Los Gatos Public Media Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
274500692
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2014
Location
Los Gatos, CA, USA
Phone
4083955228
Rating
80
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Television

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$431,276
Expenses
$434,644
Assets
$131,580
Liabilities
$4,104

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

13 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Burton Craig (President)
  • Joanne Stypula Talesfore (Past President)
  • Kristi Pearce-Percy (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Melissa Toren (Executive Dir.): $106,704 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

KCAT TV15 contributes to the vitality of our Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and SiliconValley communities by serving as a connection for people to have a voice, sharetheir views, and produce local original content for broadcast. We educate, inform, entertain, and inspire, which ignites civic engagement, fosters involvement, andtells our community stories through the magic of television, radio, and digitalmedia. KCAT brings a voice and value to our residents by memorializing importantevents, and providing youth, teens, and seniors with opportunities to create, learn, and connect.

What it reported doing in 2025

KCAT TV supports the Town government by filming, broadcasting and livestreaming all Los Gatos Town Council, Planning Commission and other special meetings. KCAT is on-the-scene year-round filming and livestreaming to memorialize local events such as the Los Gatos High School and middle school Graduations, Los Gatos Holiday Parade, Veterans Day Ceremonies, and Town events. KCAT proudly creates and produces original local TV shows and Video Podcast content such as Coffee&Candidates, Community Storytelling, Jazz Tonight, The Kimball Hooker Show, Lit with Lloyd, Wine with Bill and many more. KCAT offers video production services for nonprofits, corporations, community organizations, and student projects, as well as year-round TV Broadcasting, Podcasting, and Digital Storytelling camps and classes educating hundreds of students and adults. Most recently KCAT has launched The Producers Network for Adults 55+ to utilize their everyday skills to create TV content, have a voice, and tell their stories. KCAT TV & RADIO studios are open to the community for classes, shows and DIY services.As the local non-profit public TV station and media center, KCAT gives a voice to Los Gatos, Monte Sereno and Silicon Valley communities by igniting civic engagement, fostering involvement, and telling our stories through the magic of television and digital media. KCAT brings value and voice to our community by memorializing important events, supporting our schools, educating youth and young adults with knowledge and opportunities and enabling meaningful ways for seniors to volunteer and contribute.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 100% of reported program-service expenses outside its grant, affiliate-payment, and member-benefit lines. This expense classification does not rule out separately announced grant awards.

The verdict

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 83
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 69
  • Sustainability: 26
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 93.7%; rating input score 94
  • Program expense ratio: 93%; rating input score 93
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -0.8%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.3; rating input score 17; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 31; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 24.5%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 10% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -5.9% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 93.7% of revenue deployed · 93% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 8 of 8 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $404K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $107K · 13 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Grant readiness: Federal tax and exclusion status, award history, and grant-maker relationships.
  • People: Everyone the filings name, and which of them the filings identify by more than a name.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 5 of 7 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 33/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 17/100.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 31/100.