Wales Center Volunteer Fire Co Inc

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
900335424
IRS 990 coverage
2012–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Wales Center, NY, USA
Phone
7166521051
Rating
88
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fire Prevention

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$313,606
Expenses
$266,591
Assets
$1,675,287
Liabilities
$335,956

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

Leadership & pay

10 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DAVE SCHAUB (PRESIDENT)
  • GREG FURMAN (VICE PRESIDENT)

People named in this filing

  • DAVE SCHAUB (PRESIDENT)
  • GREG FURMAN (VICE PRESIDENT)
  • DEBBIE WINGATE (TREASURER)

Selected names, not a complete roster or a statement of current roles. Open leadership details for the complete filed list.

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

Overview

Mission

100% volunteer fire company that provides fire protection & emergency medical services to wales center, ny & surrounding communities on a mutual aid basis. Provide emergency management services during natural disasters such as snow storms & floods to the town & surrounding communities.

What it reported doing in 2025

Provides fire protection, first responder and rescue services including ambulatory service to the town of wales center, ny and surrounding communities on a mutual aid basis. Provides emergency management services during natural disasters such as snow storms and flooding to the town of wales center, ny and surrounding communities.

Operating model

Revenue model
Grant-funded. 78% 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

STRONG - 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: 96
  • Transparency & Controls: 92
  • Accountability: 70
  • Sustainability: 65
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 96.9%; rating input score 97
  • Program expense ratio: 97%; rating input score 97
  • Fundraising efficiency: $235.88 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 91; 91st percentile among comparable filings

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: Yes; rating input score 100
  • Related-party transparency: Limited

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 2 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 29
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Fail
    • Whistleblower policy: Fail
    • Document-retention policy: Fail
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Missing
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 15%; rating input score 65; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.28; rating input score 83; 83rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.2; rating input score 16; 16th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 67; 67th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 9.1% per year; rating input score 100; 65th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 4.5% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.5% per year; rating input score 100; 58th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 96.9% of revenue deployed · 97% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 10 of 10 board members independent · 2 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $259K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 10 people listed
  • Consistency: 24 of 24 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2012 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • 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 — Accountability: Governance controls: 4 of 6 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 16/100.