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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Ventura County Arts Council

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 770450542
CA · NTEE A26
FY ending 2023-12-31
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Michelle Marquis Dumas, Executive Director / CEO ($79,990) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 61 in total — drawn systematically from IRS Form 990 filings, not a hand-picked subset.

Compensation sits at approximately the 62nd percentile of comparable organizationswithin the typical range

Benchmarked executive: Michelle Marquis Dumas — reported title “Executive DirectorOperations”, selected as the organization's highest-paid individual — no exact title match, so confirm this is a comparable role.

How comparable organizations were selected

61 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 61 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$3,818 total compensation of comparable organizations → $141,775 $79,990
$44,33710th
$53,76225th
$69,189Median
$92,40775th
$101,98190th
$79,990This org · 62nd
p10$44,337
p25$53,762
p50$69,189
p75$92,407
p90$101,981
$79,990

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 CA 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
Athabascan Fiddlers Association AK$466,579 President $3,550 $3,818 2024
Newport News Public Art Foundation VA$480,146 Executive Director $30,919 $33,581 2024
Greene County Council On The Arts NY$486,890 Executive Director $73,488 $74,697 2024
Perry County Council Of The Arts PA$453,838 Executitive $50,927 $57,127 2024
Islip Arts Council Inc NY$446,640 Executive Di $41,958 $42,648 2024
Empire Arts Center ND$445,124 Executive Director $52,402 $66,597 2023
Umpqua Valley Arts Association OR$433,852 Executive Di $69,800 $72,913 2024
Arts Council Of Central Louisiana LA$513,084 Executive Director $71,282 $86,015 2025
Lancaster County Council Of The Arts SC$428,114 Executive Director $44,000 $51,634 2024
York Art Association Inc PA$426,433 Executive Di $56,165 $63,003 2024
Keystone State Music Theater PA$520,312 Executive Dir. $65,775 $73,782 2024
Mclean County Arts Center IL$424,947 Executive Di $74,000 $81,834 2024
Bare Hands Gallery Inc AL$411,590 Executive Director $52,790 $64,151 2024
Columbus Area Arts Council Inc IN$408,144 Executive Director $79,423 $94,213 2024
The Arts Council Of Pendleton Inc OR$406,602 Executive Direc $52,800 $56,784 2023
Allied Arts Council Of St Joseph Missouri MO$540,686 Executive Director Former $69,012 $82,220 2024
The Arts Council Inc FL$398,339 Executive Director $66,018 $69,762 2024
Charleston Artist Guild SC$396,366 Business Manager/director $45,177 $53,015 2024
Arts Council Of Greater Lansing MI$551,084 Executive Director $80,927 $93,959 2024
Monroe Council Of The Arts Corporation FL$395,461 Executive Director $91,700 $96,900 2024
Garrett County Arts Council Inc MD$553,757 Executive Di $77,677 $79,582 2025
Newton Cultural Alliance Inc MA$391,524 Managing Director $50,000 $52,033 2023
Arts Council Of Greenwood County SC$390,723 Executive Di $51,993 $61,013 2024
Central California Art League Inc CA$390,680 Secretary $45,676 $44,366 2024
Riverside Arts Council CA$389,080 Secretary/exedi $100,000 $94,627 2025

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to CA 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 CA 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 default62nd
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)75th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted62nd
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted62nd

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 (Michelle Marquis Dumas) 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 61 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (A26), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $79,990 is reasonable (approximately the 62nd 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.