Chautauqua County Equestrian Trail System

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
821657779
IRS 990-EZ coverage
2022–2025
Forms available
Form 990-EZ 2025, Form 990-N 2023
Location
Cassadaga, NY, USA
Phone
7166801865
Rating
48
Verdict
MIXED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Environmental Quality, Protection, and Beautification N.E.C.

Reported finances

Revenue
$39,459
Expenses
$16,538
Assets
$122,573
Liabilities
$50,400

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

Leadership & pay

9 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Melissa Whittington (President)
  • Audrey Hagar (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Melissa Whittington (President)
  • Audrey Hagar (Vice President)
  • Sandra Colvenback (Treasurer)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

Chautauqua County Equestrian Trail System CCETS is supported and run by volunteers. The goal is to preserve, maintain, and enhance the natural resources of the Boutwell Hill and North Harmony State Forests and private trail connections providing equestrians with a safe, enjoyable experience while encouraging economic development in the Chautauqua County region. In addition, the trails on public land are multiuse.

What it reported doing in 2025

Maintained 31 miles of trail on public lands to meet VSA requirements of the NYSDEC. Remediated one mile of trail upgrade conditions from continuous erosion.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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

MIXED - The filed numbers largely add up and revenue comfortably covers expenses. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and a relatively small share of total spending goes to programs.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 21
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Sustainability: 77
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 14.5%; rating input score 15
  • Program expense ratio: 32%; rating input score 32

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 51st percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 58.1%; rating input score 92; 92nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 7.41; rating input score 89; 89th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.41; rating input score 8; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -46.6% per year; rating input score 0; 9th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -13.4% per year; rating input score 0; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.6% per year; rating input score 100; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 14.5% of revenue deployed · 32% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: Filed governance answers
  • Accomplishments: 3 filed program accomplishments · $5K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 9 people listed
  • Consistency: 9 of 9 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 3 filing years from 2022 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

  • High — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 15/100.
  • Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Program expense ratio scored 32/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 8/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 56/100.