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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Association Of Commuter Rail Employees

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 061656927
CT · NTEE J40
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Matthew Wuensch, Executive Director / CEO ($759) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 181 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 4th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Matthew Wuensch — reported title “President”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

181 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 181 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$18 total compensation of comparable organizations → $292,176 $759
$2,56010th
$6,14225th
$13,424Median
$51,17175th
$90,82790th
$759This org · 4th
p10$2,560
p25$6,142
p50$13,424
p75$51,171
p90$90,827
$759

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 CT 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
Springfield Police Benevolent & IL$285,354 President $6,982 $7,321 2023
Iupat District Council No 21 Labor PA$285,672 Union Co-chair Trustee $140,400 $145,044 2024
Fuerza Unida TX$285,708 Head Seamtress $17 $18 2023
Orange County Boces Teachers' NY$286,094 President $5,000 $4,819 2023
Police Assoc Inc - Town Of Greenburgh NY$286,210 President $9,500 $9,156 2023
Smart Lu 555 TN$287,424 President $654 $733 2023
International Brotherhood MA$282,808 President $13,031 $11,818 2025
Utah Education Association UT$289,848 Director $45,024 $46,507 2025
International Assoc Of Sheet Metal Air Rail & Transportation PA$292,291 President $3,921 $4,051 2024
Cleveland Professional Firefighters TN$277,569 President $2,600 $2,831 2024
Local 490 Labor-management NH$277,242 Trustee $21,457 $20,524 2024
American Board Of Medicolegal Death Inve MD$293,764 Executive Director $10,000 $9,685 2024
Northeast Wisconsin Building And WI$274,339 Bus Represen $136,690 $152,253 2023
Pickett-donnelly Lodge No 77 Brotherhood Of Railroad Signalmen VA$274,214 President $1,801 $1,801 2024
Million Dollar Teacher Project AZ$296,679 Founder And Ceo $72,025 $69,908 2025
United Steelworkers Local Union 00420 NY$272,738 President $68,474 $64,098 2024
Carpenters Local Union No 136 OH$297,889 President $4,002 $4,391 2024
I B E W Local 305 Inc IN$299,080 Director $47,975 $52,411 2024
Communications Workers Of America Local 3406 LA$300,766 President $32,587 $37,172 2024
Amherst-pelham Education Association MA$301,406 President $2,750 $2,560 2024
Afge Nbpc 2554 CA$301,527 President $23,791 $21,282 2024
Int'l Union Of District 55 Allied & NJ$303,159 President $85,000 $76,592 2025
American Federation Of Teachers NY$305,097 President $21,068 $19,213 2025
Iron Workers Local 60 Education NY$265,020 Business Manager $94,233 $90,817 2023
Bridge And Tunnel Officers Benevolent NY$264,549 President $18,192 $17,030 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CT cost of living and 2023 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 CT 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 default4th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)4th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted12th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted4th

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 (Matthew Wuensch) 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 181 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (J40), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $759 is reasonable (approximately the 4th 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.