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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

The Sherburne Public Library

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 223329255
NY · NTEE B70Z
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Colleen Law-tefft, Executive Director / CEO ($37,077) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 16 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: Colleen Law-tefft — reported title “TRUSTEE-NONVOTING”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

16 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 16 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$9,504 total compensation of comparable organizations → $70,246 $37,077
$27,84110th
$44,43825th
$53,719Median
$67,91475th
$69,78290th
$37,077This org · 19th
p10$27,841
p25$44,438
p50$53,719
p75$67,914
p90$69,782
$37,077

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
Heermance Memorial Library NY$309,965 Director $65,557 $67,493 2023
Red Jacket Community Library NY$310,159 Director $50,766 $49,457 2025
Dr Evarts Library District NY$312,398 Director $9,231 $9,504 2023
Clyde Savannah Public Library NY$330,980 Director $51,500 $51,500 2024
Brunswick Community Library NY$286,139 Library Director $70,246 $70,246 2024
Apalachin Library Association NY$272,931 Director $42,120 $42,120 2024
Dover Plains Library Association NY$378,034 Director $31,204 $32,126 2023
Palmyra Community Library NY$385,898 Director $56,116 $56,116 2024
Livingston Manor Free Library NY$389,326 Library Dire $69,382 $69,382 2024
Lansing Community Library NY$401,521 Library Director $69,178 $69,178 2024
Frankfort Free Library NY$210,950 Director $51,750 $51,750 2024
Hepburn Library Of Norfolk NY$207,538 Director $22,880 $23,556 2023
Greenwich Free Library NY$413,654 Executive Di $55,687 $55,687 2024
Ulysses Philomathic Library NY$416,874 Executive Dir. $61,833 $61,833 2024
Gardiner Library Board Of Trustees NY$424,180 Library Director $68,168 $70,181 2023
Lyons Public Library NY$457,821 Executive Director $46,406 $45,210 2025

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)19th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted19th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted19th

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 (Colleen Law-tefft) 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 16 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B70) + NY + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $37,077 is reasonable (approximately the 19th 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.