Live preview — download the board-ready PDF to attach to your minutes.Download the free PDF
Email yourself a copy:
PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Selden Fire Department Emergency Unit

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 274981753
NY · NTEE Z99
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Carla Zeis, Executive Director / CEO ($600) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 140 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 1st percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

Benchmarked executive: Carla Zeis — reported title “RECORDING SECRETARY”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

140 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 140 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$22 total compensation of comparable organizations → $280,470 $600
$16,09110th
$29,06425th
$55,388Median
$77,15975th
$98,82890th
$600This org · 1st
p10$16,091
p25$29,064
p50$55,388
p75$77,159
p90$98,828
$600

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
Institute For Fisheries Resources CA$200,747 Executive Director $17,500 $16,723 2024
Journey Pregnancy & Life Hub IL$200,823 President $29,119 $30,863 2025
Arc San Diego Foundation CA$200,387 Ceo $28,869 $27,587 2024
Called To Rescue WA$202,101 President $19,000 $18,825 2024
The Rl Mace Universal Design Institute NC$202,585 Executive Dir. $60,000 $68,608 2024
Love Inc Sacramento CA$202,859 Director $75,920 $74,691 2023
Interlink Inc WA$197,886 Secretary/treasurer $20,967 $21,387 2023
Hinesburg Community Resource Center Inc VT$196,870 Executive Director $20,640 $23,670 2023
Eagles Wings Ministries CA$204,597 Executive Director And Chairm $42,500 $41,812 2023
Mad River Path Association VT$196,210 Executive Director $87,200 $97,130 2024
Truckee Meadows Tomorrow NV$195,047 Interim Executive Director $63,799 $72,861 2023
Higher Education Consortium Of Central MA$206,714 Executive Director $126,525 $129,540 2023
Houston Eye Associates Foundation TX$206,917 Executive Director $100,000 $113,970 2023
Forests Today And Forever OR$194,519 Executive Di $86,700 $89,101 2024
Medical Staff Of Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital CA$206,945 Chief Of Staff-santa Barbara $96,300 $92,024 2024
Waves Of Wilmington Inc NC$207,241 Ceo - Head Coach $127,632 $145,943 2024
Learning Through Art OH$193,739 Ceo $52,451 $61,479 2024
Michigan Coalition For Responsible Gun Owners MI$193,036 Executive Director $84,000 $98,783 2023
Project Crossroads VA$192,994 Executive Di $37,676 $41,447 2023
Spark Thomasville Inc GA$192,436 Executive Director $72,100 $80,227 2024
Women In Development Of Greater MA$192,394 Managing Dir $121,510 $117,722 2025
Northwest Therapeutic Riding Center WA$190,810 Program Director $14,400 $14,267 2024
Hope Psychological Services Inc MA$211,758 Executive Director $64,073 $62,075 2025
Daniel James Mccarthy Memorial Fund Inc MA$211,759 Executive Director $21,856 $21,735 2024
Rabun County Family Connection GA$212,340 Executive Director $40,656 $45,239 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 default1st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)1st
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted17th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted1st

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 (Carla Zeis) 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 140 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (Z99), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $600 is reasonable (approximately the 1st 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.