Ross County Water Company Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
237076159
IRS 990 coverage
2013–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Chillicothe, OH, USA
Phone
7407744117
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$12,874,260
Expenses
$10,580,169
Assets
$59,396,871
Liabilities
$29,591,769

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

Leadership & pay

8 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MICHAEL RIFFLE (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • BRAD LONG (GENERAL MANG): $117,411 total reported compensation
  • AARON HAWK (SECRETARY/AS): $107,068 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL RIFFLE (PRESIDENT): $22,375 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

The ross county water company, inc. Is a non-profit, user-member owned corporation, that provides quality residential and commercial water service to approximately 15,630 customers in areas of ross, pike, pickaway, vinton, hocking, & jackson counties in Ohio.

What it reported doing in 2025

Water service was provided to an average of 15,630 customers during the year.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 96% of the money available for current operations came from other operating 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 - The filed numbers largely add up and a large share of available resources goes toward mission work. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered and liabilities are high compared with assets.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 63
  • Transparency & Controls: 90
  • Accountability: 72
  • Sustainability: 69
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 66%; rating input score 66
  • Program expense ratio: 78.4%; rating input score 78
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 3 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: Fail
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 17.8%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 5.61; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.5; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 3.2%; rating input score 71; 71st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.9% per year; rating input score 100; 31st percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.8% per year; rating input score 100; 39th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 3.8% per year; rating input score 100; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 66% of revenue deployed · 78.4% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 5 of 5 board members independent · 3 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $8.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $117K · 8 people listed
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $459K reported
  • Consistency: 27 of 27 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 2 filed schedules
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2013 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 6 of 9 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 26/100.