San Jose Arena Authority

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
770269730
IRS 990 coverage
2011–2022
Forms available
Form 990 2022
Location
San Jose, CA, USA
Phone
4089774780
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$354,945
Expenses
$309,995
Assets
$185,659
Liabilities
$31,916

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Amounts in USD.

Leadership & pay

12 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • CHRIS MORRISEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • CHRIS MORRISEY (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $206,479 total reported compensation

Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2022. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.

Overview

Mission

The san jose arena authority is a nonprofit, public benefit corporation and consists of a 17-member, mayor-appointed board of directors. The board is supported by an experienced professional staff and meets on a regular basis to provide contract administration and oversight on behalf of the city for the operations of sap center at san jose (home of the nhl san jose sharks), sharks ice at san jose/tech cu arena, the public ice training facility and home of the minor league san jose barracuda and excite ballpark home of the san jose giants. The arena authority also administers to several active community-based programs.

What it reported doing in 2022

Oversight of arena and ice center: in fulfilling the administrative responsibilities for the management oversight of sap center at san jose and sharks ice at san jose, the arena authority has a number of significant operational responsibilities. The first is the administration of the management agreements between the sharks and the city of san jose. Two of the more essential elements in the agreements are the annual review and implementation of comprehensive capital repair and replacement programs for both facilities. These capital programs have kept the facilities looking and operating at a standard comparable to national sports and entertainment facilities. As a result of recent expansions, sharks ice at san jose is now the largest public ice facility in north america. The public training facility includes tech cu arena, a 4,200-seat arena and home of the san jose barracuda, the sharks american hockey league affiliate. To accomplish these annual capital project goals, the arena authority engages sharks sports & entertainment and several city departments in keeping the facilities functioning at a high, uninterrupted level. Additionally, the authority works jointly with the city's department of transportation and police department, the valley transportation authority as well as sharks sports & entertainment in the administration of a comprehensive transportation and parking management plan (tpmp). Through the implementation of this plan, critical vehicular traffic and pedestrian movement strategies, vicinity parking operations, and neighborhood protection issues are addressed and managed in an efficient and well thought-out manner. Furthermore, the authority is engaged in the planning and development of a number of significant transit projects adjacent to sap center at san jose. Projects currently being planned for the area include the bart extension to downtown san jose, which includes a station at the arena and the future electrification of caltrain.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 100% 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 total assets are small relative to annual expenses; liquid coverage is unknown.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 73
  • Transparency & Controls: 74
  • Accountability: 84
  • Sustainability: 41
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 78.4%; rating input score 78
  • Program expense ratio: 89.8%; rating input score 90
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 2 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 33
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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: 5 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 62
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Fail
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 12.7%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.6; rating input score 26; 26th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.17; rating input score 23; 23rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 66.6%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 3.5% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.6% per year; rating input score 100; 60th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 15% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 78.4% of revenue deployed · 89.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 5 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 5 filed program accomplishments · $278K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $206K · 12 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 18 of 18 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors and executive pay
  • Filing history: 12 filing years from 2011 to 2022
  • 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 3 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 26/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 23/100.