Audit Report on the Administration of the WNYE-TV Fiduciary Account by the Department of Education

AUDIT REPORT IN BRIEF

This audit determined whether the Department of Education (DOE) accurately accounts for the funds in the WNYE-TV fiduciary account and ensures that these funds are used for the operation of WNYE-TV.

Fiduciary accounts are used to record financial resources held and administered in trust by the City of New York, the principal and income of which benefit individuals, private organizations, or other non-City government entities. WNYE operates a public television station (Channel 25) and a public radio station (FM 91.5) owned by the New York City Department of Education (DOE), formerly the Board of Education. In 1998, at the request of the DOE, an interest-bearing fiduciary account—WNYE-TV Cablevision Agreement—was established through an agreement between WNYE-TV and CSC Holdings, Inc. (Cablevision). Under the agreement, WNYE-TV received a one-time payment of $2.4 million in exchange for waiving its right to have WNYE-TV programming aired on certain Cablevision channels from July 1, 1998, through June 30, 2002.

As of June 30, 2002, $2.9 million was on deposit in the WNYE-TV fiduciary account. On July 11, 2002, DOE transferred $600,000 from the fiduciary account into WNYE-TV’s operating account.

DOE accurately accounts for WNYE-TV fiduciary funds and ensures that these funds are used for the operation of WNYE-TV, in accordance with the fiduciary agreement. Since the audit found that DOE complies with the fiduciary agreement, we make no recommendations in this report.