Naperville City Council members want more information about NCTV17’s financial needs before making a budget decision later this year on increased city support for the nonprofit community television station.
As a follow up to last month’s conversation about the state of NCTV17, the council received a staff report at its Tuesday meeting that outlined how the city already supports the station as well as possibilities for how it might assist more.
Council members had requested the information so they would have a better idea of their options with the station, which is struggling financially. But they weren’t satisfied with what staff brought back and requested a more exhaustive review.
“I was disappointed by the staff report,” Councilwoman Jennifer Bruzan Taylor said. “I know there were specific questions asked that were not answered.”
Councilman Ian Holzhauer agreed. “I definitely think there’s more information that could help the council see the full story,” he said.
Staff’s report, which was included with the agenda for Tuesday’s meeting, hits the broad bullet points of where the city stands with NCTV17 — and where the station is at needs-wise.
As a nonprofit, NCTV17 relies on a mix of donations, sponsorships, grants and fundraising to operate.
For a while now, the station has been walking a tight line with its budget. Between soaring inflation affecting expenses and changes to its revenue base, NCTV17 has had to cut staff and shuffle resources to stay afloat. As the station looked ahead, it became clear that wouldn’t be enough if it was to continue providing Naperville with a steady source of hyper-local news.
As part of its strategy for bolstering revenue streams, NCTV17 plans to focus on more fundraising, more corporate sponsorships and reaching out to the city as its longtime partner.
Naperville has historically supported the station in a number of ways, according to the staff report. Those include: revenue from cable company fees that the city passes on to NCTV17; payments for supplying the city with video and broadcast services; and grant funding through the city’s Special Events and Community Arts (SECA) program.
Those together account for more than 50% of NCTV17’s total operating revenue, according to staff. The city has directed between $700,000 and $730,000 to the station annually for the past five years.
In April, NCTV17 representatives met with city officials to discuss their need for immediate support, saying their operations were in jeopardy without more funding. The request was discussed by the council at its May 21 meeting.
As the matter stands today, the situation isn’t as urgent as it initially had been. NCTV17 recently received state funding that alleviated the need for immediate help from the city, but problems remain for its financial future, the staff report said.
According to station Executive Director Liz Spencer, speaking by phone Wednesday, they’re hoping to secure an additional $300,000 in city support annually over the next three years. That would be a total of $900,000 in extra funding between 2025 and 2027.
Spencer emphasized that request is the “preliminary plan.”
“I’m going to underline that word preliminary,” she said. “We’re still working on everything.”
As part of their report Tuesday, staff advised the council that should it choose to provide more funding, doing so through the city’s SECA program would be the best option. It also was recommended that long-term support for NCTV17 be considered during 2025 budget discussions, which will begin in the fall.
But council members want more details about NCTV17’s financial situation, including how any additional funding would be used and a long-term financial strategy past 2027.
“If these questions are not fully answered by the time the budget discussions come, it’s going to be a very hard sell for me,” Bruzan Taylor said.
City Manager Doug Krieger said some questions couldn’t be answered without direct input from NCTV17.
With that in mind, staff will return in August with an updated report on the station, which should include firsthand information and answers from NCTV17.
Spencer assured Wednesday that, “We’ll be putting out a full PowerPoint presentation — the whole story — in August.”