculated that of the funds expended by the YMCA of Greater Louisville in Kentucky for that year, only eleven percent were derived from state or local authority funds. Ms. Taylor's request and subsequent appeal provide no basis upon which to dispute Ms. Manning's affidavit. Therefore, under the principles enunciated in 09-ORD-033 (copy enclosed), we find that the YMCA of Greater Louisville is not a public agency pursuant to KRS 61.870(1)(h) or any other definition of the term found at KRS 61.870(1). The YMCA is not obligated to comply with Ms. Taylor's request under the Open Records Act. See also 11-ORD-197 (copy attached) and authorities cited therein.
A party aggrieved by this decision may appeal it by initiating action in the appropriate circuit court pursuant to KRS 61.880(5) and KRS 61.882. Pursuant to KRS 61.880(3), the Attorney General should be notified of any action in circuit court, but should not be named as a party in that action or in any subsequent proceeding.
Distributed to:
Antoinette TaylorR. Stephen TarverShannon Antle Hamilton