Aurora-brule Rural Water System

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
460411524
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Kimball, SD, USA
Phone
6057786110
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,668,746
Expenses
$2,494,174
Assets
$18,787,844
Liabilities
$8,642,074

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

Leadership & pay

5 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • RON GILLEN (CHAIRMAN): $3,750 total reported compensation
  • TOM GEPPERT (VICE CHAIRMA): $2,100 total reported compensation
  • PAUL HETTINGER (DIRECTOR): $1,950 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To acquire, construct, maintain, and operate a system for the diversion, supply, storage, and distribution of water to the members of this corporation for domestic, agricultural, and commercial purposes within a seven-county area served by the corporation.

What it reported doing in 2025

Provide safe drinking water to a seven-county area in South Dakota. The organization sold approximately 389.9 million gallons of water to eight communities (serviced 309 pasture taps and 1056 individual meters).

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 92% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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

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

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 66
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 82
  • Sustainability: 59
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 70.4%; rating input score 70
  • Program expense ratio: 81.1%; rating input score 81
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 56
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 6.5%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.53; rating input score 86; 86th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.46; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.4%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.4% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2% per year; rating input score 100; 17th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 70.4% of revenue deployed · 81.1% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 5 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $4K · 5 people listed
  • Consistency: 25 of 25 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 5 filed money-flow records
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 47/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 18/100.