Louisiana Officials

JetMetFan

Rich wrote
At some point the officials have to draw a line. They've been fighting for this for YEARS.

That was going to be my question: How long have they gone without a raise.

Battery, it's no secret we do this because we're warped enough to enjoy it but I'm sure the money you've had to put out for that vacation fund hasn't stayed level throughout your years of officiating. Neither has the cost of food, putting gas in your car, etc.

jpgc99

JetMetFan wrote
That was going to be my question: How long have they gone without a raise.

Battery, it's no secret we do this because we're warped enough to enjoy it but I'm sure the money you've had to put out for that vacation fund hasn't stayed level throughout your years of officiating. Neither has the cost of food, putting gas in your car, etc.

It looks like there was a similar situation in 2011:

https://forum.officiating.com/basketball/61551-louisiana-officials-possible-strike.html

I'd like to know what has happened from 2011 to 2015 (if anything). At some point, they have to take a stand. The cost of most things increases over time, so a yearly raise is actually less of a "raise" but more keeping your earnings consistent when adjusting for the increase of costs.

To go one year, two years, maybe even three years without a pay increase doesn't seem like much, but at some point there has to be an increase or you are losing money.

BatteryPowered

JetMetFan wrote
That was going to be my question: How long have they gone without a raise.

Battery, it's no secret we do this because we're warped enough to enjoy it but I'm sure the money you've had to put out for that vacation fund hasn't stayed level throughout your years of officiating. Neither has the cost of food, putting gas in your car, etc.

Absolutely has not. And if the think they fight is important enough...go for it, hope they win.

But the cost of getting to a golf course and playing 18 has gone up as much or more...but I still play occasionally and have no hope of ever recovering any of that money 😛

I know many officials really count on the money from their games and work enough (games and sports) at a high enough level that they more than offset their cost. For me, it is just not that important. And while I certainly don't think it is a big enough reason, I would just as soon let the schools spend that money on something else. I understand it is not that much, but my daughter-in-law is a teacher and every little bit helps.

jpgc99

BatteryPowered wrote
Absolutely has not. And if the think they fight is important enough...go for it, hope they win.

But the cost of getting to a golf course and playing 18 has gone up as much or more...but I still play occasionally and have no hope of ever recovering any of that money 😛

I know many officials really count on the money from their games and work enough (games and sports) at a high enough level that they more than offset their cost. For me, it is just not that important. And while I certainly don't think it is a big enough reason, I would just as soon let the schools spend that money on something else. I understand it is not that much, but my daughter-in-law is a teacher and every little bit helps.

If the money went to the teachers, I'd agree. But it doesn't.

bob jenkins

BatteryPowered wrote
While I certainly think officials should be paid a fair amount, Is even a 10% increase really so important that you would shut down for a season? Maybe it is me but doing the math from last season that percentage increase would provide $250.

Ok...I realize that is a camp for a high school official. However, I officiate because I enjoy it. I don't want to do it as a volunteer but if I just cover my expenses for the season I am happy. In fact, I don't even track that to see if I even break even. The game fees I get just go into a vacation savings account. I try to hit one or two out-of-town camps each summer so my wife can tag along and veg by the pool and we make it a little weekend getaway.

I don't know...maybe I am just weird.

Has the cost of basketballs gone up?

The coaches salary?

Admission fees?

Scorer's table costs (esp. if they are teachers at the school)?

Uniform costs?

So, the officials are paying for all of that?

Camron Rust

BatteryPowered wrote
While I certainly think officials should be paid a fair amount, Is even a 10% increase really so important that you would shut down for a season? Maybe it is me but doing the math from last season that percentage increase would provide $250.

Yes. It is not just 10% for one year that is the problem. They've been mistreated so long that they'd need a 50%-100% increase to catch up with other states.

They should be getting the same raises as those making the decisions on how much they get paid. The ADs/Principles are probably getting 3-5% every year, probably fought for by their teacher's union. For them to not give the officials anything year after year is, at best, hypocritical. They're really only for the benefits of unions and good pay as far as it helps them but for not for anyone else.

Texas Aggie

Is even a 10% increase really so important that you would shut down for a season?

This "logic" can be used to 1) ask the same question for ANY amount -- unless it could be shown that x%, and not x-1 or x-.01, is the threshold; and 2) keep on accepting low pay indefinitely.

At SOME point, you have to take a stand and say, "I'm not interested in working at that rate."

bisonlj

Camron Rust wrote
Yes. It is not just 10% for one year that is the problem. They've been mistreated so long that they'd need a 50%-100% increase to catch up with other states.

They should be getting the same raises as those making the decisions on how much they get paid. The ADs/Principles are probably getting 3-5% every year, probably fought for by their teacher's union. For them to not give the officials anything year after year is, at best, hypocritical. They're really only for the benefits of unions and good pay as far as it helps them but for not for anyone else.

They are making $95 per game. That's more than most states so there isn't much catching up.

Welpe

bisonlj wrote
They are making $95 per game. That's more than most states so there isn't much catching up.

That's football playoff rate for the highest classification.

Most of what is being discussed here are basketball pay rates, which are quite low compared to most areas.

Regular season football rates are ok, but not outstanding.

Welpe

Here are the basketball rates:

8.8.4 Basketball Officials’ Fees as adopted by the LHSAA in all classes:

1. Regular Season - Varsity Game (2 person officiating crew)
Certified Rated Official …………….……....... $45.00 per official, per game
Approved Rated Official ………………......... $37.00 per official, per game
Registered Rated Official ………………....... $35.00 per official, per game

2. Regular Season - Varsity Game (3 person officiating crew)
Certified Rated Official …………….……............. $40.00 per official, per game
Approved Rated Official …………….….............. $32.00 per official, per game
Registered Rated Official ……………................. $30.00 per official, per game

3. Playoff Games - Varsity Game (3 person officiating crew)
Certified Rated Official …………….…........ $65.00 per official, per game
Approved Rated Official ……………........... $58.00 per official, per game
Registered Rated Official ……………......... $52.00 per official, per game

4. The LHSAA shall pay each official $75.00 per game in the Ladies’ Top 28 Tournament and Boys’ Top 28 Tournament, plus travel pay.

