Buffalo Erie Niagara Land Improvement Corporation

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
463582754
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Buffalo, NY, USA
Phone
7162433996
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Urban, Community Economic Development

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,904,884
Expenses
$1,281,114
Assets
$9,446,501
Liabilities
$4,492,399

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

Leadership & pay

11 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • JOCELYN GORDON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • JOCELYN GORDON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $147,572 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 buffalo erie niagara land improvement corporation (benlic) seeks to confront and alleviate the problems distressed properties cause to communities by supporting municipal and regional revitalization efforts and strategically acquiring, improving, assembling and selling distressed, vacant, abandoned and and/or tax-delinquent properties.

What it reported doing in 2024

Benlic utilizes various programs to transfer and sell properties. Municipal transfers are employed for demolitions and community-funded rehabilitations. Transfers are also used for partners to rehabilitate properties, including not-for-profit organizations and programs promoting minority-owned contractors. Benlic's vacant to value program sells properties to qualified buyers capable of making necessary repairs and renovations. Other properties undergo significant repairs and renovations and are then sold by benlic to the public or to income-qualified buyers. This multi-programmatic approach allows benlic to apply the best method to each property based on the housing market and the needs of each community. In 2024, benlic was in planning mode for the construction of 64 single family homes in the city of buffalo. Benlic used funding from nys hcr (the affordable housing opportunities program) to construct 12 single family homes on buffalo's east side. The project budget was approximately $4million. In addition, the city of buffalo and erie county provided approximately $24 million in american rescue plan funding directly to benlic for the construction of 52 affordable homes. These homes will begin construction in may 2025 and will be completed by december of 2026.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 77% 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 40
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 76
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 33.7%; rating input score 34
  • Program expense ratio: 63.8%; rating input score 64
  • 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: 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 55.9%; rating input score 94; 94th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.37; rating input score 88; 88th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.48; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 11.5%; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.7% per year; rating input score 100; 14th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 33.7% of revenue deployed · 63.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $817K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $148K · 11 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $2.3M reported
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 11 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 34/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Document-retention policy not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 26/100.