A year from now, on July 1, 2024, inflation will likely boost the maximum hourly rate governments are allowed to charge for processing Colorado Open Records Act requests from $33.58 to around $41.34 — an alarming 23 percent increase.

That’s according to an estimate calculated for the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition by Natalie Castle, director of the General Assembly’s nonpartisan Legislative Council research staff, based on her office’s latest economic forecast.

The $41.34 hourly rate assumes the Consumer Price Index for the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood area will rise 2.9 percent in the first half of 2024. The new rate will be less than $41.34 an hour if inflation is lower than 2.9 percent, but at least $40.18 unless a period of deflation occurs between now and next June, Castle told CFOIC.

This means a CORA request that takes 10 hours to process (the first hour must be provided at no charge under the statute) will cost as much as $372. It now costs $302.