Paul Bunyan Transit
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 411938374
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2013–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Bemidji, MN, USA
- Phone
- 2187518765
- Rating
- 78
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Transportation Assistance
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $2,392,450
- Expenses
- $1,933,351
- Assets
- $5,238,950
- Liabilities
- $597,836
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
5 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- MADISON BORRESON (PRESIDENT)
Highest reported compensation
- LEZLIE GRUBICH (EXEC DIRECTO): $128,951 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
Our purpose at paul bunyan transit is to provide public transportation through our city and county bus system and our volunteer driver program.
What it reported doing in 2025
The organization's purpose is to provide safe, friendly, efficient, and economical delivery of public transit service to residents in the participating jurisdictions. The organization provides bus service and coordinates volunteer driver services to the greater bemidji area and the roseau, warroad, baudette region.
Operating model
- Revenue model
- Grant-funded. 91% 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 - 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 liabilities are high compared with assets.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 71
- Transparency & Controls: 92
- Accountability: 69
- Sustainability: 64
- Growth: 100
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 73.8%; rating input score 74
- Program expense ratio: 91%; rating input score 91
- 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: 2 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 25
- Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
- Whistleblower policy: Fail
- Document-retention policy: Fail
- CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
- Other executive compensation review process: Fail
- Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
- Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
- Audit committee oversight: Fail
- Independent financial-statement audit: Pass
Sustainability
- Operating margin: 19.2%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.71; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.11; rating input score 46; 46th percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 6.7%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 4.2% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 73.8% of revenue deployed · 91% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 4 of 4 board members independent · 2 of 8 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $1.8M in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $129K · 5 people listed
- Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes major donors
- Filing history: 13 filing years from 2013 to 2025
- 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.
- High — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 8 not reported.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 46/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 47/100.
- High — Grant Readiness: Federal audit findings: this organization reported findings in its latest federal Single Audit.