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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Winooski Valley Park District

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 237240742
VT · NTEE N320
FY ending 2023-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Nick Warner, Executive Director / CEO ($86,383) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 45 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 84th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Nick Warner — reported title “EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR”, a direct title match to the Executive Director / CEO role.

How comparable organizations were selected

45 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 45 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$4,518 total compensation of comparable organizations → $188,817 $86,383
$19,81410th
$40,03825th
$66,663Median
$81,95075th
$95,15990th
$86,383This org · 84th
p10$19,814
p25$40,038
p50$66,663
p75$81,950
p90$95,159
$86,383

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 VT 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
Downtown Providence Parks Network RI$464,437 Executive Di $16,808 $15,553 2024
Wood River Trails Coalition Inc ID$460,102 Executive Director $81,502 $86,139 2023
Wildrock Inc VA$458,479 Executive Di $72,693 $67,732 2024
Play Groundnyc Inc NY$482,496 Interim Ed $82,158 $71,643 2024
Salems Riverfront Carousel OR$443,872 Executive Dir. $92,300 $82,716 2024
Friends Of Hamilton County Parks Inc IN$440,844 Executive Dir. $70,000 $73,341 2023
Derivera Park Trust OH$437,948 Administrato $37,025 $37,843 2024
Friends Of The Front Range Wildlife CO$493,884 Executive Di $55,110 $50,995 2024
Monongahela River Trails Conservancy Limited WV$436,815 Executive Director $47,500 $49,631 2024
Fort Wayne Trails Inc IN$427,799 Former Exec $77,218 $78,582 2024
Mead Botanical Garden Inc FL$505,171 Executive Di $73,377 $68,485 2023
National Parks Of Lake Superior Foundation MN$423,277 Executive Director $87,600 $83,531 2024
Ranson Parks And Recreation Commission Inc WV$408,753 Executive Director $23,841 $25,646 2023
Clark Park Coalition MI$408,303 Executive Di $55,000 $56,401 2023
Trails 2000 Inc CO$398,572 Executive Director $81,334 $75,261 2024
Mt Ascutney Outdoors Inc VT$395,041 Executive Dir. $40,000 $38,852 2024
Woodlands Conservancy LA$391,920 Executive Director $68,000 $72,257 2024
Ogden Dunes Home Association IN$389,620 Treasurer $4,439 $4,518 2024
Finger Lakes Trail Conference Inc NY$388,351 Executive Director $48,333 $42,147 2024
Harlem Valley Rail Trail Associatio NY$385,167 Executive Di $48,750 $43,766 2023
Friends Of The Gunpowder Falls State MD$548,931 President $19,072 $17,207 2024
Spring Creek Recreational Fund NY$552,795 Exective Director $108,373 $97,294 2023
Buckeye Trail Association Inc OH$555,414 Executive Director $53,935 $55,127 2024
Idaho Trails Association ID$373,154 Executive Director $68,992 $70,826 2024
Friends Of West University Parks Fund TX$566,532 Executive Director $22,246 $22,109 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to VT 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 VT 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 default84th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)78th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted49th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted82nd

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 (Nick Warner) 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 45 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (N32), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $86,383 is reasonable (approximately the 84th 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.