Getting paid

[Ohioref3]

It seems like most associations across the country get paid at the site or fill out a voucher and receive the check in the mail within a few weeks. Is that what most officials prefer? What are most association dues like? What do the association dues cover? I came from an association in the northwest that paid their officials once a month on a check, that was ok with me, but we also had 9% taken out of our checks to cover association dues. it might not seem like alot but if you average say $1000 per month during basketball you are paying the association $90 per month, and if you make say $1500 on a monthly check you are paying the association $135 per month. We also paid $15 to the state for their association, and my local association also took out an additional $10 per sport to work. If you add three and a half months of working high school basketball at say $1000 per month we were giving the association $325 to work basketball for that season, and thats not even including the summer games and tournaments that we work, which we still only got paid once a month and had 9% taken out of that check. I added all my money up that I made for officiating basketball for the year and it came to $5000, and after the percentage that was taken out of my checks I landed up paying $450 to my association to work basketball for the season, and that seemed like alot of money to me. And on top of that I received a 1099 and had to pay taxes at the end of the year on the $5000 that I had made. Any other thoughts on this matter?

I recently moved to the midwest and I was shocked to see that what was taken place in my new association was not the same as my last one. When I signed up to officiate basketball I paid a one time fee for that sport for the year which was $40 which went to the association, I paid another $40 fee for the entire year which went to the state association dues. I then paid for my instructional material out of my own pocket which was $20. I then was paid at the game site when I arrived with a check in my name, with the full game fee in my check. I also worked a bunch of summer leagues and tournaments and was paid cash at the site even though the games were assigned through my association. I also liked the idea that I was not taxed at the end of the year because I didn't make enough money at that school to get taxed.