Assigning Fee (Officials or Schools)?

[Valley Man]

Had an interesting question posed this week and wanted to get some feedback

1. What is the "assigning fee" for the games you work?
Our association is 6% at the end.

2. Do the officials or the schools pay this "fee"?
Our association, the 6% comes out of the final official's check.

So why do the officials pay the assigning fee and not the schools pay that fee?

[LRZ]

For both scholastic and rec basketball, we have no assigner fee, and assigners are paid by the leagues. Same for scholastic soccer; I haven't refereed club soccer for decades, so I have no idea how that works. One major baseball assigner gets a fee from his leagues and also charges umpires $50 (as a result of this double-dipping, I no longer work for him).

[JRutledge]

In Illinois, we do not get assigned by any association. The assignors that we work for are conference assignors which is a fee they pay them, not directly associated with game fees. I cannot speak for what others do, I just know it never comes up. And every conference gives a pays the assignor fees differently.

Peace

[crosscountry55]

We’ve had this discussion before from time to time. The setup is entirely a matter of local custom and preference (mostly custom). I’ve seen it done three ways:

1. Percentage per game fee as the OP suggests. 6% is common. Where I work right now it’s 10%, but I can’t complain too much because our state and association fees are very reasonable.

2. Flat rate “buy in” at the beginning of the season. Usually equivalent to one varsity game fee or something like that.

3. Schools and/or conferences pay the assignors explicitly. Officials aren’t burdened directly.


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[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by crosscountry55

We’ve had this discussion before from time to time. The setup is entirely a matter of local custom and preference (mostly custom). I’ve seen it done three ways:

1. Percentage per game fee as the OP suggests. 6% is common. Where I work right now it’s 10%, but I can’t complain too much because our state and association fees are very reasonable.

2. Flat rate “buy in” at the beginning of the season. Usually equivalent to one varsity game fee or something like that.

3. Schools and/or conferences pay the assignors explicitly. Officials aren’t burdened directly.


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Or a combination of all of the above. Even still you have to consider game fees, travel fees, dues, and other factors all in combination. Then, you have to consider what the responsibilities of the assignor are. What may look high to some, might actually be lower than it appears once all the factors are considered.

[bob jenkins]

I would add that the math (if not the psychology, and the labor law implications) comes out the same:

1) School pays referee $70 and assigner $5
2) School pays referee $75 and referee pays assigner $5
3) School pays association $75. Association pays referee $70 and assigner $5.

[Raymond]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

I would add that the math (if not the psychology, and the labor law implications) comes out the same:

1) School pays referee $70 and assigner $5
2) School pays referee $75 and referee pays assigner $5
3) School pays association $75. Association pays referee $70 and assigner $5.

Also has tax implications. We (officials) forfeit a 10% assigning fee/game in my HS association--8% to commissioner, 1% to secretary, 1% to either treasure or legal fund, I forget which. However, when we get our 1099, the entire game fees are included as our income. IMO, we should only be showing 90% of our game fees as income, and the assigning fee should show up as income for the respective EB members who are actually receiving that money.

I, of course, itemize the assigning fees in my expenses, but not everyone pays attention to such details when filing taxes.

[Valley Man]

Raymond great catch on your part!

My argument to the question posed is much the same.

If you have the schools pay the fee, they will lower the game fee to cover it.
If you pay the assignors out of the higher game fee, you come out about the same.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by Raymond

Also has tax implications. We (officials) forfeit a 10% assigning fee/game in my HS association--8% to commissioner, 1% to secretary, 1% to either treasure or legal fund, I forget which. However, when we get our 1099, the entire game fees are included as our income. IMO, we should only be showing 90% of our game fees as income, and the assigning fee should show up as income for the respective EB members who are actually receiving that money.

I, of course, itemize the assigning fees in my expenses, but not everyone pays attention to such details when filing taxes.

Tax law says otherwise. The IRS wants to know the gross income and then wants to see your expenses as a reduction from that total. The association fees taken out of the game fees is an expense, not a reduction of gross income.

It comes out the same in the end, but the IRS wants the details.

[Camron Rust]

Originally Posted by bob jenkins

I would add that the math (if not the psychology, and the labor law implications) comes out the same:

1) School pays referee $70 and assigner $5
2) School pays referee $75 and referee pays assigner $5
3) School pays association $75. Association pays referee $70 and assigner $5.

It may come out the same, but the variations are not always equal comparing different areas. I know assignors make a widely different amount of money depending on the area.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by Camron Rust

It may come out the same, but the variations are not always equal comparing different areas. I know assignors make a widely different amount of money depending on the area.

Agreed. I was not trying to make any comparison across geographies.