Delta Area Transit Authority

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
382880809
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2019
Forms available
Form 990 2019
Location
Escanaba, MI, USA
Phone
9067861187
Rating
74
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Public Transportation Systems

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,269,524
Expenses
$1,856,052
Assets
$1,938,922
Liabilities
$194,775

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

6 people listed

Highest reported compensation

  • JOHN STAPLETON (EXEC DIRECTO): $68,400 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2019. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Public transportation.

What it reported doing in 2019

Public transportation in delta county, Michigan. During the fiscal year the transit provided transportation services to 163,980 passengers.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 69% 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 a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. 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: 60
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 79
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 62.6%; rating input score 63
  • Program expense ratio: 76.4%; rating input score 76
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 11th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 4 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 18.2%; rating input score 79; 79th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 1.04; rating input score 42; 42nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.1; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.7%; rating input score 61; 61st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 2.6% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 7.9% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 2.2% per year; rating input score 100; 32nd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 62.6% of revenue deployed · 76.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 4 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.4M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $68K · 6 people listed
  • Consistency: 28 of 29 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2010 to 2019
  • 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.

Grant-readiness screening is separate from the live rating, not a measure of program quality. Review the source records before making a grant decision.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 8 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 42/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule D land buildings reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.