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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Jordan Valley District Library

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 382677656
MI · NTEE B70Z
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Dawn Lavanway, Executive Director / CEO ($90,000) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 62 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 81st percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

62 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 62 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$300 total compensation of comparable organizations → $157,140 $90,000
$30,92610th
$50,82625th
$62,257Median
$80,67975th
$104,17090th
$90,000This org · 81st
p10$30,926
p25$50,826
p50$62,257
p75$80,679
p90$104,170
$90,000

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 MI 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
Pine Bush Area Public Library District NY$485,937 Director $61,437 $55,209 2024
Cny (Connectny) Inc NY$504,515 Executive Director (Thru July) $54,927 $50,817 2023
Plattekill Public Library NY$506,805 Director $65,962 $61,026 2023
Organic Farm School WA$509,137 Executive Director $75,000 $68,749 2023
Maine Philanthropy Center ME$479,791 President & Ceo $124,083 $123,562 2024
Valley Library Consortium Inc MI$479,765 Executive Director $99,010 $101,630 2024
Wadsworth Library NY$515,455 Library Director $27,889 $25,062 2024
Whippanong Library Association NJ$526,515 Direcdtor $76,941 $68,316 2024
Lyons Public Library NY$457,821 Executive Director $46,406 $40,627 2025
Murrysville Community Library PA$532,750 Director $45,140 $44,766 2024
Bill Memorial Library CT$533,491 Executive Di $70,920 $64,423 2025
Jefferson Hills Library PA$455,422 Library Director Thru October 2024 $53,911 $53,464 2024
Desert Foothills Library Association AZ$538,260 Former Executive Director $123,702 $121,803 2023
Proprietors Of The Salem Athenaeum MA$451,137 Executive Dir. $57,692 $51,556 2024
The Charlemagne Institute KY$450,245 Ceo $142,857 $157,140 2023
Seattle Athenaeum WA$449,851 Executive Director $97,461 $86,775 2024
Millvale Community Library PA$542,211 Executive Dir. $54,552 $54,100 2024
Early Manuscripts Electronic Library CA$436,224 Chairman $58,800 $50,493 2024
Atlanta-fulton Public Library GA$432,689 Executive Dir. $120,000 $119,991 2024
Preachit Inc IN$560,691 President $60,000 $62,924 2024
Gardiner Library Board Of Trustees NY$424,180 Library Director $68,168 $63,067 2023
Eastern Academic Scholars Trust Inc MA$421,318 Program Director & Non-voting Member Of Bod $33,736 $30,148 2024
Scoville Memorial Library Association CT$569,149 Director $114,986 $104,452 2025
Ulysses Philomathic Library NY$416,874 Executive Dir. $61,833 $55,565 2024
Library Foundation Of Martin County FL$575,031 Chief Executive Officer $103,791 $99,828 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MI cost of living and 2025 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 MI 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 default81st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)79th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted87th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted79th

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 (Dawn Lavanway) 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 62 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B70), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $90,000 is reasonable (approximately the 81st 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.