Brown County Rural Electrical Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
410167135
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Sleepy Eye, MN, USA
Phone
5077943331
Rating confidence
Limited

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$17,158,565
Expenses
$17,092,441
Assets
$49,130,905
Liabilities
$25,068,333

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • THOMAS HAYES (PRESIDENT)
  • WILLIAM BERG (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • MICHAEL HEIDEMANN (CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • MICHAEL HEIDEMANN (CEO): $268,983 total reported compensation
  • BRANDON HAVEMEIER (ENGINEERING AND OPERATIONS MANAGER): $183,009 total reported compensation
  • ADAM FISCHER (LINEMAN-IN-CHARGE): $161,039 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The mission of brown county electric is to improve the quality of life for its members by providing reliable electricity and services that are competitively priced.

What it reported doing in 2024

The cooperative engages in the distribution and sale of electrical power to approximately 3,755 members in southwestern Minnesota with 4,607 active accounts. The cooperative has 1,535 miles of line consisting of 769 miles of overhead and 766 miles of underground line.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 98% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
Distribution model
Cannot be determined from the filing. The filing does not provide enough consistent spending detail to tell whether the nonprofit works directly or through others.

The verdict

- The available evidence is not sufficient to produce an overall rating for this filing. This is not a warning sign.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: NotEnoughData
  • Transparency & Controls: 60
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 45
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: Limited
  • Program expense ratio: Limited
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: No; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.4%; rating input score 34; 34th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.87; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.51; rating input score 28; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 7.6%; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: Limited
  • Revenue growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.1% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: Financial trends and filed revenue, expense, asset, and liability detail
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment
  • Leadership: top reported pay $269K · 16 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 3 contractors listed · $546K reported
  • Consistency: 12 of 13 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 16 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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 — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 34/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 28/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 32/100.