A public employee's name, title, position, salary, payroll record and length of service are public information. However, under common law, a judge can consider whether your interest in asking for personnel-related records is outweighed by an official's interest in keeping it secret. As such, it places a burden on the public to prove a record is public, rather than forcing an official to prove it should be secret. Financial records of all public bodies, such as municipalities and schools boards, are generally public. This includes budgets, bills and salaries.
Telephone bills are trickier.
A 1990 state court decision allowed telephone records to be exempt, because releasing them could reveal private phone numbers. However, the law does not address any other charges. This allows agencies to create their own separate charges. The fees should be reasonable, however. Often, the law is vague on this, and it tends to fall into a gray area.