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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Pawling Free Library

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 146020807
NY · NTEE B70
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 10, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Christopher Fisher, Executive Director / CEO ($63,346) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 58 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 19th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Christopher Fisher — reported title “LIBRARY DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

58 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 58 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$2,597 total compensation of comparable organizations → $176,717 $63,346
$54,52910th
$68,43825th
$87,679Median
$105,11075th
$124,93490th
$63,346This org · 19th
p10$54,529
p25$68,438
p50$87,679
p75$105,110
p90$124,934
$63,346

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
Aloha Community Library Association OR$697,003 Library Dir. $71,299 $73,274 2024
Southampton Free Library PA$702,101 Director $114,564 $130,166 2023
Board Of Trustees Of The Sedgwick KS$686,082 Executive Di $73,978 $88,445 2024
Southwest Florida Library Network FL$684,189 Executive Director $112,241 $116,687 2024
New Castle Public Library DE$667,683 Library Director $97,022 $105,132 2024
🔒 53 more comparable organizations — included in the purchased report

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 default19th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)22nd
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted21st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted16th

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:

Ready-to-adopt board minutes — executive compensation

🔒 The complete minutes language — three numbered resolutions pre-filled with this organization, the 58-organization comparison, the date, and the percentile finding, ready to paste into your minutes — is included in the purchased report.

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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 10, 2026.