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Agency officials say franchise-fee revenue is slipping ~7% yearly; OCTFME warns whole-agency impacts
Summary
Cassandra Fields, agency AFO, told the committee franchise-fee revenue has declined about 7% year over year since 2018 with a one-time drop of about 11% in 2023; Director Foster said those declines affect the agency's overall operations beyond programming.
Cassandra Fields, an agency AFO who has tracked PEG/franchise-fee revenue since 2018, told the Committee of Human Service that the revenue stream has been declining and is now running at an approximate 7% year-over-year decline, after an 11% drop in 2023.
"From what I can see, the revenue has been declining year over year... at one point in 2023, we had our largest decline of about 11%," Fields said. She told the committee she has prepared projections through 2031 showing continued but slower declines.
Chair Matt Fruman and Director Latoya Foster pressed on the practical implications. Foster said SPR and franchise-fee declines do not just impact programming but the agency's ability to operate and maintain staff. "If it continues to decline, it will impact the operations of the agency overall," Foster said, noting the funds support capital and personnel for the PEG channels and other platforms.
Committee members also discussed the distribution of PEG fees and whether the district could operate fewer channels; agency counsel clarified that funding is shared across six PEG channels and not solely controlled by OCTFME. The testimony underlined fiscal pressure points the council will weigh during budget deliberations.
