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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Maine Better Transportation

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 010513594
ME · NTEE T99
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Maria Fuentes, Executive Director / CEO ($11,610) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 153 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 33rd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Maria Fuentes — reported title “SECRETARY/TR”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

153 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 153 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$272 total compensation of comparable organizations → $277,682 $11,610
$4,37810th
$9,88525th
$22,946Median
$36,35275th
$73,81790th
$11,610This org · 33rd
p10$4,378
p25$9,885
p50$22,946
p75$36,352
p90$73,817
$11,610

Comparable organizations

Each figure is Form 990 Part VII columns D + F (reportable pay plus other compensation and benefits; column F may include amounts from related organizations), normalized to ME cost of living (BEA RPP, 2023) and to its filing year (CPI-U); the reported amount is on each linked 990.

OrganizationStateRevenueMatched titleComp
(reported)
Comp
(adjusted)
FY
Trust Uw Of William C Goertz NJ$53,273 Trustee $4,800 $4,280 2024
Hilliard Family Foundation Inc WI$53,060 Board Secretary $4,819 $5,026 2024
Hospice Foundation Of Oklahoma OK$53,633 Secretary $25,864 $29,282 2023
United Way Of Rusk County Inc TX$53,642 Cmp Chr/exe Dir $4,810 $4,947 2023
Kids Against Hunger - Your Quad Cities IA$54,173 President / Secetary $18,000 $19,682 2024
The Joseph B Vandervelden Foundation OR$52,502 President $3,000 $2,865 2023
The Howard V Moore Foundation AZ$52,403 Director $10,000 $9,888 2023
Nathalie & Theodore Jones Charitable MA$52,285 Trustee $10,643 $9,551 2024
Kay Trust Co Twin Lakes Baptist Church CA$54,511 President $116,052 $100,077 2024
Sts Philip And James Grade School OH$54,606 Trustee, Principal $11,166 $11,811 2024
Marshall Hospital Foundation TX$54,922 President/ceo $269,993 $277,682 2023
Nathalie & Theodore Jones Charitable MA$55,065 Trustee $10,969 $9,844 2024
Taylor Strickland Legacy Foundation GA$51,150 Officer $15,000 $15,062 2024
Ptha Charities PA$55,537 Executive Director/secreta $30,031 $29,908 2024
Rose Hill Foundation Inc NY$51,043 Chief Executive Officer $47,523 $42,886 2024
Woodland Public Charity MO$50,822 Program Manager $12,500 $13,222 2024
Martha O'bryan Foundation Inc TN$50,818 Ceo $20,575 $22,236 2023
George T Swain & Olga C Swain WV$50,444 Director $500 $527 2025
Robert J Levenson Family Supporting MI$50,398 Treasurer $26,189 $26,995 2024
Lawrence C Sherman Family Foundation OH$50,287 Treasurer Thru 6/29/23 $40,331 $43,919 2023
The Miss America Foundation Inc NJ$50,215 Ceo $174,352 $160,052 2023
Bay Harbor Foundation MI$56,553 Executive Director $8,000 $8,490 2023
Zimmerman Fund For Children MD$57,128 Public Director $36,499 $34,077 2024
The Emily Program Foundation MN$49,487 Secretary $17,084 $17,357 2023
Downtown South Bend Inc Foundation IN$49,393 Exec Directo $13,631 $14,355 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to ME cost of living and 2024 dollars. Click any organization to verify the figure on ProPublica.

Methodology

Comparable organizations were drawn from electronically filed IRS Form 990 returns and matched on sector (NTEE code), budget (a size-adaptive revenue band that tightens as the organization grows), and geography (same-state first, broadening only when too few peers qualify); every organization within the band forms the peer set. To compare fairly across regions and years, peer compensation is normalized to ME cost of living (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2023) and to the subject's filing year (CPI-U). The figure benchmarked is Form 990 Part VII, Section A, columns D + F — reportable pay plus other compensation, benefits, and deferred amounts (column F may include amounts from related organizations) — with the chief executive matched by role. Related-organization amounts (column E) and institutional trustees are excluded. Full methodology: peerbasis.org/methodology.

Sample, role match & sensitivity

Sensitivity — the subject's percentile under alternative compensation definitions:

BasisSubject percentile
Total compensation (D + F), cost-of-living + inflation adjusted — the PeerBasis default33rd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)33rd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted0th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted60th

If the percentile moves materially across these definitions, the result is sensitive to methodology choices, and the board should weigh which basis best fits its facts.

Rebuttable presumption of reasonableness · 26 CFR 53.4958-6

Compensation paid by a tax-exempt organization is presumed reasonable — shifting the burden to the IRS — when three requirements are met. This report supplies the comparability data for the second. The board should record the following in its minutes concurrently with its decision:

Draft board minutes — executive compensation

  1. The compensation of the Executive Director / CEO (Maria Fuentes) was approved in advance by [the Board / Compensation Committee], composed of members with no conflict of interest with respect to the arrangement.
  2. Prior to its determination, the authorized body obtained and relied upon appropriate comparability data, namely the PeerBasis Compensation Comparability Determination dated June 9, 2026, comparing compensation against 153 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE major group (T), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $11,610 is reasonable (approximately the 33rd percentile of comparable organizations) and documented the basis for this determination concurrently, on [date], by a vote of [__ for / __ against].

Sources: IRS Form 990 e-file data (apps.irs.gov); IRS Business Master File (NTEE classification). Every figure traces to an original public filing — click any organization above to verify it on ProPublica. PeerBasis is a service of Prismind Analytics; its methodology is published, was commissioned for independent adversarial review, and discloses its own limitations. This report is comparability data to support a board's good-faith determination under IRC 4958; it is not legal or tax advice. Generated by PeerBasis on June 9, 2026.