Sound Cities Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911616272
IRS 990 coverage
2014–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Tukwila, WA, USA
Phone
2064337168
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,041,347
Expenses
$850,199
Assets
$1,957,244
Liabilities
$1,044,763

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • David Hoffman (Executive Director)
  • Mary Lou Pauly (President and Mayor of Issaquah)
  • Traci Buxton (Board Vice President and Mayor of Des Moines)
  • Jan Molinaro (Board Immediate Past President and Mayor of Ebumclaw)

Highest reported compensation

  • David Hoffman (Executive Director): $267,057 total reported compensation
  • Leah Willoughby (Chief Operating Officer): $147,346 total reported compensation
  • Carl Cole (Interim ED (10/24-12/24)): $30,397 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Leadership through advocacy, education, mutual support, and networking to member cities in King County as they act locally, partner regionally to create livable vital communities. Activities supporting the mission: appointment of elected to boards/committees, monitoring regional issues for city impact.

What it reported doing in 2024

1. SCA appoints members to various regional boards and committees - SCA Executive Director and Policy Analysts provide policy analysis to members serving on those regional boards and committees, and Chief Operating Officer and Administrative Assistant provides administrative support. 2. SCA brings together our 38 member cities to discuss regional policy at the Public Issues Committee (PIC) - Executive Director and Policy Analysts provide policy support, Chief Operating Officer provides administrative support. 3. SCA holds networking events and educational forums for our members.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 98% 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

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 reported officer compensation is a large share of total spending, which may reflect staffing concentration.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 71
  • Transparency & Controls: 71
  • Accountability: 86
  • Sustainability: 57
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 73.5%; rating input score 73
  • Program expense ratio: 91.5%; rating input score 92
  • 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: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Pass
  • 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; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 6 of 9 controls in place; rating input score 67
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: Pass
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 18.4%; rating input score 74; 74th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 2.3; rating input score 68; 68th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.53; rating input score 15; 15th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 52.3%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 4.6% per year; rating input score 100; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 5.8% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 13.1% per year; rating input score 100; 68th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 73.5% of revenue deployed · 91.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 13 of 13 board members independent · 6 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $778K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $267K · 16 people listed · 2 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2014 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 3 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.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 15/100.