Where did the $17 million go? Where did the $17 million go? (January 26, 2005)

One major long-term financial advantage that the Media Center once had was $17 million dollars AT&T gave the community for local programming in 2000, when it purchased the local cable franchise.

That sum now stands at $5 million. It eroded due to the following: * Approximately $6 million went to pay taxes on the original sum; * $3 million went to buy the center's new home on San Antonio Road in 2003; * $1.2 million went to rent payments on the old home and to get out of the lease; * $1.5 million was lost due to bad investments; and * around $1 million was spent on buying new equipment and filling-in deficits.

The remaining $5 million will no longer be used to backfill deficits, according to Executive Director Annie Niehaus. Instead, the Media Center will only spend the dividends to maintain its building and equipment over the long term.

"Most community media centers are provided with facilities and equipment by the cable company through the cable franchise agreement," Niehaus wrote in an e-mail. "If we were to spend down" the $5 million, "there would be nothing left to operate and maintain our facility and update our equipment."

The fund is also being invested more conservatively than in the past and gained money this year, she noted.

-- Bill D'Agostino

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