Exorbitant Is A Strong Word ...
 

Putting aside the assignment fee, our annual dues of $125 includes the fee to the state and IAABO International dues.

Seems like your IAABO members (if they choose to) are paying $120.00 annually. Your non IAABO members are paying $85.00 per year.

So we're paying $40.00 more than your non IAABO members, and getting a classy (too classy in my opinion) meal at the end of the year (and membership to IAABO).

I'm not saying that our dues are not expensive, but let's compare apples to apples.

$125.00 is twice a subvarsity fee for us.

The double subvarsity fee gets one an annual membership in our local board, state membership, membership in IAABO International (includes NFHS rulebooks, casebooks, and mechanics manuals), a too classy meal at a high end banquet facility, and exclusive access to high school assignments (no competition from other organizations), thus no additional dues or fees to other high school assigning organizations (I've learned that many Forum members belong to more than one high school assigning organization).

All for the cost of two subvarsity fees.

How does that compare to your annual dues of $85.00?

How may subvarsity fees does it take to cover $85.00 (your non IAABO members)?

How may subvarsity fees does it take to cover $120.00 (your IAABO members)?

How many of your members belong to other high school assigning (and pay additional dues or fees) organizations (I've learned that many Forum members belong to more than one high school assigning organization).

Assignment Fee ...
 

We pay our assignment commissioner $32,025 annually to assign 325 members to over seventy high schools (boys, girls, varsity, junior varsity, freshman), and many middle schools, and pay $2,300 to Arbiter.

(I wouldn't assign for twice the pay.)

Assignment fees generate $42,700 (about $130 per member).

The last time our assignment fee went up (from 6%) our annual dues went down.

One way or another, the money is raised. One way or another, the money is spent.

Money is raised as a fixed amount (dues, same from all members), or as a percentage (assignment fee, varies from member to member).

We have a committee of several smart accountants that set our budget every year, and audit it six months later.

This committee sets the annual dues amount, that does vary slightly from year to year, based on the budget.

The budget is well publicized. We all see where every penny comes from, and where every penny is spent.

What are some common assignment fees in other areas?

Do any organizations just pay annual fixed fees (dues) and no assignment fee percentage?

Or vice versa, and just pay an assignment fee percentage?

Running an organization of 325 members covering over seventy high schools, in a very high cost of living state, isn't inexpensive.

I don't live in Hawaii, but I don't live in Mississippi either.

You listed $125 in fees and $150 in dues, that's $275.

How is $275 plus 7% of each game justified?

Total ...
 

Actually it's $125.00 dues, $150.00 fees ($150 is my 7% assignment fee (full varsity schedule), average on my board is $130).

While it may still not be justified, the $275 includes the 7% assignment fee. It's my total cost. Period.

I was trying to compare your fixed dues with mine.

It's hard to compare total fees when your assignment fee percentage may be different than mine.

Also hard to compare if many your guys belong to more than one high school assigning organizations, each with it's own dues and fees.

If you want to throw stones at out budget (which may be justified), I need to know as many specifics as I've given you.

What's your assignment fee percentage (if any)?

What percentage of your high school guys have to pay to belong to additional organizations to get a full high school schedule?

Do your dues include a banquet (it's 25% of my dues, or 10% of my total dues and fees)?

Bottom line for me is that it takes $275 of my hard earned money to pay for the annual membership in our local board, state membership, membership in IAABO International (includes NFHS rulebooks, casebooks, and mechanics manuals), a too classy meal at a high end banquet facility, exclusive access to high school assignments (no competition from other organizations), thus no additional dues or fees to other high school assigning organizations, and for me to get a full schedule of game assignments.

On the other side of the ledger, the $275 total for the year is equal to four subvarsity fees, or three varsity fees.

Different strokes....
 

Here, assigners are paid by the leagues with whom they contract. I am not aware of a local basketball assigner--school or rec--who imposes a %, per-game fee. I pay $45 per sport (I work basketball and soccer) to PIAA, and $30 per sport to my two local chapters. That's it, a total of $150 for two sports. Covers banquets, yearly rule and case books (some chapters also provide the biennial officials manual, others do not), scholarships to young officials to go to camps, etc.

There are no other organizations that service the vast majority of schools throughout the state, although some independent schools do their own assigning or have someone do it. That person usually draws from a local chapter. Same thing for rec ball--assigners are typically also PIAA officials and draw from local chapters. No additional dues or fees.

I no longer work school baseball, but in summer ball, there is one major assigner who tacks on a game fee. I do not and will not work for him. One assigner for whom I used to work charged $6 per umpire, which he explained as his arbiter cost per official.

Why should all basketball officials belong to IAABO?
 

In the interest of full disclosure, I have been a member of IAABO since the 1992-93 season: First as an Individual Member, then as a Member of the now defunct Board 55, and now again as an Individual Member. I have sat on four of its National Committees. And I am a proponent of membership in IAABO for all basketball officials.

One: Any basketball official in the world can be a member of IAABO. It does not matter at what level of basketball you officiate. H.S., college, WNBA, NBA, FIBA, amateur, or professional. That means, that even if one lives in an area where there is not an IAABO Board, one can be as Individual Member.

Two: I have a BE with a major in Civil Engineering and a minor in Mechanical Engineering, and practiced Structural Engineering (I am now retired.). When I am asked to explain what IAABO is, I use the analogy of professional and technical organizations in the engineering profession.

Three: Engineering organizations can be divided into two types: 1) Professional organizations, and 2) Technical organizations.

The National Society of Professional Engineers (NSPE) is a "professional" organization. The NSPE, as an organization, represents, if you will, the interests, regardless of discipline, of all engineers. NSPE is much like the National Association of Sports Officials (NASO). NFHS has such a "professional" organization which when the NFHS created was called the National Federation Officials Association (NFOA).

