Content
Financials
Notes to Financial Statements
1. Organization and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Organization
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting (the Corporation) is a District of Columbia not-for-profit corporation authorized to receive federal appropriations under Title II of the Public Broadcasting Act of 1967, as amended. The Corporation is recognized as exempt from income taxes under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, except on activities unrelated to its exempt purpose. In addition, the Corporation is an organization that is not a private foundation as defined in Section 509(a) of the Internal Revenue Code.
The primary source of funding to the Corporation is the federal government. Congress has approved future annual funding to the Corporation through fiscal year 2012. Annual funding for 2012 and 2011 amounts to $445,000,000 and $430,000,000, respectively.
Basis of Combination
The combined financial statements are presented on an accrual basis and include the accounts of Literary Classics, Inc., a District of Columbia not-for-profit corporation exempt from income taxes under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, which was created in fiscal year 2003 to act as the custodian for certain classic films valuable to the public broadcasting industry. Combined financial statements are presented because of the common control of the Corporation and Literary Classics, Inc. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in the combination.
Basis of Presentation
The revenues, expenses, gains and losses and net assets of the Corporation are classified based on the existence or absence of donor-imposed restrictions. Accordingly, the net assets of the Corporation and changes therein are classified and reported as follows:
- Unrestricted Net Assets—Net assets that are not subject to any donor-imposed stipulations. Unrestricted designated net assets represent Board-approved funds for specific purposes.
- Temporarily Restricted Net Assets—Net assets subject to donor-imposed stipulations on the use of the assets that may be met either by the Corporation’s actions and/or the passage of time. There were no temporarily restricted net assets at September 30, 2010 and 2009.
- Permanently Restricted Net Assets—Net assets subject to donor-imposed stipulations that the principal be maintained permanently by the Corporation but permit the use of the investment earnings for general or specific purposes. There were no permanently restricted net assets at September 30, 2010 and 2009.
Cash and Cash Equivalents
The Corporation considers all highly liquid debt instruments purchased with an original maturity date of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Cash equivalents may include United States Treasury bills, federal agency securities, commercial paper, and repurchase agreements. The carrying amount approximates fair value because of the short maturity of the instruments. The Corporation requires repurchase agreements to be collateralized by United States Treasury securities.
Short-Term Investments
The Corporation carries its short-term investments at fair value. These investments are used for the daily operations and mission of the Corporation. Short-term investments may include United States Treasury bills, federal agency securities, bank certificates of deposit and commercial paper. All of the Corporation’s investments have been identified as Level I in the fair value hierarchy as they have values based on quoted prices in active markets for identical assets based on the criteria included in Statement of Financial Accounting Standards No. 157, Fair Value Measurements (ASC 820-10-20).
Concentration of Risk
Financial instruments that potentially subject the Corporation to concentrations of credit risk are cash and cash equivalents and short-term investments. The Corporation places its cash and investments in various financial institutions that are federally insured under the Federal Depository Insurance Corporation Act (FDICA). At times these balances may exceed federally insured limits. The remaining balances in excess of FDICA insurance limits are collateralized. The Corporation has not experienced any losses on its cash and cash equivalents and investments to date.
Receivables
The Corporation’s receivables consist primarily of returned grants, accrued interest and receivables from the U.S. Department of Education. The specific identification method is used to determine the uncollectible amounts. The Corporation records an allowance for doubtful accounts on its outstanding receivables based on specific identification of uncollectible accounts. Allowance for doubtful accounts as of September 30, 2010 and 2009 was $76,276.
Property and Equipment
The Corporation capitalizes property and equipment at cost and depreciates these assets using the straight-line method over their useful lives, generally three to fifteen years. Leasehold improvements are amortized over the remaining term of the lease, or the useful life of the improvement, whichever is shorter. The Corporation capitalizes property and equipment with an original cost of $1,500 or more.
Revenue and Expense Recognition
The general federal appropriation is an unconditional, nonreciprocal contribution of cash to the Corporation from Congress. The federal appropriation is recognized as revenue in the year received.
Grants awarded to the Corporation are considered to be unrestricted unless specifically restricted by the donor. The Corporation has adopted a policy of recording donor-restricted grants as unrestricted revenue when the restrictions are met in the same reporting period. Net assets released from restrictions (i.e., the donor-stipulated purpose has been met and/or the stipulated time period has elapsed) are reported as reclassifications between the applicable classes of net assets in the combined statements of activities.
