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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

High Speed Rail Alliance

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 363874078
IL · NTEE S30Z
FY ending 2024-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Richard Harnish, Executive Director / CEO ($84,792) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 202 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 40th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

202 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 202 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$212 total compensation of comparable organizations → $1,268,962 $84,792
$27,48810th
$59,97225th
$96,359Median
$133,07275th
$175,41590th
$84,792This org · 40th
p10$27,488
p25$59,972
p50$96,359
p75$133,072
p90$175,415
$84,792

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 IL 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
Alliance Lending Corporation TX$601,635 Executive Director $147,420 $149,998 2024
Starter Studio Fl Inc FL$602,078 Ceo - Executive Director $130,000 $127,892 2023
Kore Venture Inc NH$603,575 Treasurer / Ceo $95,000 $89,226 2024
Partnership In Property Commercial Land Trust MN$603,896 Executive Director $163,298 $164,128 2024
Downtown Huntsville Inc AL$603,987 Ceo $160,543 $176,419 2024
🔒 197 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 IL 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 IL 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 default40th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)40th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted44th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted30th

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 202-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 9, 2026.