Lake County Ambulance Service

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
411893902
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Two Harbors, MN, USA
Phone
2188347110
Rating
83
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Ambulance, Emergency Medical Transport Services

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,016,131
Expenses
$2,222,676
Assets
$2,108,316
Liabilities
$560,953

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • RANDY STROHMEYER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • RANDY STROHMEYER (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $106,244 total reported compensation
  • JOHN ACHARTZ (ASSISTANT DIRECTOR): $97,388 total reported compensation
  • STACY CAVALLIN (BUSINESS MANAGER): $76,638 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To provide medical ambulance and auxiliary services to the public regardless of their ability to pay, insurance coverage, or governmental reimbursement.

What it reported doing in 2025

Lake county ambulance service (lcas) is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization that provides emergency medical care treatment and transportation in northeastern Minnesota. Lcas is a part-time advanced life support ambulance service whose primary service area (psa) includes lake, cook, and st. Louis counties. The communities we serve include two harbors, silver bay, beaver bay, finland, isabella, brimson, and knife river. Our psa area covers an area of approximately 1535 square miles. According to the 2020 census, lake county had a population of 10,905. Lake county encompasses a sparsely populated, heavily forested area along the northshore of lake superior and is considered "super rural." lcas staffs two stations: a base of operations in the city of two harbors and a substation 30 miles north in the city of silver bay. Lcas has 30 employees who provide ambulance coverage and support operations. The majority of our staff is made up of emts, with the remaining staff made up of paramedics and administrative staff. A board of directors oversees lcas, comprised of 5 voting members and a medical director who is contracted through aspirus lake view hospital. In 2025, lcas responded to 1,583 calls for service.lake county provides lake county ambulance service with a $500,000 stipend. This ongoing financial support ensures that we can continue to offer timely, high-quality care and life-saving assistance to the residents of lake county. The stipend helps cover operational costs, improve equipment, and provide training for our dedicated team, reinforcing our commitment to public safety and health.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 70% 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

STRONG - A large share of available resources goes toward mission work and the filed numbers largely add up. Expenses are high relative to revenue and some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 79
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 91
  • Sustainability: 21
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 91%; rating input score 91
  • Program expense ratio: 84.4%; rating input score 84
  • 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 9 controls in place; rating input score 78
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -10.2%; rating input score 10; 10th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.95; rating input score 32; 32nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.27; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 12.6%; rating input score 27; 27th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 5.2% per year; rating input score 100; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.4% per year; rating input score 100; 41st percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.8% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 91% of revenue deployed · 84.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 7 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.9M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $106K · 8 people listed
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 10/100.
  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 9 not reported.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 32/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 27/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.