Grant revenue and expenses from the Department of Education are recognized on a cost-reimbursable basis and are based on when activity related to the programs occurs.
Royalties and other income include royalty payments related to certain productions funded by the Corporation and are recognized as earned.
Unconditional grants and contracts awarded by the Corporation from its general federal appropriation are recognized as expenses and payables when the applicable agreements are executed. All unconditional grants that are expected to be paid beyond one year are discounted to their present values.
Grant and contract refunds are recorded as unrestricted revenue when the amount of refund due the Corporation becomes known, normally when a final accounting by the grantee is submitted. If grant and contract refunds become known in the same period in which the grant or contract was expensed, the refunds are offset against grant and contract expenses. Unexpended balances of grants awarded by the Corporation are required to be returned to the Corporation by grantees.
Use of Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosures of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements. They also affect the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
2. Short-Term Investments
Short-term investments consist of the following at September 30:
| 2010 | 2009 | |
|---|---|---|
| United States Treasury securities | $ 74,984,750 | $ 24,997,750 |
| Federal agency discount notes and debentures | 110,205,910 | 200,358,955 |
| Bank certificates of deposit | 10,000,000 | - |
| Short-term investments | $ 195,190,660 | $ 225,356,705 |
3. Receivables
Receivables consist of the following at September 30:
| 2010 | 2009 | |
|---|---|---|
| Grants and grant refunds receivable | $ 4,006,869 | $ 4,749,572 |
| U.S. Department of Education receivable | 6,111,147 | 18,808,707 |
| Other | 131,940 | 510,911 |
| Receivables, net | $ 10,249,956 | $ 24,069,190 |
| Current receivables | 7,824,055 | 20,699,730 |
| Noncurrent receivables | 2,425,901 | 3,369,460 |
| Receivables, net | $ 10,249,956 | $ 24,069,190 |
4. Property and Equipment, Net
Property and equipment consists of the following at September 30:
| 2010 | 2009 | |
|---|---|---|
| Furniture and equipment | $ 2,257,420 | $ 1,959,637 |
| Software | 1,677,288 | 1,550,960 |
| Leasehold improvements | 694,505 | 656,710 |
| 4,629,213 | 4,167,307 | |
| Less: accumulated depreciation and amortization | (3,042,722) | (2,685,181) |
| Total property and equipment, net | $ 1,586,491 | $ 1,482,126 |
Depreciation and amortization expense was $357,541 and $336,488 for the years ended September 30, 2010 and 2009, respectively.
5. Accounts Payable and Accrued Expenses
Accounts payable and accrued expenses consist of the following at September 30:
| 2010 | 2009 | |
|---|---|---|
| Trade accounts payable | $ 569,058 | $ 337,644 |
| Accrued personnel and related costs | 3,890,023 | 3,599,005 |
| Other accrued expenses | 695,171 | 690,150 |
| Total accounts payable and accrued expenses | $ 5,154,252 | $ 4,626,799 |
6. Appropriated Grants and Contracts Payable
At September 30, the amounts due for appropriated grants and contracts payable were as follows:
| 2010 | 2009 | |
|---|---|---|
| Amount payable: | ||
| Within one year | $128,461,801 | $144,809,734 |
| In one to five years | 46,121,963 | 80,932,497 |
| Total appropriated grants and contracts payable | 174,583,764 | 225,742,231 |
| Less: Unamortized discount | (596,941) | (899,604) |
| Appropriated grants and contracts payable, net | $173,986,823 | $224,842,627 |
All grants are stated at present value. Discount rates for contracts payable are based upon one- to three-year Treasury yield curve rates on September 30, depending on the estimated maturity of each contract. The discount rates ranged from 0.27% to 0.64% for 2010 and from 0.40% to 1.45% for 2009.
7. Unrestricted-Designated Net Assets
Unrestricted net assets as of September 30, which have been designated by the Board for specific purposes, are summarized as follows:
| 2010 | 2009 | |
|---|---|---|
| Project funding commitments: | ||
| Television support | $ 20,433,538 | $ 32,351,021 |
| Radio support | 3,653,654 | 2,756,196 |
| Digital | 66,266,597 | 43,741,401 |
| Next generation TV interconnection system | 3,872,265 | 3,510,929 |
| Radio interconnection system | 80,206 | - |
| Other system support and corporate administration | 3,900,088 | 8,747,528 |
| Total designated net assets | $ 98,206,348 | $ 91,107,075 |
8. Program and Supporting Services
Descriptions of programs and supporting services conducted by the Corporation are as follows:
- New TV Program Development represents expenses for development and support of high quality national television programming and educational projects that might not otherwise be supported by the marketplace.
