Sudden Valley Community Association

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
910909865
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Bellingham, WA, USA
Phone
3607346430
Rating
75
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Homeowners & Tenants Associations

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$8,192,833
Expenses
$6,855,525
Assets
$25,391,650
Liabilities
$9,261,494

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • KEITH MCLEAN (PRESIDENT)
  • TAIMI VAN DE POLDER (VICE PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JO ANNE JENSEN (GENERAL MANAGER): $164,308 total reported compensation
  • JOEL HEVERLING (FINANCE DIRECTOR): $125,044 total reported compensation
  • MICHAEL BENNETT (GENERAL MANAGER): $3,000 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Our mission is to foster a livable and inclusive community through exceptional service, transparency, and responsible stewardship of our shared resources.

What it reported doing in 2024

Sudden valley is home to over 7,000 residents and an abundance of wildlife. The association manages the community through maintenance of common areas, and provision of recreational activities and security. The association continued "clean green" in 2024, a service for the community to dispose of their yard debris. This service was provided by local government in prior years and was discontinued at the beginning of 2016. The association also continued to offer its developed stormwater runoff management and phosphorous mitigation plan, available to community members for $500 per property; estimated to save them between $10,000 and $15,000 each.

Operating model

Revenue model
Other-operating. 99% 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 - 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: 62
  • Transparency & Controls: 77
  • Accountability: 95
  • Sustainability: 68
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 64.7%; rating input score 65
  • Program expense ratio: 76.9%; rating input score 77
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 3 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 50
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Pass
    • Compensation survey or study: Pass
    • 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: 7 of 8 controls in place; rating input score 88
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Fail
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 16.3%; rating input score 73; 73rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.7; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.36; rating input score 29; 29th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 4.3%; rating input score 59; 59th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7.4% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.6% per year; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 7.1% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 64.7% of revenue deployed · 76.9% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 9 of 9 board members independent · 7 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $5.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $164K · 16 people listed · 3 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 5 contractors listed · $2.6M reported
  • Consistency: 31 of 31 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 4 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 13 filing years from 2010 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.
  • Staff and benefit plans: Retirement and health plans the organization files with the Department of Labor, and the people in them.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Other executive compensation review process not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 29/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 59/100.