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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Buffalo Water Association Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 640504487
MS · NTEE Y22
FY ending 2025-06-30
June 13, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Wally Cavin, Executive Director / CEO ($16,704) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 17 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 71st percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Wally Cavin — 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

17 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 17 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$572 total compensation of comparable organizations → $121,322 $16,704
$1,65510th
$5,06125th
$11,154Median
$19,48575th
$43,99590th
$16,704This org · 71st
p10$1,655
p25$5,061
p50$11,154
p75$19,485
p90$43,995
$16,704

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 MS 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
Indiantown Citrus Growers FL$228,325 President $6,000 $5,061 2025
Eastern Snake Plain Aquifer ID$238,175 Director $21,399 $20,980 2024
Stroud Township Volunteer Fire PA$246,665 Secretary $2,400 $2,206 2024
Henry's Fork Groundwater District ID$205,459 Chairman $6,150 $6,030 2024
Linville Haile Water System Inc LA$203,428 Secretary $19,200 $19,485 2024
Lw Sewer Company MO$200,481 Plant Operator $12,000 $11,714 2024
Kinsman Mutual Telephone Company IL$268,030 Sec-tres, Di $44,555 $40,370 2024
Wrp Inc FL$275,842 General Manager Dwu $13,224 $11,154 2025
Waterworks District #1 Of Morehouse LA$185,816 President $2,250 $2,284 2024
Hemmi Road Water Association Inc WA$181,043 President $1,031 $829 2025
Nibley Blacksmith Fork Irrigation UT$175,314 President $6,500 $6,131 2024
Janice Water Association Inc MS$173,236 President $7,625 $7,827 2024
Anderson Township Regional Sewer District IN$292,105 Superintendent $49,402 $49,432 2023
Mountain Lakes Water & Sewer GA$170,394 President- P $600 $572 2023
Granada Water Association CO$165,084 Secr Treas $16,900 $14,935 2024
International Foundation For IL$317,314 Managing Dir $133,900 $121,322 2024
Broadwater-missouri MT$339,212 Secretary $12,227 $12,147 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MS 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 MS 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 default71st
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)65th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted71st
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted65th

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 (Wally Cavin) 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 13, 2026, comparing compensation against 17 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (Y22), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $16,704 is reasonable (approximately the 71st 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 13, 2026.