You are right, I may have over simplified. Decisions aren't always based on money, b/c quality comes into play. And when it comes to officiating, the majority of us do it for the 'love of the game' which also skew's simple text book formulas. Your point about WH in football is a great example. There is a valid intrinsic value to being a WH, Crew Chief, "Varsity" official.
I am not sure your D1 comparison makes as much sense b/c there is a huge difference in game fees, perks etc. The fact that college pays more then HS is one of the incentives that attracts quality officials. Thus with a larger pool to chose from you should have more quality to chose from.
I guess I was basing my comment on what has happened around here. For years it was difficult to find enough
VB and LAX officials. When they drew up a new working agreement, there was a significant bump in game fees, and automagically there was an increase in the number of officials!! (The same problem is there with baseball and softball, but that is not a problem can be solved by game fees.)