The Student Goverment Association (SGA) and WRBB 104.9 FM, Northeastern’s student-run radio station, have reached an agreement after the station appealed the Finance Board’s decision that the funds WRBB earned from underwriting should be transferred to the Student Activity Fee (SAF) Fund.

According to the decision memo SGA President Michael Sabo sent to WRBB, revenue from the station will be split equally between the radio station and the Student Activities Fund.

“In a compromise recognizing the uniqueness of WRBB with regards to the underwriting process, the board ruled that WRBB will keep 50 percent of underwriting funds in the station’s cash index while transferring the other 50 percent to the SAF in order to offset the station’s costs to the SAF,” WRBB General Manager James Maniscalco said in a statement to The News.

Since the SAF Fund pays for things that allow WRBB to function as a Federal Communications Commission (FCC) licensed radio station, the 50 percent that goes to the SAF will subsidize those costs.

“I think this decision allows WRBB to function and continually grow as a radio station, while ensuring that the student body isn’t unfairly supporting one organization any more than it supports the rest,” SGA Comptroller Anthony Golia said in a statement to The News. “By WRBB continuing to supplement the funding provided by the SAF, it will allow all students who pay into the Fund to continually enjoy programs funded by the SAF.”

Sabo said the board wanted to treat WRBB the same way it would any other organization they finance, but that they sought to come to a compromise, as the situation with underwriting money is unique.

“We needed to come to a resolution that allows their group to expand while keeping them to the same accountability as everyone else,” Sabo said.

Maniscalco said that the Finance Board began the audit of the cash index of WRBB June 28 as part of an ongoing audit of campus media groups.

“[Auditing] is done to ensure groups are following the rules they agreed upon when they signed the document affirming that they read the manual in the treasurer workshop and when they signed their program request form,” Golia said.

He added that the audits can be random or targeted, and usually take place during the summer session, when the Board’s workload is lessened and they have more time to perform them.
The audit resulted in SGA’s July 6 decision that the funds WRBB earned from underwriting should be transferred to the SAF Fund. Golia said this is in accordance with Section 5.3.8 of the SAF Policies Manual, which states that “fundraisers or any items that generate revenue for an organization’s cash account may not be funded.”

“What this policy means is that the Board won’t fund anything that a group makes money on (and keeps the money),” Golia said. “If they go and do a bake sale, or DJ at an event, that money is theirs, as nothing they used to earn that money is SAF funded. If someone donates money to them, it’s theirs. However, if someone gives them money in exchange for an advertisement in something that [SAF] originally paid for – it’s ours, until the amount exceeds the initial allocation.”

Maniscalco said WRBB appealed the Board’s decision July 12 and received an answer from the Appeals Board Monday.

Golia said the board envisions WRBB eventually becoming entirely self-sufficient.

“Until that time, WRBB is expected to continually subsidize and supplement the funding of which the SAF provides, out of revenue earned from underwriting,” he said.