The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC), and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) are examples of "technical" organizations.

IAABO is an example "technical" organization with regard to sports officials. It is no different than the Local Officials Associations (LOAs) that one would find in most states. The OhioHSAA is a great example of LOAs because of it meeting requirements to maintain registration in one's chosen sport to officiate or umpire. Other examples of "technical" organizations are the Amateur Baseball Umpires Association (ABUA) or the California Basketball Officials Association (CBOA), of which I was a member of the San Gabriel Valley Unit when I lived in Glendale, California.

As an engineer, I belonged to NSPE, ASCE, SEAOC, and ASME in my days as an active engineer for the same reasons that I belong to NASO, IAABO, and the many LOAs in the various sports the I officiate/umpire. And while networking (that means finding employment or game assignments, both which of translate into income) is one of the by-products of belonging to these organizations, engineering or officiating, in the long run, the educational benefits far out way any possible negative (of which I was never able to find) aspects of not belonging. At the very worst, membership dues and mileage to meetings are a tax deduction on one's Schedule C (and I hope that every one is obeying the law and filing Schedule C's every year).

MTD, Sr.

In Illinois it is not required you belong to any association to get games. Many officials do belong to one or more than one association, but it is optional. When I was a high school official, I was a member of two different organizations. Now that I am a college official that still works some high school basketball, I do not belong to any association. I don't get as many high school games as I used to since I am really only available on a few Friday nights during the season, but I could still get a full high school schedule without being in an association if I wanted one. We pay $50 to the IHSA, which includes a rule book every other year. After that, I pay $7.5 to a group of assignors for Arbiter access. That is it. Total out of pocket expenses, whether I work 1 high school game or 100 is $57.50. Our assignors get paid directly by the conference. Of course that money is coming out of our pay in lower fees, but we never see it, so I guess it is less painful. We have a high school assignor in the Chicago area that assigns about 45 high schools and had 55 or so last year. He assigns all levels of the boys games. Combined for the 4 conferences he makes nothing close to what Billymac's assignor makes. Probably half that. Around here, the real money to be made as an assignor is through summer camps.

Game Fees ...
 

Sounds like a real bargain. What are your game fees? How many varsity or subvarsity game fees to pay all your financial obligations.

For me it's equal to four subvarsity fees, or three varsity fees.

Yours sound like it's about one game fee.

Game Fees ...
 

Sounds like a real bargain. What are your game fees? How many varsity or subvarsity game fees to pay all your financial obligations.

For me it's equal to four subvarsity fees, or three varsity fees.

Yours sound like it's about one game fee.

You mention that I can move from iaabo board to IAABO board.. True.. But the local board doesn't have to accept me.

Also, you mention that wnba, nba, fiba officials can join. My point to you is what is the point? Iaabo has published very little in the way of fiba.. And the stuff they have has all come from our executive which can be found for free on either our provincial or national association's website.

Finally, we had a fairly serious situation here.. A member was suspended indefinitely.. They appealed (they were going to take us to court) and had that suspension overturned because since their local constitution didn't put limits on the length of the suspension, they deferred to the iaabo constitution which has limits on how long a suspension can be.. How is that beneficial to the greater good?

I'm trying to find the benefits of IAABO.. I really am.. But for an official not using NFHS rules I can't find any.... Unless you consider having my mailing address published in the directory in the handbook against my wishes.

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Billy, in the suburbs where I work, there are two leagues, although there are probably another 5-6 in Philadelphia and the western suburbs. There is a pay differential of ~$3 between the two leagues, and fees run from $49 for a single middle school game to mid/high-$70s for varsity. Some MS assignments are doubleheaders (12 minute halves) for $65, but most MS assignments are single games (6 minute quarters) for ~$50; 9th grade games are ~$54. We do not work doubleheaders, with the exception of the MS doubles I've mentioned.

I'm available for both afternoon and evening assignments, so I'm as busy as I care to be, 3-5 days a week (not including local youth leagues), in both soccer and basketball. And that's with a 20-mile travel limit on my arbiter accounts.

Pennsylvania ...
 

Assuming $75 for basketball ($150/2 sports), your total financial obligation is equal to 1.5 subvarsity fees, or one varsity fee. That's about one third my total financial obligation and you seem to be getting all the benefits that I get. Your treasurer and finance committee deserve a tip of the hat. You certainly have the right to call my dues and fees exorbitant, you obviously don't live in a glass house.

Where do you hold your banquet, McDonald's or Burger King?

https://tse1.mm.bing.net/th?id=OIP.z...=0&w=283&h=182

"Exorbitant" was not my word. I did say I was appalled, but I misread your explanation of the 7% fee.

In any event, we have a quite nice end-of-season banquet at a caterer's hall, with choice of entree (beef, fish, chicken), several vegetables (potatoes, beans, etc.), salad, dessert. I don't drink, so I'm not sure if the bar is open or cash; I think the former.

Bargain Basement ...
 

All that as part of your $75 total financial obligation? The administrative costs to run your association must be only about $45? Your treasurer and finance committee deserve two tips of the hat.

Ours is an open bar. The four decade old ongoing corny joke on our board is to tell colleagues that we'll buy them a drink at the banquet. We're a bunch of real cheap bastards.

I pay $65 to the state and $75 to our association. $10 of that goes to our scholarship fund. We do not have an assigners fee. Each individual school has to pay him.
I get 40-55 nights per year with almost all being double headers.
$60 per varsity game
$50 per sub varsity game
$0.50 per mile round trip paid to one driver
We do not have a banquet.