Watertown Local Development Corporation
Nonprofit profile at a glance
- EIN
- 161199439
- IRS 990 coverage
- 2010–2025
- Forms available
- Form 990 2025
- Location
- Watertown, NY, USA
- Phone
- 3157863494
- Rating
- 71
- Verdict
- SUPPORTED
- Rating confidence
- Moderate
- Sector
- Urban, Community Economic Development
Reported finances
- Revenue
- $455,834
- Expenses
- $322,453
- Assets
- $10,581,345
- Liabilities
- $267,095
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Amounts in USD.
Leadership & pay
9 people listed
Executive titles in this filing
- SARAH COMPO PIERCE (PRESIDENT)
- MARSHALL WEIR (VICE PRESIDENT)
- KYLEE MCGRATH (CEO)
Highest reported compensation
- KYLEE MCGRATH (CEO): $100,191 total reported compensation
- JOY NUFFER (CFO): $96,655 total reported compensation
Source: IRS Form 990. Selected filing: tax year 2025. Names and roles reflect this filing, not necessarily current officeholders.
Overview
Mission
The organization's mission is to foster an environment of cooperation between the city government, economic development agencies and the private sector with the goal of promoting economic expansion and prosperity in the city of watertown. Moreover, the organization uses financial resources to leverage other investments, with the goal of job creation, retention and elimination of blight.
What it reported doing in 2025
Local development program to relieve and reduce unemployment, promote additional employment opportunities, and instruct and train individuals through loans/grants to area businesses.
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 - The filed numbers largely add up and most voting board members are independent. A relatively small share of available resources goes toward mission work and assets have declined or grown slowly.
Rating breakdown
- Financial Efficiency: 40
- Transparency & Controls: 90
- Accountability: 100
- Sustainability: 71
- Growth: 80
Detailed rating inputs
Financial Efficiency
- Mission deployment rate: 32.2%; rating input score 32
- Program expense ratio: 65.6%; rating input score 66
- Fundraising efficiency: Limited
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: Limited
- Related-party transparency: Limited
Accountability
- Independent voting board: 100%; rating input score 100; 64th 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: 29.3%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
- Total-asset coverage ratio: 32.82; rating input score 98; 98th percentile among comparable filings
- Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.03; rating input score 33; 33rd percentile among comparable filings
- Officer compensation ratio: 61%; rating input score 2; 2nd percentile among comparable filings
Growth
- Program expense growth: 3.6% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
- Revenue growth: 2.1% per year; rating input score 100; 30th percentile among comparable filings
- Asset growth: -0.4% per year; rating input score 0; 21st percentile among comparable filings
Details
- Where the money goes: 32.2% of revenue deployed · 65.6% of spending went to programs
- Governance: 7 of 7 board members independent · 9 of 9 filing controls reported
- Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $211K in reported program spending
- Leadership: top reported pay $100K · 9 people listed
- Consistency: 29 of 29 current checks pass
- Schedules: 3 filed schedules
- Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
- 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.
- Moderate — Financial Efficiency: Mission deployment rate scored 32/100.
- High — Growth: Asset growth scored 0/100.
- High — Sustainability: Officer compensation ratio scored 2/100.
- Moderate — Sustainability: Liabilities to assets ratio scored 33/100.