Tug Hill Tomorrow Land Trust

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
223115498
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Watertown, NY, USA
Phone
3157798240
Rating
86
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Land Resources Conservation

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,332,328
Expenses
$1,534,186
Assets
$4,749,895
Liabilities
$1,917,917

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

Leadership & pay

16 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • MARK PACILIO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • MARK PACILIO (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $88,266 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

See schedule o. Description of organizations mission: thtlt was formed for two purposes, to help increase awareness and appreciation of the tug hill region through educational programs, field trips and special events, and through their voluntary land protection programs working with private landowners and other partners. Its mission is to protect the wildlands, working forests and farms of the tug hill region and surrounding areas, and to promote appreciation of the region's natural and cultural heritage, for present and future generations.

What it reported doing in 2024

See schedule o for description.thtlt works with private landowners to protect working forest, farms, recreation, and wild lands in northern New York's 2,100 square mile tug hill region and surrounding areas. The tug hill region covers part of jefferson, lewis, oneida, and oswego counties. In 2024, thtlt closed on one easement - ton ka wa rod & hunt club in herkimer county, and acquired the stone house preserve in the town of vienna in oneida county.we worked with the dec and the governor's office to create a program in place of the former acub program. The new natural resource protection program around fort drum will be launched in 2025 and funded with approximately $7.5 million from thtlt-earmarked funds over the course of the last 10 years in the state environmental protection fund. We continued to work on 14 conservation easement projects in various parts of the tug hill region that, when completed, will conserve more than 5,718 acres of land. At the end 2024, we will have protected 21,810 acres with conservation easements throughout tug hill. In addition to our conservation easement holdings, thtlt also owns five public conservation areas, the 140- acre joseph blake wildlife sanctuary in the town of rutland, jefferson county, the 120-acre french settlement road public conservation area in the town of lorraine, jefferson county, the 416-acre david s. Smith public conservation area in the town of leray, and the newest property, the mohawk hill public conservation area, 77.57 acres in the town of west turin leray. Thtlt added the stone house preserve, 434 acres, in the town of vienna in late 2024. Thtlt is continuously working to open all 1,192 acres of our fee-owned property, not already open to the public, by creating parking areas, trails, and interpretive signage as funding and staff time allow.

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 80% of the money available for current operations came from contributions and gifts.
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.
  • Includes noncash contributions: Reported contributions include donated property or goods.

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 program spending has declined or grown slowly.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 88
  • Transparency & Controls: 87
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 36
  • Growth: 60

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 95.8%; rating input score 96
  • Program expense ratio: 83.8%; rating input score 84
  • Fundraising efficiency: $18.23 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 56; 56th percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 93.8%; rating input score 94; 24th percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: Limited
  • 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: 8 of 8 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: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -15.2%; rating input score 12; 12th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 3.1; rating input score 76; 76th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.4; rating input score 19; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 5.8%; rating input score 51; 51st percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: -11.8% per year; rating input score 0; 4th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 16.9% per year; rating input score 100; 76th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 95.8% of revenue deployed · 83.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 8 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.3M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $88K · 16 people listed
  • Consistency: 30 of 31 current checks pass · 1 finding to review
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 15 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 1 filed money-flow record
  • Related organizations: Filed and resolved organization relationships.
  • 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.

  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 12/100.
  • High — Growth: Program expense growth scored 0/100.
  • Review — Financial Efficiency: Fundraising efficiency scored 56/100.
  • Moderate — Transparency & Controls: Schedule A contributions reconciliation did not reconcile in the filed values.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 19/100.
  • Review — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 51/100.