West Ridge Fire Department

Nonprofit profile at a glance

EIN
256042463
IRS 990 coverage
2010–2025
Forms available
Form 990 2025
Location
Erie, PA, USA
Phone
8148338440
Rating
84
Verdict
STRONG
Rating confidence
Moderate
Sector
Fire Prevention

Official website

Reported finances

Revenue
$614,183
Expenses
$443,308
Assets
$2,808,770
Liabilities
$17,090

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

Leadership & pay

14 people listed

Executive titles in this filing

  • Gary Carver (President)
  • Jerry Lauer (Vice President)

People named in this filing

  • Tim Ekstrom (Director)
  • Russ Moran (Director)
  • Lucien Lawson (Director)

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

West Ridge Fire Department is a volunteer department that is located in the southwestern Millcreek Township, a western suburb of Erie, Pennsylvania. Currently, Millcreek Township is the 2nd biggest municipality in Erie County with a population of around 53,000. The West Ridge Fire Department is officially designated as Erie County Fire Department #46.

What it reported doing in 2025

Volunteer fire department organized and operated for the benefit of the local community

Operating model

Revenue model
Donor-supported. 82% 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. Some filing-based governance responses are negative or unanswered.

Rating breakdown

  • Financial Efficiency: 77
  • Transparency & Controls: 86
  • Accountability: 94
  • Sustainability: 80
  • Growth: 100

Detailed rating inputs

Financial Efficiency

  • Mission deployment rate: 68.9%; rating input score 69
  • Program expense ratio: 88%; rating input score 88
  • Fundraising efficiency: $75.19 raised per $1 spent on fundraising; rating input score 81; 81st percentile among comparable filings

Transparency & Controls

  • Consistency checks: 92.9%; rating input score 93; 22nd 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: 6 of 7 controls in place; rating input score 86
    • Conflict-of-interest policy: Pass
    • Whistleblower policy: Pass
    • Document-retention policy: Pass
    • 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: Pass
    • Independent financial-statement audit: Fail

Sustainability

  • Operating margin: 27.8%; rating input score 80; 80th percentile among comparable filings
  • Total-asset coverage ratio: 6.34; rating input score 87; 87th percentile among comparable filings
  • Liabilities to assets ratio: 0.01; rating input score 64; 64th percentile among comparable filings
  • Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 78; 78th percentile among comparable filings

Growth

  • Program expense growth: 1.2% per year; rating input score 100; 19th percentile among comparable filings
  • Revenue growth: 3.4% per year; rating input score 100; 28th percentile among comparable filings
  • Asset growth: 0.9% per year; rating input score 100; 18th percentile among comparable filings

Details

  • Where the money goes: 68.9% of revenue deployed · 88% of spending went to programs
  • Governance: 15 of 15 board members independent · 6 of 7 filing controls reported
  • Programs: 1 filed program accomplishment · $390K in reported program spending
  • Leadership: top reported pay $0 · 14 people listed
  • Consistency: 23 of 23 current checks pass
  • Schedules: 6 filed schedules · includes major donors
  • Filing history: 16 filing years from 2010 to 2025
  • Contacts: How to reach this organization
  • Money network: Resolved incoming and outgoing counterparties from filed money flows.
  • 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.

Key Signals

Signals prioritize questions for review. They are not findings of misconduct.

  • Review — Accountability: Governance controls: Independent financial-statement audit not reported.