Washington State Association of Counties

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
916056479
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Olympia, WA, USA
Phone
3607531886
Rating
76
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$5,028,343
Expenses
$4,938,063
Assets
$2,782,477
Liabilities
$821,564

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

Leadership & pay

29 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • DEREK YOUNG (INTERIM EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)
  • LISA JANICKI (PRESIDENT)
  • MARK OZIAS (2ND VICE PRESIDENT)
  • ROB COFFMAN (1ST VICE PRESIDENT)
  • ERIC JOHNSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR)

Highest reported compensation

  • PAUL JEWELL (POLICY DIRECTOR): $213,616 total reported compensation
  • BRIDGET LOCKLING (FINANCE/OPERATIONS DIRECTOR): $208,860 total reported compensation
  • ERIC JOHNSON (EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR): $205,128 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

To help improve counties capacity to serve their citizens. To serve as liason between the individual counties of Washington state and the state of Washington.

What it reported doing in 2024

Contract management - managed 9 contracts to coordinate the activities of state contract requirements, serve affiliate organizations, and support caucus efforts throughout the state.

Operating model

Revenue model
Earned-program. 95% 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 most voting board members are independent. Some related-organization disclosures are missing and expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 74
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 100
  • Sustainability: 29
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 81.9%; rating input score 82
  • Program expense ratio: 84.8%; rating input score 85
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Pass
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • Compensation survey or study: Missing
    • Board or committee approval: Missing
  • Foreign activity oversight: Limited
  • Grant itemization coverage: Limited
  • Major donor itemization: Limited
  • Related-party transparency: Scored; rating input score 0

Accountability

  • Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Governance controls: 9 of 9 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: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Pass
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Pass

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 1.8%; rating input score 40; 40th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.56; rating input score 20; 20th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.3; rating input score 35; 35th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 29.8%; rating input score 5; 5th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 7% per year; rating input score 100; 50th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 6.1% per year; rating input score 100; 49th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 4.9% per year; rating input score 100; 34th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 81.9% of revenue deployed · 84.8% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 25 of 25 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 3 filed program accomplishments · $4.2M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $214K · 29 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 4 contractors listed · $687K reported
  • Consistency: 32 of 32 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 5 filed schedules · includes executive pay and related organizations
  • Filing history: 14 filing years from 2010 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 8 filed money-flow records
  • Related organizations: 1 filed related-organization link
  • 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.

  • High — Transparency & Controls: Related-party transparency scored 0/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 40/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 20/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 5/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 35/100.