Taken from here:

http://lhsaa.org/uploads/handbook/Section_8-Officiating1.pdf

Welpe

And here's football:

8.8.5 Football Officials’ Fees as adopted by LHSAA schools in all classes:
1. Regular Season
Certified Rated Official …………………… $85.00 per official, per game
Approved Rated Official ………………….. ...... $70.00 per official, per game
Registered Rated Official ………………… $60.00 per official, per game
Clock Operator ………………………….… $40.00 per official, per game

2. Playoff Games
Certified Rated Official …………….…….......... $95.00 per official, per game
Approved Rated Official ………………............ $80.00 per official, per game
Registered Rated Official ……………….. $65.00 per official, per game
Clock Operator …………………………... $50.00 per official, per game

3. As adopted in all games, the crew referee’s fee shall be increased by $15.00.

4. Officials working games in the Superdome Classic shall be paid $100.00 per game and clock operators shall be paid $75.00 per game, plus travel pay.

They pay the Referee $15 more per game. That is just comical.

Texas Aggie

Regular season football rates are ok, but not outstanding.

The 85/70/60 rate for football would be on the lower end for varsity games in Texas. Most schools above 3A (median classification), except for those in mostly urban districts who's games are not well attended, have pay rates ranging from higher to much higher than that.

This is really one of the problems Texas faces -- effective pay rates for varsity games involving large schools can be quite good (assuming the district pays what they are supposed to). Subvarsity rates, however, are another story. Rates for other sports need to increase. Football officials that work 0-4 subvarsity dates per year don't really care about the fee and may not be willing to risk losing even one Friday night fee to take a stand -- either for football subvarsity or other sports at all levels.

Welpe

Agreed. I just moved back from there after 6 years and even the varsity rates were all over the place. Our TAPPS pay for varsity was a flat $85 which was good but our rates working smaller varsity games were all over, and often at the whim of the ADs. We worked more than a few small towns with absolutely packed stadiums and came away with $70 checks (including travel).

The only thing I'm going to really miss about working football in Texas was using NCAA rules. You can keep everything else.

Camron Rust

bisonlj wrote
They are making $95 per game. That's more than most states so there isn't much catching up.

We're talking basketball.

$35-$45 for a 2-person varsity game is just silly.

The amounts here in Oregon are $56.75 for smaller schools and and $63 for larger schools....about 50% more for the same job. Plus, we get mileage.

The post-season bump is $5.

We don't have 3-person yet, so I can't compare that.

[deleted]

Welpe wrote
Here are the basketball rates:

8.8.4 Basketball Officials’ Fees as adopted by the LHSAA in all classes:

1. Regular Season - Varsity Game (2 person officiating crew)
Certified Rated Official …………….……....... $45.00 per official, per game
Approved Rated Official ………………......... $37.00 per official, per game
Registered Rated Official ………………....... $35.00 per official, per game

2. Regular Season - Varsity Game (3 person officiating crew)
Certified Rated Official …………….……............. $40.00 per official, per game
Approved Rated Official …………….….............. $32.00 per official, per game
Registered Rated Official ……………................. $30.00 per official, per game

3. Playoff Games - Varsity Game (3 person officiating crew)
Certified Rated Official …………….…........ $65.00 per official, per game
Approved Rated Official ……………........... $58.00 per official, per game
Registered Rated Official ……………......... $52.00 per official, per game

4. The LHSAA shall pay each official $75.00 per game in the Ladies’ Top 28 Tournament and Boys’ Top 28 Tournament, plus travel pay.

Taken from here:

http://lhsaa.org/uploads/handbook/Section_8-Officiating1.pdf

Those are piss-poor rates.

BillyMac

AremRed wrote
Those are piss-poor rates.

Last year's Connecticut fees (two person games): Varsity Fee: $93.19, Sub Varsity Fee: $60.45.

Welpe

That's to make up for having to live in Connecticut. 🙂

ODog

BillyMac wrote
Last year's Connecticut fees (two person games): Varsity Fee: $93.19, Sub Varsity Fee: $60.45.

Billy, doesn't Conn. have a setup where a percentage of that goes to the assignor, or is $93.19 actually what you net?

For the purposes of this thread and continuing to put the staggeringly low La. rates in perspective, it's $78 2-man varsity, $66.30 3-man, $56 subvarsity (including middle school) in Massachusetts.

BillyMac

ODog wrote
Billy, doesn't Conn. have a setup where a percentage of that goes to the assignor, or is $93.19 actually what you net?

Local ("little corner ...") board (not the assignment commissioner) gets a 7% assignment fee (on top of annual dues of $125.00).

Local assignment commissioner earns an annual salary of $29,925.00. Local assistant assignment commissioner earns an annual salary of $2,000.00. Both salaries are paid by the local board as two line items in our annual budget.

BillyMac

Welpe wrote
That's to make up for having to live in Connecticut.

True. Very high cost of living, but it's worth it, Connecticut is a great state. Four beautiful seasons. Mountains. Forests. Beaches. Museums. Music. Art. Great hospitals. Great public schools. Great colleges. Easy access to New York City, and Boston. If you like lots of people (urban, suburban), live in the central, or southern, part of the state. If you like peace, and quiet (rural), live in one of the two "quiet corners" (northwest, northeast).

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