Brighton Ditch Company

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
846038339
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020
Location
Fort Lupton, CO, USA
Phone
3036593951
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$115,767
Expenses
$94,883
Assets
$196,290
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • WILLIAM STIEBER (PRESIDENT)
  • JULIE MIKULUS (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • DONALD SMITH (DITCH SUPERINTENDENT): $30,722 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Mutual ditch company. Delivery of irrigation water to shreholders/members

Operating model

Revenue model
Membership-supported. 88% of the money available for current operations came from membership dues.
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 - 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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 60
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 83.1%; rating input score 83
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • 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: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 18%; rating input score 69; 69th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.07; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 77; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 32.4%; rating input score 9; 9th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -15.6% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -5.6% per year; rating input score 0; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 83.1% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $31K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 15 of 15 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 1 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 7 filing years from 2015 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 9/100.