Washington State Transit

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
911152629
IRS 990 coverage
2015–2024
Forms available
Form 990 2024
Location
Olympia, WA, USA
Phone
3607869734
Rating
78
Verdict
SUPPORTED
Rating confidence
Moderate

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$1,867,590
Expenses
$1,991,362
Assets
$917,555
Liabilities
$86,062

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

Leadership & pay

33 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • AMY ASHER (PRESIDENT)

Highest reported compensation

  • JUSTIN LEIGHTON (EXECUTIVE DI): $168,054 total reported compensation
  • MELANIE ESPINOSA (DEPUTY DIREC): $115,647 total reported compensation

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

Overview

Mission

Wsta advances the value of public transit through public education and outreach, advocacy of positive and effective public policy and fostering the collaboration and professional development of public transit employees.

What it reported doing in 2024

Legislative and public outreach: the Washington state transit association (wsta) members work together to develop a state legislative agenda and then work together (members, wsta executive director, and wsta and smta (a caucus of wsta) contract lobbyists) to pursue the legislative agenda. Wsta provides educational information and briefings, as well as a central point of contact to legislators, legislative staff, and the governor's office and staff, and state agencies. As needed, wsta prepares comments on proposed state laws, rules, and budget proposals, and funding packages. Wsta provides weekly updattes and calls to keep members informed of legislative activities during the state legislative session. Wsta participates in legislative studies related to public transportation. Occasionally, wsta provides legislative updates to members regarding issues at the federal level and may prepare comment letters on behalf of members. Wsta also collaborates with other partners to provide outreach and education on the benefits of public transportatiuon. This work includes development of informational documents, responses to questions, drafting of articles and/or news releases for the press, and coordinating with other groups including grass roots organizations and various business groups. In recent years, this work has been closely tied to discussions about a possible statewide transportation funding package.

Operating model

Revenue model
Mixed. Its operating money came from several sources; no one source provided a clear majority.
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 expenses are high relative to revenue.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 86
  • Transparency & Controls: 66
  • Accountability: 90
  • Sustainability: 24
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 98.6%; rating input score 99
  • Program expense ratio: 92.5%; rating input score 92
  • Fundraising efficiency: Limited

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 63rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Pay-setting controls: 1 of 6 controls in place; rating input score 17
    • Compensation committee: Missing
    • Independent consultant: Missing
    • Other Form 990s reviewed: Missing
    • Written employment contract: Missing
    • 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 8 controls in place; rating input score 75
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • CEO compensation review process: NotApplicable
    • Other executive compensation review process: Pass
    • Form 990 shared with the board: Fail
    • Board meeting minutes documented: Pass
    • Audit committee oversight: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: -6.6%; rating input score 21; 21st percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.46; rating input score 22; 22nd percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.09; rating input score 43; 43rd percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 14.2%; rating input score 25; 25th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 11.3% per year; rating input score 100; 67th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 9.8% per year; rating input score 100; 66th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 8.7% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 98.6% of revenue deployed · 92.5% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 32 of 32 board members independent · 6 of 8 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 2 filed program accomplishments · $1.8M in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $168K · 33 people listed · 1 of 6 pay-setting controls reported
  • Highest-paid contractors: 1 contractor listed · $107K reported
  • Consistency: 26 of 26 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 3 filed schedules · includes executive pay
  • Filing history: 10 filing years from 2015 to 2024
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: 2 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: 2 of 8 not reported.
  • High — Sustainability: Operating margin scored 21/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Total-asset coverage ratio scored 22/100.
  • High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 25/100.
  • Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 43/100.