- Radio Program Fund represents expenses for the development and production of high quality, new and innovative radio programs that might not otherwise be supported by the marketplace.
- National Program Production and Acquisition Grants are restricted grants made to qualified public radio stations, which must be used for the production, acquisition, promotion, or distribution of national radio programs that are of high quality, creative, and reflect society’s diversity.
- Community Service Grants are unrestricted general operating grants made to qualified public television and radio stations.
- Digital refers to grants and other expenses supporting public television and radio stations in their efforts to convert their broadcasts to a digital transmission method.
- Next Generation TV Interconnection provides funding for the development and implementation of a new interconnection system to be used by public television stations to transmit and receive programming feeds.
- Radio Interconnection provides funding for the development and implementation of a new interconnection system to be used by public radio stations to transmit and receive programming feeds.
- Fiscal Stabilization is a special appropriation from Congress to assist public broadcasting stations affected by unfavorable economic conditions.
- Ready-to-Learn is a five-year grant program funded by the U.S. Department of Education for research and the production of educational programming targeted towards children.
- Other System Support represents expenses for the general support and development of the public broadcasting system. Funded activities include grants to qualified public television stations to help operate their interconnection systems, music royalty fees paid on behalf of the public broadcasting system and various other system-wide activities and functions.
- Corporate Administration and Other Expenses includes supporting service expenses for Corporation staff, consultants and professional services, travel, printing, publications, rent, communications and utilities, data processing, and other administrative support. These expenses are limited by federal statute to 5.0% of the general appropriation. The proportion of corporate administrative and other expenses to the general appropriation was 4.9% and 5.0%, respectively, for 2010 and 2009.
Total corporate administration expense for the fiscal years ended September 30 is summarized as follows:
| 2010 | 2009 | |
|---|---|---|
| Personnel and related costs | $ 14,509,817 | $ 14,143,107 |
| Consultants and professional services | 820,504 | 716,772 |
| Facility and related costs | 3,381,605 | 3,400,419 |
| Travel and related costs | 1,057,271 | 778,199 |
| Other | 577,978 | 747,170 |
| Total corporate administration expense | 20,347,175 | 19,785,667 |
| Depreciation and amortization | 118,490 | 130,970 |
| Total corporate administration and other expenses | $ 20,465,665 | $ 19,916,637 |
9. Pension Plan
The Corporation has a defined contribution pension plan covering substantially all of its employees. Contributions are made as the costs are incurred and are determined by varying percentages of employees’ salaries. The total pension expense for fiscal years 2010 and 2009 was approximately $1,746,000 and $1,454,000, respectively.
10. Lease Commitments
The Corporation is obligated under a lease agreement for office space through April 2020. Rent expense of approximately $2,673,000 and $2,737,000 for fiscal years 2010 and 2009, respectively, is reflected in corporate administration and other expenses in the accompanying combined statements of activities. The future minimum, straight-line rental payments under this non-cancelable operating lease are as follows:| 2011 | $ 2,398,478 |
|---|---|
| 2012 | 2,434,455 |
| 2013 | 2,470,972 |
| 2014 | 2,508,037 |
| 2015 | 2,545,657 |
| Beyond | 12,160,042 |
| $ 24,517,641 |
11. Income Taxes
The Corporation adopted the provisions of ASC 740-10, Accounting for Uncertainty in Income Taxes, on October 1, 2009. Under ASC 740-10, an organization must recognize the tax benefit associated with tax positions taken for tax return purposes when it is more-likely-than-not that the position will be sustained. The implementation of ASC 740-10 had no impact on the Corporation’s combined financial statements. The Corporation’s management believes it has no material uncertain tax positions and; accordingly, it will not recognize any liability for unrecognized tax benefits. For the year ended September 30, 2010, the Corporation did not recognize any interest or penalties.The tax years ended September 30, 2007, 2008, and 2009, remain open to examination by the taxing jurisdictions to which the Corporation is subject, and they have not been extended beyond the applicable statute of limitations.
12. Subsequent Events
The Corporation evaluated subsequent events through December 23, 2010, which is the date the combined financial statements were available to be issued. There were no events noted that required adjustment to or disclosure in these combined financial statements.