Heart of Pines Volunteer Fire Department

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
742200618
IRS 990 coverage
2021–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025, Form 990-EZ 2020, Form 990-N 2019
Location
Smithville, TX, USA
Phone
2107108088
Rating
71
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fire Prevention

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$86,010
Expenses
$54,524
Assets
$793,595
Liabilities
$0

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

Leadership & pay

7 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Delia Santasieri (President)
  • Nikki Haley Lucas (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Delia Santasieri (President)
  • Nikki Haley Lucas (Vice President)
  • Gayle Minto (Secretary)

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

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

Overview

Mission

Heart of the Pines Volunteer Fire Department provides fire protection, response to emergencies, and public safety education in a district of 31 square miles.

What it reported doing in 2025

Heart of the Pines Volunteer Fire Department is an all volunteer fire department that dispatches via 911 in a 31 square mile area in Bastrop County. We provide fire and emergency safety education, emergency fire and rescue response in our immediate 911-dispatched area and throughout Bastrop County.

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

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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 69
  • Transparency & Controls: 82
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 74
  • Growth: 20

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 64.3%; rating input score 64
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 90.9%; rating input score 91; 19th 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; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 36.6%; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 14.55; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0; rating input score 66; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 58; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -7.8% per year; rating input score 0; 30th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: -1.3% per year; rating input score 0; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 64.3% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $55K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 7 people listed
  • Consistency: 33 of 34 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 5 filing years from 2021 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • High — Growth: Revenue growth scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 58/100.