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

Mesa Housing Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 680508333
CO · NTEE L40
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Emmy Handen, Executive Director / CEO ($14,400) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 35 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 14th percentile of comparable organizationsbelow the typical range for comparable organizations

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

How comparable organizations were selected

35 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 35 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$7,693 total compensation of comparable organizations → $347,080 $14,400
$11,57910th
$20,47225th
$38,838Median
$58,91775th
$80,46790th
$14,400This org · 14th
p10$11,579
p25$20,472
p50$38,838
p75$58,917
p90$80,467
$14,400

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 CO 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
Tabitha Ministry NC$183,081 Executive Director $14,628 $14,916 2025
Bay House Housing Development Fund NY$184,243 Secretary/treasurer $53,979 $49,409 2024
Freedom Thru Faith Ministries Inc MN$179,956 Secretary $28,165 $28,191 2024
Pa Dream House Inc PA$189,049 Administrativedirector $49,920 $50,428 2024
Restore House Inc MN$167,940 Coordinator $20,965 $20,985 2024
Arvad Ministries Incorporated LA$198,533 Executive Di $34,500 $39,618 2023
12 Step Life OH$200,336 Ceo $76,476 $82,050 2024
Mz Shirliz Transitional CA$160,537 Board Member/program Director $29,520 $26,584 2023
Altrusa Hospitality House Inc WI$206,495 Executive Di $73,819 $78,093 2024
Win Decatur Housing Development Fund Corporation NY$208,686 President & Ceo $8,404 $7,693 2024
Stand At The Crossroads Ministries SC$214,681 President $10,000 $10,880 2023
Family Gateway Affordable Housing Inc TX$215,522 President And Ceo $8,427 $8,539 2024
Philippians Place NC$216,132 Executive Di $18,760 $19,129 2025
Somerset Lutheran Housing Community Inc PA$148,126 Ceo $343,589 $347,080 2024
Phoenixville Womens Outreach PA$220,134 Executive Director $50,034 $50,543 2024
The Transformation Project ME$145,428 Executive Director $72,942 $73,986 2024
Surplus Property Roundtable MI$224,356 Executive Dir. $78,788 $82,377 2024
Ocl Properties Xii Inc NY$136,267 Chief Financial Officer $73,290 $67,085 2024
The Macguire Center TX$135,963 Ceo $12,002 $12,162 2024
Courage To Change Sober Living IN$229,969 Executive Director $19,550 $20,884 2024
Rise - El Dorado Inc KS$230,561 Director $10,225 $11,190 2024
Abcap Housing Iii Inc OH$126,071 Executive Director $41,692 $44,731 2024
Exodus Community Services Inc AZ$123,806 Ceo $20,000 $20,059 2023
Westminster Room In The Inn TN$244,102 Executive Di $27,650 $28,681 2025
Seeds Of Hope Inc OH$244,140 Executive Director $35,161 $38,838 2023

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CO 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 CO 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 default14th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)14th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted29th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted6th

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 (Emmy Handen) 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 35 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (L40), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $14,400 is reasonable (approximately the 14th 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.