Highland Telephone Cooperative

Legal name: Highland Telephone Cooperative Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
620549541
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Official website data refreshed
Sep 2026
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Sunbright, TN, US
Phone
423-628-2121
Rating
66
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Telecommunications

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$26,698,761
Expenses
$22,801,298
Assets
$93,023,610
Liabilities
$17,474,688

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

Leadership & pay

21 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • David Freytag (President)
  • SAM STRUNK (Vice President)

Highest reported compensation

  • GREGORY MARK PATTERSON (GENERAL MGR): $364,960 total reported compensation
  • JARED A CARSON (COO): $255,262 total reported compensation
  • STEVEN S ARMES (CFO): $205,025 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2024. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

Your Local Solution working together

What it reported doing in 2024

The purpose of the cooperative is to provide telecommunication services to its members located in its rural service area.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 92% of the money available for current operations came from fees and other program revenue.
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. A relatively small share of voting board members are independent and some related-organization disclosures are missing.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 32
  • Sustainability: 71
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.9%; rating input score 79
  • Program expense ratio: 100%; rating input score 100
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 91.7%; rating input score 92; 6th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: No; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 0%; rating input score 0; 3rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 7 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 14.6%; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 4.08; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.19; rating input score 60; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 6.7%; rating input score 38; 38th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.1% per year; rating input score 100; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 2.5% per year; rating input score 100; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.1% per year; rating input score 100; 23rd percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • What they do: 9 programs and campaigns described on the official site · 2 operating locations identified
  • Where the money goes: 78.9% of revenue deployed · 100% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 0 of 11 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $22.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $365K · 21 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $711K reported
  • Consistency: 16 of 17 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 20 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • High — Accountability: Independent voting board scored 0/100.
  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Schedule R controlled transactions itemized did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 38/100.