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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Austin Free-net

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 742743446
TX · NTEE B70
FY ending 2024-09-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Jess Ross, Executive Director / CEO ($87,102) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 70 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 89th percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

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

How comparable organizations were selected

70 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 70 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$301 total compensation of comparable organizations → $157,966 $87,102
$24,99110th
$40,04225th
$53,117Median
$63,80075th
$87,53090th
$87,102This org · 89th
p10$24,991
p25$40,042
p50$53,117
p75$63,800
p90$87,530
$87,102

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 TX 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
Eg Fisher Public Library TN$345,453 Executive Director(ended Aug. 2023) $36,286 $38,130 2024
Scott Township Public Library PA$349,290 Director $57,317 $58,828 2023
Swarthmore Public Library PA$352,098 Library Director (Thru 2024) $66,377 $66,173 2024
Plum Borough Community Library PA$353,999 Library Director $54,999 $54,830 2024
St Charles District Library MI$354,142 President $300 $301 2025
Florida Library Association Inc FL$354,557 Executive Di $84,570 $79,422 2024
Dorset Village Public Library VT$355,225 Exec Director $68,939 $69,367 2024
Dekalb Library Foundation Inc GA$356,619 Executive Di $27,932 $28,076 2024
Clyde Savannah Public Library NY$330,980 Director $51,500 $46,522 2024
Bedford County Library Inc PA$329,883 Director $48,292 $48,143 2024
Bentonville Library Foundation AR$329,496 Executive Director $95,000 $106,751 2024
Addison Township Public Library MI$360,417 Library Director $17,320 $18,400 2023
Joe Barnhart Bee County Library Inc TX$365,327 Library Dir $75,000 $75,000 2024
Giles County Public Library TN$366,234 Executive Dir. $46,483 $50,288 2023
The Danish American Archive And Lib NE$322,785 Executive Director $59,443 $63,914 2024
Comfort Public Library Inc TX$322,691 Library Director $48,456 $49,887 2023
Whitefield Library ME$316,853 Manager $6,675 $6,879 2023
Dr Evarts Library District NY$312,398 Director $9,231 $8,585 2023
The Heritage Library Foundation Inc SC$311,475 Executive Director $59,834 $64,245 2023
Dover Plains Library Association NY$378,034 Director $31,204 $29,021 2023
Red Jacket Community Library NY$310,159 Director $50,766 $44,677 2025
Heermance Memorial Library NY$309,965 Director $65,557 $60,970 2023
The Sherburne Public Library NY$308,932 Trustee-nonvoting $37,077 $33,493 2024
Hill House Ministries TX$306,113 Executive Director $81,525 $83,933 2023
Palmyra Community Library NY$385,898 Director $56,116 $50,692 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to TX 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 TX 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 default89th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)90th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted89th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted86th

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 (Jess Ross) 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 70 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B70), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $87,102 is reasonable (approximately the 89th 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.