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PeerBasis
Compensation Comparability Determination

Houghton Lake Preschool Inc

Executive Director / CEO

EIN 923688852
MI · NTEE B21
FY ending 2024-09-30
June 9, 2026

This analysis benchmarks the total compensation of Kristin Carrick-myers, Executive Director / CEO ($25,352) against every comparable organization that fit the selection criteria — 316 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: Kristin Carrick-myers — 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

316 organizations qualified on sector, size, and geography 316 within the band form the benchmarked peer set.

Distribution of comparable compensation

$335 total compensation of comparable organizations → $167,318 $25,352
$22,08910th
$37,95425th
$51,696Median
$68,60175th
$93,19790th
$25,352This org · 14th
p10$22,089
p25$37,954
p50$51,696
p75$68,601
p90$93,197
$25,352

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
Elmhurst Montessori Preschool Inc IL$437,054 Chair Of The Board & Teach $72,523 $71,117 2023
Pumpkin Patch Pre-k Inc AR$436,658 President & Director $82,199 $87,209 2025
Kingdom Preparatory Academy Inc AZ$436,410 President $56,658 $54,351 2023
River Mist Inc CO$435,946 Executive Director $87,524 $81,309 2024
Elite Kids Academy CA$440,260 President & Ceo $26,400 $22,086 2024
Eastminster Preschool Inc PA$434,734 Executive Director $53,856 $52,033 2024
Heavenly Angels Preschool Inc FL$434,074 Treasurer $26,456 $24,079 2024
Saxon Hill School Inc VT$433,660 Director Of $56,529 $56,753 2023
Windham Cooperative Kindergarten Inc NH$441,932 Director $29,042 $25,981 2024
Beaver Brook Children's School Inc VT$442,253 President $64,100 $64,353 2023
Abc Angels Preschool CA$442,362 President $8,400 $7,027 2024
Child Light Inc NY$432,866 Executive Director $94,968 $83,141 2024
A Childs Garden Inc OH$443,070 President $51,655 $53,005 2024
Sherman Montessori Pre-school Inc TX$432,000 Staff Member $58,623 $55,349 2025
Southshire Community School VT$431,728 Dir/head Of Sch $68,756 $67,048 2024
Spark Preschool OH$444,348 Administrator $115,324 $118,339 2024
Hope Montessori School - The Woodlands TX$444,377 Director $1,920 $1,861 2024
Faithful Beginnings Inc FL$430,759 President $42,120 $37,347 2025
Gabriels Little Angels Preschool TX$429,871 Director $64,900 $62,897 2024
Heartland Community Montessori School Inc WI$428,980 Head Of School $52,616 $53,238 2024
The Childrens School NY$428,921 Trustee $26,500 $23,200 2024
Sonshine Patch Inc CO$451,060 Director $56,729 $52,701 2024
Rose City Montessori School NJ$423,168 President $35,983 $30,323 2025
Sleepy Hollow Preschool Inc VA$455,657 Director $45,581 $43,898 2023
Cornerstone Preschool Group GA$419,214 Preschool Di $47,977 $46,737 2024

Comp (reported) is the figure on each organization's Form 990 (columns D + F); Comp (adjusted) normalizes it to MI 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 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 default14th
Total compensation (D + F), as reported (no adjustments)11th
Reportable pay only (column D), adjusted15th
All sources (D + E + F), adjusted14th

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 (Kristin Carrick-myers) 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 316 similarly situated organizations (Same NTEE sector (B21), nationwide + budget 0.67–1.5× revenue).
  3. The authorized body determined that total compensation of $25,352 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.