Brussels Union Gardner Fire Department

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
391317308
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Brussels, WI, USA
Phone
9204938160
Rating
79
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Reported finances

Revenue
$270,785
Expenses
$336,943
Assets
$719,324
Liabilities
$1,583

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Bruce Alberts (President/Director)
  • Carl Waterstreet (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • Curt Vandertie (Fire Chief): $10,832 total reported compensation
  • James Wautier (Assistant Fire Chief): $4,229 total reported compensation
  • Ryan Wery (Assistant Fire Chief): $1,625 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Organizations Mission This is a fire department serving 3 rural townships in the county of Door State of WI. The department also participates in the mutual aid response

What it reported doing in 2024

This is a fire department serving 3 rural townships in the county of Door, State of WI. The department also participates in the mutual aid response to other towns and village fire departments within the county when called upon.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 85% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 89
  • Transparency & Controls: 85
  • Accountability: 63
  • Sustainability: 34
  • Growth: 80

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 13th 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 1 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 11
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -24.4%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.13; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 54; 54th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.2%; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: -0.9% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 100% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 53 of 6 board members independent · 1 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $337K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $11K · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 22 of 23 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2011 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 9 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.

  • High — Accountability: Governance controls: 7 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Independent members within voting members did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 33/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 54/100.