Can an Irrigation Company Charge a Shareholder for Copies of Company Records?

Most irrigation companies and water companies are nonprofit corporations, and are therefore subject to the Utah Revised Nonprofit Corporation Act. Under the Act, a nonprofit corporation may charge a reasonable fee to cover the costs of labor and material for copies of any documents provided to a shareholder. The fee may not exceed the estimated cost of production and reproduction of the records.

There is one caveat to the fee rule. If the corporation receives a shareholder’s written request to obtain information regarding the corporation’s assets and liabilities, the corporation must, within 15 days after receiving the request, mail the shareholder a copy the corporation’s most recent annual financial statements and the corporation’s most recently published financial statements. The corporation cannot charge the shareholder for the cost of copying or mailing the financial statements.

To view the Utah Nonprofit Corporation Act, click here.