Prairie Meadows Race Track and Casino Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
421244913
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Altoona, IA, USA
Phone
5159671000
Rating
87
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$2,532,959,229
Expenses
$2,509,985,876
Assets
$327,636,033
Liabilities
$76,883,939

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

Leadership & pay

25 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • PALMER GARY E (PRESIDENT, CEO)

Highest reported compensation

  • PALMER GARY E (PRESIDENT, CEO): $1,873,454 total reported compensation
  • WILKIE MICHELE (EXECUTIVE VP): $651,706 total reported compensation
  • STEWART JULIE (SR VP OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT): $416,551 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Pursuant to internal revenue code section 501(c)(4), prairie meadows race track and casino is not organized for profit but is operated exclusively for the promotion of social welfare and economic development. The promotion of social welfare and economic development includes providing a source of recreation for the community and providing a generally positive economic impact on central Iowa in conjunction with the citizens and local government in the area. Pursuant to section 99f.6(4)(a) of the Iowa code, prairie meadows race track and casino is required to distribute and does distribute its profits for "educational, civic, public, charitable, patriotic, or religious" uses as defined in section 99b.7(3)(b) of the Iowa code.

What it reported doing in 2024

Prairie meadows race track and casino, inc. (pmrc) is a not-for-profit corporation whose members consist of government, civic and business representatives in central Iowa and which operates a race track, casino and related facilities in furtherance of its mission to promote social welfare and economic development. As a not-for-profit corporation, and pursuant to section 99f.6(4)(a) of the Iowa code, pmrc is required to distribute its profits for "educational, civic, public, charitable, patriotic, or religious" uses as defined in section 99b.7(3) (b) of the Iowa code. Accordingly, pmrc's profits have been distributed as required by Iowa code. In 2024, $11.5 million of pmrc's profits were distributed to polk county, $4.9 million to the city of des moines, $16.8 million was distributed to organizations such as the polk county school districts ($874,000), and the greater des moines partnership ($350,000).

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 100% of the money available for current operations came from other operating revenue.
Distribution model
Direct operator. The filing allocates 99% 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 87
  • Transparency & Controls: 83
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 37
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 98.4%; rating input score 98
  • Program expense ratio: 99.3%; rating input score 99
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 17th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 4 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Pass
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: 99.1%; rating input score 99; 38th percentile among comparable filings
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 77th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 100
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 0.9%; rating input score 37; 37th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.13; rating input score 4; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.23; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0.2%; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.4% per year; rating input score 100; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 8th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 69th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 98.4% of revenue deployed · 99.3% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $2.5B in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $1.9M · 25 people listed · 4 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $3.6M reported
  • Consistency: 35 of 36 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes grants and executive pay
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 418 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 409 filed related-organization links
  • 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.

  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 37/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 4/100.
  • Review — Transparency & Controls: Domestic grant itemization did not reconcile in the filed values.