Buffalo & Erie County Public Library
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 223331880
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2020–2024
- Forms available
- Form 990 2024
- Location
- Buffalo, NY, USA
- Phone
- 7168587170
- Rating
- 77
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Libraries
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $13,768,758
- Expenses
- $13,461,205
- Assets
- $4,219,073
- Liabilities
- $0
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
157 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- Jeffrey Voelkl (Amherst Public Library Board President)
- Oliver Young (Amherst Public Library Board Vice President)
- Patricia Dore (Amherst Public Library Board President)
- Jack Kuebler (Angola Public Library Board President)
- Kara Spencer-Ching (Aurora Town Public Library Board President)
- Suzanne Borowics (Boston Free Library Board President)
Highest reported compensation
- Margaret Errington - retire 113024 (Orchard Park Public Library Director): $118,499 total reported compensation
- Kristi Dougherty (Amherst Public Library Director): $115,257 total reported compensation
- Daniel Caufield (Cheektowaga Public Library Dictore): $114,206 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Connect the diverse community with library resources that enrich enlighten and entertain. Provide open and free access to information. Delivery timely confidential and customer oriented services to meet the informational recreational and educational needs of the community
What it reported doing in 2024
Provide access to computers internet and other technologies. With approximately 650 computers available for public use and Wi-Fi access Buffalo & Erie County Public Library affiliates provided over 153,000 computer access session and over 335,000 Wi-Fi sessions to the public many of whom would not otherwise have access. These computers are equipped with access to the internet and have many of the standard computer applications used by students and employment seekers. In addition to computer access Buffalo & Erie county Public Library also provides low cost printing and copying.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 96% of the money available for current operations came from government grants.
- 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 74
- Transparency & Controls: 83
- Accountability: 84
- Sustainability: 36
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 82.1%; rating input score 82
- Program expense ratio: 83.9%; rating input score 84
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
Transparency & Controls
- Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 6th 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; 66th percentile among comparable filings
- Governance controls: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
- Whistleblower policy: Pass
- Document-retention policy: Pass
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Pass
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Missing
- Independent financial-statement audit: Fail
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 2.2%; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.31; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 99; 99th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 11.6%; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -2.5% per year; rating input score 0; 5th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 82.1% of revenue deployed · 83.9% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 135 of 135 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $11.3M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $118K · 157 people listed
- Consistency: 41 of 42 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
- Schedules: 4 filed schedules
- Filing history: 4 filing years from 2020 to 2024
- Contacts: How to reach this organization
- Money network: 22 filed money-flow records
- Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
- 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: 2 of 7 not reported.
- High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 8/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 43/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 15/100.