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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Lake Placid Volunteer Fire

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 146020589
NY · NTEE M24
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Liane Colby, Executive Director / CEO ($2,500) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 39 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 67th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Liane Colby — reported title “DEPUTY SECRE”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

39 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 39 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$206 total compensation of comparable organizations → $39,500 $2,500
$44610th
$61825th
$1,250Median
$3,00275th
$6,24290th
$2,500This org · 67th
p10$446
p25$618
p50$1,250
p75$3,002
p90$6,242
$2,500

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 NY 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
Mastic Chemical Company No 1 Inc NY$265,484 Treasurer $1,500 $1,500 2024
Ausable Forks Fire Department Inc NY$277,098 President $500 $515 2023
Webster Volunteer Fire Department Inc NY$279,416 Treasurer $9,440 $9,719 2023
Valley Stream Fire Dept Inc NY$261,037 Maint Chairman $2,400 $2,338 2025
Canajoharie Volunteer Firefighters Inc NY$281,037 Treasurer $500 $500 2024
Windsor Fire Company Inc NY$258,763 President/captain $1,000 $1,000 2024
Gerry Volunteer Fire Department Inc NY$257,078 President $200 $206 2023
Rye Volunteer Firefighters Inc NY$288,373 Chief/secretary $1,200 $1,200 2024
Mendon Fire Department Inc NY$289,747 President $1,200 $1,235 2023
Wantagh Fire Department NY$249,513 Recording Secretary $6,500 $6,500 2024
Warwick Fire Department NY$244,809 President $2,000 $2,000 2024
Town Of Carlton Fire Company No 1 Inc NY$301,023 President $480 $480 2024
Clarendon Fire Company Inc NY$301,735 President $500 $500 2024
United Fire Company No 1 NY$239,248 Financial Se $3,000 $3,000 2024
Lake Pleasant Volunteer Fire Department NY$230,088 Vice President $3,554 $3,554 2024
Vestal Fire Department Inc NY$229,649 Recording Secretary $1,000 $1,030 2023
Potsdam Volunteer Fire Department NY$316,461 Warden $300 $292 2025
Kings Park Fire Department Inc NY$318,169 Secretary $6,000 $6,000 2024
Freehold Volunteer Fire Company Inc NY$220,673 President $500 $515 2023
Hope Engine Company Number 1 Of White Plains New York NY$220,265 Treasurer $300 $309 2023
Fishers Island Fire Department NY$216,886 Fire Chief $3,000 $3,000 2024
Huntington Manor Volunteer Fire NY$327,323 Chief $1,800 $1,800 2024
Monticello Fire Department Inc NY$206,137 Treasurer $1,200 $1,235 2023
People's Firehouse Inc NY$195,289 Executive Director $39,500 $39,500 2024
Ae Crandall Hook And Ladder Co Inc NY$193,746 Chief $300 $300 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to NY 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 NY 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 default67th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)67th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted67th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted67th

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 (Liane Colby) 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 39 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (M24) + NY + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $2,500 is reasonable (approximately the 67th 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.