2004-12-19 Finance Committee Report

The National Finance Committee (NFC) has in recent weeks passed the following policy resolutions for consideration by the Pacifica National Board. The dates listed at the bottom of each motion refer to the date of the NFC approved the motion.

1) Policy on Inter-unit transfers

Background:
During the Aug. 23 PNB teleconference meeting, the following resolution was passed:
-that the National Finance Committee develop a policy for unbudgeted inter unit transfers and to brought before the PNB for approval at the October 2004 PNB meeting.

Due to a number of demands on the NFC in the budget preparation process, the NFC did not present a motion on this topic at the Oct. 2004 PNB meeting. The NFC has been able to consider the question in recent weeks, and submits the following:

MOTION
- Resolved that:
a) The National Finance Committee shall be notified of all unbudgeted interdivision transfers of funds, of the reason for the transfer, and of the repayment or reimbursement schedule, if any is applicable;
b) Any unbudgeted interdivision transfer of funds in excess of $5,000 shall require approval by the National Finance Committee; and that any unbudgeted interdivision transfer of funds in excess of $20,000 shall require approval by the PNB. In the event of an emergency where it is not possible to gain NFC or PNB approval in advance of the transfer, the NFC or PNB shall be notified by email prior to the transfer, and the transfer shall be presented to the NFC or PNB for subsequent ratification after the fact.
(12/17/04)

2) Policy on review of budgets by the NFC
- Resolved that:
Monthly expense line items that are 10% or $10,000 (not including amounts under $1000), whichever is lesser, over budget for the month shall be explained in written notes that accompany the monthly income statements.
(12/17/04)

3) Policy on reporting of fundraising information
- Resolved that:
The National Finance Committee shall receive the monthly MEMSYS on-air fundraising report showing the number of days for each fund drive, the total amount pledged, the total amount of fulfilled pledges, and the fulfillment rate, for each station fund drive for the previous 5 quarters, and the LSB Finance Committees shall receive such monthly reports for their respective station.
(12/17/04)

4) Recommendation for policy development re: financial reserves

The NFC recommends that policies be developed concerning the accumulation and use of station reserves for purposes other than operating expenses, including but not limited to, reserves for capital projects, equipment purchases, severance obligations.
(12/17/04)

5) Policy on reporting of active membership
- Resolved that:
The National Finance Committee receive a monthly report from each station of the number of active members (persons who have contributed $25 or more or who have volunteered 3 hours or more during the previous 12 months).
(12/10/04, amended 12/17/04)

6) Policy on monthly reporting of financial information to LSB Finance Committees
- Resolved that:
The Station General Managers shall provide monthly preliminary station financial reports (Income Statements) to their respective Local Finance Committees when they close their books each month at the time they transmit their information to the national finance office.
(12/10/04)

7) Policy on monthly reporting of headcount and salary expenditures
Members of the National Finance Committee will be provided by their local business manager with monthly headcount reports that show the names of all individuals paid by the station that month, including their positions, hours worked and amounts paid, including all individuals whose earnings are reported on either W-2 and 1099 forms. A similar monthly report will be provided to the NFC by the National Office. This information shall be restricted to the members of the National Finance Committee and shall be discussed in executive session only.
(11/12/04)

Status report on WBAI Budget Review

The following motion was passed by the Pacifica National Board at its meeting in Rockville MD on Oct. 3, 2004.

MOTION by Roberts: whereas the PNB recognizes both the concerns of the WBAI LSB and the management and whereas the PNB needs to adopt a FY05 budget for Pacifica, the PNB hereby chooses to approve the WBAI Budget Proposal #3, and directs the National Finance Committee to revisit said budget by November 15, 2004; and further endorses the National Finance Committee requirement that the WBAI LSB, Management, the Executive Director, and the Chief Financial Officer work to improve the WBAI fundraising performance and premium fulfillment.

Since the station was still involved in its fund drive and adequate data were not available, the NFC on 11/12/04 passed a motion to revisit the WBAI budget by 12/17/04. Unfortunately, the CFO was unable to attend NFC meetings on 12/3/04 (a majority of NFC members did not attend on this date, and so the meeting was rescheduled for 12/10/04), 12/10/04 and 12/17/04, and the NFC has not yet been provided with the needed financial information to review the WBAI budget situation. We are in the process of trying to schedule a date on which the CFO can attend the meeting, prior to the end of the calendar year. I am appending recent correspondence re: our scheduling efforts. I left a message on Friday 12/17/04 for Lonnie Hicks regarding scheduling, and spoke later that day to Dan Coughlin, who assured me that we would hear by Mon. 12/20/04 re: a date that would work for the CFO. I hope to have a date set for the WBAI budget review by the time of the 12/20/04 PNB conference call.

Respectfully submitted
Dave Adelson, Chair pro-tem
National Finance Committee

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From: David Adelson
Date: Fri Dec 10, 2004 3:04 pm
Subject: RSVP: next NFC meeting Dec 17 and requesting financials asap

dear lonnie,
i hope your trip was a good one (and productive), and that this note finds
you well.

i'm sorry you weren't able to make today's NFC meeting. we did get a
number of things moved forward, which you'll be able to see in the minutes.
carol (who pinch-hit for paul, who had to leave the call) will be sending
them to the committee later today. some items were delayed so that we
could have your further input before we acted on them.

we set the next meeting of the NFC for this coming Friday, Dec. 17 at
12:30 pm PST, 3:30 EST. as per a prior motion by Shields, the 17th is the
deadline for revisiting the WBAI budget situation. the committee wanted to
be certain that you would be available for this meeting. we'd appreciate
if you'd confirm your availability for that meeting. also, it would be
helpful if you can provide us with a brief update on the WBAI situation in
writing prior to the meeting, if possible.

most importantly, we would like to receive the October income statement
and balance sheet asap, so that we can review this prior to the meeting.
i'd appreciate it if you could let us know when you'll be able to get that
out. if it would be possible to get the Nov. financials prior to next
friday, that would also be appreciated, but we recognize that this may be
tight, especially given the demands on your office with the audit, and we
don't want to wait to get the Oct. numbers until the Nov. numbers are
available.

thanks very much for getting the Sept. income statement posted on the web.
i didn't see the Sept. balance sheet posted yet, but i hope that can be
posted soon (i do not have all my email with me as i write this, so i do
not know whether the committee was sent the Sept. balance sheet, but i'm
assuming we did get it...i'll check to be sure).

best regards,
dave adelson
chair pro-tem, nat'l finance committee

----------------------------------------------------------
>
>From: Lonnie Hicks
>To: Lonnie Hicks, Carol Spooner, Dan Coughlin, Alice Shields
> Simone Wyatt, Henry Cooper, Warren Turner, LaVarn Williams
>David Adelson, Donna Warren, Baruti Bediako
>Subject: Hello Folks
>
>Am working on the October Financials.
>Sorry for the delay
>We have auditors in our office now
>and they are making adjustments which will
>impact October's numbers.
>Will send what I have this evening-by 6pm PST.