State officials are calling out a small Orange County television agency for being more than a year late in filing mandatory financial data.
The Public Cable Television Authority has failed to file financial data that was due last October, according to state Controller John Chiang.
The joint-powers agency manages cable TV franchises and produces programming for residents in Fountain Valley, Huntington Beach, Stanton and Westminster.
It was formed in 1971 and has a full-time staff of three, according to a recent article by Government Video, with up to a dozen freelancers hired at a time for events like Huntington Beach’s Independence Day parade.
Chiang is threatening to audit PCTA’s finances — at its expense — if the data isn’t filed by Dec. 31.
PCTA General Manager John Borack didn’t return messages seeking comment, and board members Michael Vo and Cheryl Brothers couldn’t be reached.
Borack came to the agency in 2011 after working for 25 years at Time Warner Cable, according to Government Video.
The agency has eight members on its board of directors, representing the four cities it covers.
The late financial filing apparently isn’t its only transparency issue.
Under its meeting records page, PCTA doesn’t show any agendas or minutes since 2011.
Also on the financial front, a new law now requires the controller’s office to create statewide internal control guidelines for local agencies in an effort to “prevent and detect fraud.”
PCTA is one of 117 special districts and nine cities — including La Habra — across California that have yet to file the reports for fiscal year 2012, according to Chiang.
“My office’s audits of Bell, Stockton and other fiscally-distressed public agencies have highlighted how weak accounting and reporting practices deny local leaders the opportunity to fix problems before they deteriorate into crisis and scandal,” Chiang declared in a statement about the delinquent agencies.
“The lack of transparency provides a breeding ground for unchecked spending, corruption, and fiscal mismanagement.”
You can reach Nick Gerda at ngerda@gmail.com, and follow him on Twitter: @nicholasgerda.